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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Christ Is God
Chapter 30 – The Urgency and Necessity of the Second Coming
In order to know how much time was to elapse between Jesus’ resurrection to the right hand of God and the coming of His kingdom, we need to take a closer look at Psalm 110:1. Specifically, we know that this prophecy said Jesus would sit at the right hand of God “until” – but until what?
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.“
God did not use a calendar to determine the length of time between Messiah’s seating at His right hand and the handing over of the kingdom. Rather, it was determined by accomplishments. Specifically, God had promised to make all of Messiah’s enemies a footstool for his feet.
Now notice what Paul says about these enemies.
1 Corinthians 15:25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
Okay. Now we know that the Second Coming happens when death is defeated. But when would that be? “At His coming.”
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
If you’ve read The Biblical Case for Everyone Going to Heaven, you know that from Genesis 1 all the way through Revelation 22, everyone who died went below to Sheol (Hades). Messiah was the firstborn from the dead. The rest of the dead would rise at the Second Coming because it would bring into being the new heaven and earth where there would be no compartment for the dead below. Instead, everyone would go to above to heaven. Here’s how Paul describes that moment.
1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
1 Corinthians 15:55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
Because Paul, and all the apostles, expected the Lord’s return in that generation, Paul could confidently write of Messiah’s enemies “soon” being under his feet.
Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…
Throughout the New Testament, you can find references like this which convey a sense of urgency about the coming of the Lord. And there was not just a sense of urgency, but also a great necessity. The necessity was that until the kingdom came, no one besides Jesus was ever going to get to heaven! Thank God the kingdom came when Jesus said it would!
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