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 66)
The Plan Behind the Second Coming
Chapter 4 – The Predetermined Plan
The Importance of His Second Coming
Remember that Jesus put His Second Coming on a par with His resurrection from the dead when it came to His identity and purpose. Remember what He said while on trial for His life:
Matthew 26:63 …And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
It was this testimony that got Him convicted that night…and crucified the next day. Two quotations from the Old Testament. Both were prophecies. Both were about spiritual, not physical, realities. The first one (prophesying Jesus’ resurrection) comes from David (who lived in the 10th century BC). The second (prophesying His Second Coming) comes from Daniel (who lived in the 6th century BC). Here’s how each quote looked in its immediate context.
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Daniel 7:13 “I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
Daniel 7:14 “And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
Thus “the last days” were inaugurated by Jesus’ resurrection and concluded by His Second Coming. These were the two boundary markers He set for the timeline that had to conclude before His generation passed away. Again, Resurrection began “the last days” and the Second Coming ended them.
As to the resurrection, Paul famously laid out the historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Then he went on to explain why it mattered so much:
1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
1 Corinthians 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
1 Corinthians 15:15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
1 Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
1 Corinthians 15:17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
1 Corinthians 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
I love how comfortable Paul is, saying that if Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead as claimed, then faith in Jesus is pathetic. That’s putting everything on the line, and gives us the clearest possible choice to make. The apostles were not double-minded. We shouldn’t be either.
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