The Second Coming of Christ is not the Rapture when Christ comes to meet the believers in the air. It’s the time when Christ returns to earth to engage all the armies of the unsaved of all the world in a battle in Israel that is called the battle of Armageddon. At that time, The Book of Revelation tells us, the Lord Himself will destroy all the billions of unsaved on earth in a battle where the carnage will be so great that the blood of those slain will flow bridle deep to a horse for a span of 200 miles. At the end of the battle, only living believers will remain and they, along with the resurrected believers from the period of time before the cross, will immediately enter the Thousand Year Reign of Christ here on earth.The Second coming of Christ is prophecy and in presenting prophecy there is often the possibility of the presenter looking for something new or some new interpretation, like the Athenians of Acts 17:21 who were always searching for “some new thing.” But there is no new slant or new interpretation to the Second Coming of Christ because God has firmly settled this event forever in His Word. Jesus said, in Luke 17:26, “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” And verse, 30: “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” In testimony that God’s Word is absolute, the Psalmist wrote, in Psalm 119:89: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
The Apostle Paul tells us, in 2 Timothy 2:15-16: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.”
If we study the Word of God with an open heart and mind, not trying to prove a point or defend an opinion, the Bible tells us, in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Psalm 19:10 tells us we will find it "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb."
We have the promise, in 1 Corinthians 2:10, "the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," so what God would have us know about the second coming of Christ, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us, and the Holy Spirit can use it to help us to be more concerned about our lost loved ones and neighbors.
There are very few facts in history that are as clearly established as the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Babe in a manger in Bethlehem, and since the first coming of Christ did not fulfill all of the Old Testament prophecies that have to do with His coming, it’s clear that there has to be a Second Coming.
If that were not true, then many of the prophecies clearly recorded in the Old Testament would already have failed and we couldn’t trust the Word of God as being inspired. But it is true.
All of the prophecies having to do with His first coming were literally fulfilled and there will be a Second Coming of Christ in God’s own time. On the basis of the past prophecies having been fulfilled, we certainly have proof that all Scripture is God breathed.
In the days of our Lord's earthly ministry, the religious leaders of Israel didn’t distinguish between prophecies relating to His first coming, when He came as the sacrificial Lamb of God, and the prophecies relating to His Second Coming when He will come as the King of kings. Because of their ignorance concerning the Scriptures, they rejected Him. Peter tells us that the Old Testament prophets themselves didn’t clearly understand the sufferings of Jesus as related to the glory that should follow. They didn’t understand there would be a very definite period of time between the crown of thorns on the cross and the crown for the King on the throne of David. They didn’t understand that the cross had to precede the crown. Peter wrote that the Old Testament prophets didn’t understand that the suffering Messiah and the reigning Messiah were one and the same Who would make two appearances on earth. 1 Peter 1:10-11, "the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
In this Day of Grace we have no excuse for any such question. We have all of God’s Word to search and confirm the fact He would make two appearances. We live on this side of Calvary and we can easily distinguish between the prophecies that relate to the first coming of Jesus and those that relate to His Second Coming. When we see the fulfillment of the prophecies that pointed to His birth as a Babe in a manger and to Him as the sacrificial Lamb already fulfilled, then we know that the remaining prophecies have to do with His Second Coming and will also be fulfilled.
If men were to be redeemed from sin, the first advent of Christ was an absolute necessity in God’s plan and Christ’s first coming would demand a Second Coming in order to fulfill and complete the work of Christ as the believer’s Mediator and as a Prophet, Priest, and King.
In the Old Testament we see that between the fall of Adam and the first coming of Christ, the Temple altar of sacrifice pointed back to the fall of man, and it pointed forward to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on the cross.
Then between the first and Second Comings of Jesus we have the Lord’s supper where the fruit of the vine and the bread point back to the cross and forward to the Lord's Second Coming.
