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 Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 33)
The Scope of the Second Coming
Chapter 2 – Contrasts of the Second Coming
The Contrast of Experience
God’s judgments in the Old Testament always came with a contrast of experience – that is, God’s justice always included both punishment for evildoers (i.e. a cursing, wrath) and deliverance for the righteous (i.e. a blessing, salvation).
That God’s judgment would be bad for some while simultaneously good for others can be clearly seen in Noah’s flood. It drowned all humanity, but allowed Noah’s family to live much longer…and to do so in peace. Similarly, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed while Lot and his family were able to get out in time. Consider also the parting of the Red Sea, which had allowed the Israelites to escape slavery but drowned their Egyptian masters who were pursuing them. Calamity…and escapes. Every demonstration of God’s judgment includes contrasting experiences for those affected by it.
This contrast in God’s judgments has been generalized in biblical statements like these:
Isaiah 3:10 Say to the righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For what he deserves will be done to him.
Psalm 68:20 God is to us a God of deliverances;
And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.
1 Peter 4:18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?
- “go well” versus “go badly”
- “deliverances from death” versus “death”
- “difficulty” versus something much worse
If such contrasts are always present in God’s judgments, how much more in God’s greatest judgment of all: the Second Coming! For this reason, the prophets would warn the people to be sure of where they stood with the Lord before judgment came…lest they find themselves on the wrong side of it.
Amos 5:18 Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD,
For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
Amos 5:19 As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear meets him,
Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
Amos 5:20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
The prophet Amos (8th century BC) knew there were some Israelites who were expecting deliverance when they were actually living in such a way that was inviting punishment. As it was in the days of Amos, so it was in the days leading up to the Second Coming (1st century AD).
The Second Coming was the greatest of God’s judgments, of course, not just because it affected all of creation, but also because it was eternal. That is, it would be ongoing…forever. Since that judgment was eternal, we are still living in it now. And, therefore, this warning Paul gave in the run-up to the Second Coming still applies:
Hebrews 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
Hebrews 2:2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,
Hebrews 2:3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?…
Thus did, and thus do, the judgments of the Second Coming bring different outcomes to the righteous than they bring to the wicked.
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