Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Biblical Case for the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 3)
Part One – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Chapter 1 – Sorting Out the Confusion
(continued)
Why So Much Confusion?
There is no good reason for there to be confusion on the issue of the Second Coming. If we read the words of Jesus and the apostles in their context we will see that their words all fit together, giving a clear and consistent teaching on the subject.
There is no lack of written material in our day on the subject of Jesus’ return. Bookshelves are full. Bible reference works would be considered incomplete if they did not include articles on the subject. And there are a variety of headings and sub-headings: such as, Parousia (from the Greek word for “coming”), Eschatology (study of last things), Judgment (as in final, last, or the day of), the Kingdom of God, Resurrection, and others as well.
Therefore, what confusion there is about the Second Coming is not for lack of explanations. In fact, the many explanations have only created confusion. To someone who has been exposed to the literature, it will seem that there are as many positions on the subject as there are denominations in Christianity. But there is no one-to-one correspondence either, for even within a single denomination, a variety of theological interpretations may be found.
Of all these positions that hold the Second Coming as yet future instead of accomplished fact, none has emerged as the true answer acceptable to the majority of Christians. The only thing that prevails is disagreement. Why? Because all these positions begin with the unquestioned and unspoken assumption that the Second Coming is an event which could not be missed. In other words, they assume that there is no way possible that it could have already occurred.
Could the Second Coming Be Missed?
How, you ask, could the Second Coming possibly be missed? Well, was not the first coming of Christ missed by some people? (Recall that “Christ” and “Messiah” are synonymous terms, from Greek and Hebrew respectively.) And don’t the people who missed Him offer as a reason that the coming of Messiah could not be missed?
Take a moment and let it sink in that the Jews did not recognize their Messiah for who He was when He came to them. His coming had been promised and prophesied for years – even centuries – by Israel’s prophets, and recorded in the Scriptures. Nonetheless, the synagogues, as a general rule, refused to see Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. They missed His coming. This, therefore, is how you can miss a coming of the Lord: assume He couldn’t possibly come without your knowing about it.
If the first coming of Messiah could be missed, who’s to say that His second coming couldn’t also be missed? At the very least, we ought to abandon arrogance and humble ourselves to the possibility that the Lord Himself could be in our midst without our being aware of it.
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