In His Second Coming, we will see the throne of David established where Christ will reign as King, and at the end of His thousand year reign on earth, He will set all things in order to present all things to God. This points back to the Second Coming and points forward to the presentation of Christ’s Kingdom to God in order that God the Father may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28: “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”
When Jesus raised the widow's son, the people recognized Him as the Prophet Moses said would come from God and they glorified God with fear and reverence. Luke 7:16. “And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.”
On the day of His resurrection, Jesus joined two disciples as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Luke 24:13-19. "And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14: And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15: And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16: But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17: And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18: And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19: And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:”
Jesus was that Prophet of whom Moses and others of the Old Testament prophesied.
As our Great High Priest, He sits at the right hand of God as our Advocate, and as the Man Christ Jesus, He is our Mediator between God and men. 1 Timothy 2:5. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
Hebrews 2:16-17. "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” As our Great High Priest, Jesus sits at the right hand of God today, making intercession for us.
We just read that Christ took not on Him the nature of angels. I would like to consider what it would have involved if God had chosen to redeem fallen angels instead of fallen man. Angels are spirit beings and spirit beings have neither flesh nor blood nor do they ever die. God has always demanded a blood sacrifice for sin and in order to redeem the angels that fell, Christ would have had to take their sins as His own just as He did for mankind. Christ came in the body of a man, shed His sinless blood and died to atone for mankind’s sins.
As strictly a Spirit being, Christ couldn’t die for the sins of other spirit beings and He couldn’t shed His blood for them since spirit beings never die and they have no blood to shed. If He had taken on the sins of the fallen angels, those sins would have remained on Him for eternity and He would have to suffer eternal punishment for those un-forgiven sins.
That is my explanation why Christ didn’t take on the nature of angels and redeem them. God’s love for His other downfallen creatures explains why He became a man and died to redeem mankind.
Jesus is heir to the throne of David and, as King of kings and Lord of lords, He will sit on the throne of David and reign from the Holy City Jerusalem and the saints will reign with Him in all of His glory!
We are saved and become children of God through the death of Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Rome to explain why we would share in Christ's glory. Romans 8:16-18 "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
We are kept moment by moment through the intercession of Jesus as He represents us before the heavenly Father. We are hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) and God sees the Son, not us.
Some glorious morning, Jesus will meet the believers of the church age in the air and He will change our corruptible bodies into incorruptible ones and give us a glorious body like His own resurrection body. That is the Rapture. Later, at His Second Coming, He will come to earth as King of kings and will reign on this earth and we will be glorified with Him.
The first and second comings of Jesus to earth are separated by this Dispensation of Grace, the Church Age. He came the first time, almost two thousand years ago, to lay down His life as a ransom for our souls. And just as surely as He came the first time, He will come again.
In 1 John 3:2, John wrote, "Beloved, NOW are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."
The book of Hebrews distinguishes between the comings of Jesus and their significance in Hebrews 9:24-28. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. 25: Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26: for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Christ has already appeared (verse 26) and offered His own blood as the supreme sacrifice for sin. In verse 24 we see that Christ is now appearing in the presence of God on our behalf. And in verse 28, we read that He shall appear the second time.
Titus 2:11-14. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12: Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13: Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14: Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ at His first coming and it is the grace of God which came by Him that brought our salvation; and the same grace that brought our salvation teaches us to deny all ungodliness and unrighteousness and to deny those things which are not part of the Christian life.
It also teaches us to live sober, righteous, lives in this present world and that same grace teaches us to look for that Blessed Hope, the glorious coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who will save us from the wrath to come.
It can only be a few years time after the Rapture until the Second Coming of Christ to earth, this time in power and glory to cleanse the earth of all unrighteousness and establish His kingdom and throne.
All prophecy has been fulfilled up to the time for the Rapture of the believers in Jesus Christ. It could come anytime and those who are outside Christ at that time are lost for eternity.
We, who are believers, need to be urgent and diligent in sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with the unsaved. It is the only way for salvation. Acts 4:12.“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”