The Bible says Jesus will come again someday, and the world as we know it will dramatically change. There are many ideas and opinions about the end-times, but the Bible gives very few details of exactly what will happen. Most of our questions do not have a clear answer in the Bible. Those passages that discuss end-times and His return have for centuries been mired in debate as to whether the language is literal or symbolic. So how should we deal with this obvious void in Scripture dealing with such a momentous event as the return of Christ and the looming judgment of all mankind?
Well, the answer is much more straight-forward than pop-theology would suggest. Just be ready... ready for His return! The Bible advises us to be spiritually prepared for judgment at any moment and to put our trust in God that He will make everything right in the end.
So, what does the Bible say about the second coming of Jesus and the events surrounding His return?
The Bible presents God's work of redemption as an ongoing process. Throughout the Old Testament, He leads His chosen people toward holiness, truth and righteousness. The final phase of the process of redemption began with the first coming of Jesus and will culminate in His Second Coming. There will be a final judgment of all people, living and dead. The faithful will be rewarded with eternal life; the wicked will be cast into hell for eternity. There will be a final defeat and destruction of all evil -- Satan, sin, suffering and death. The kingdom of God will come to its complete fulfillment at last.
Jesus left no doubt that He will return again to complete His mission of salvation for mankind:
"Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (NLT, John 14:1-4)
The Bible tells of many events that will occur before the Second Coming and which will be signs that the end is near. There will be wars, famines, earthquakes, false prophets, persecutions, and an increase in wickedness. The Gospel must first be preached to all nations. The temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, as was fulfilled. The temple was in fact destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D..
Many of Jesus' followers expected Him to return within their lifetimes, and that expectation was supported by several passages such as:
"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." (NAS, Luke 21:32-33)
On the other hand, passages such as this one place the Second Coming much farther in the future:
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come." (NAS, Matthew 24:14)
No completely satisfactory resolution of these differences in the Bible can be found, and the timing of the Second Coming has been a subject of hot debate within Christianity from the beginning. Jesus, Himself, said no one would be able to predict exactly when He would return:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." (NIV, Mark 13:32-33)
The event, when it happens, will be swift and unexpected:
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (NIV, Matthew 24:43-44)
Over the past nearly 2000 years, there have been countless attempts to interpret current events and link them to the end-time signs in the Bible. There have been innumerable predictions that the Second Coming was imminent. All have been wrong.
So what can a Christian be doing during these ambiguous times? Be ready, be prepared for Christ’s return! Because no one knows when Jesus will come again for the final judgment, we must always be prepared. Jesus' Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) speaks directly to the need to be spiritually prepared for the final judgment, and a number of His other sayings make the same point.
Everyone who has ever lived will be brought back to life in some form to face the final judgment along with those still living:
Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (NKJV, John 5:25-29)
While we are still living, or until Jesus comes again, we have every opportunity to repent, to change our ways, to commit our lives to Christ, to obey the Gospel and be immersed for forgiveness of our sins as He promised and join Him in a right and proper relationship. When He returns... we will all be judged for our choices in life.
Everyone, the still living and the resurrected dead, will face God's judgment. Even those who profess Christianity will be judged by the deeds they have done in life (Matthew 7:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:10). Those who have lived righteous lives will be granted eternal life; those who have lived evil lives will be condemned to eternal punishment (Matthew 5:29-30, 25:31-46, Mark 9:43-48). The apostle Paul put it this way:
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (NIV, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10)
The righteous who are granted eternal life will receive new spiritual bodies that are in some ways similar to the old earthly body and in some ways different. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
The final result of the Second Coming will be fulfillment of all the promises of the kingdom of God. Satan will be destroyed, and there will be no more sin, suffering or death.
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (NIV, Revelation 20:10)
"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." (NIV, Matthew 13:40-43)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (NIV, Revelation 21:1-4)
The second coming of Jesus and related Bible prophecies have spawned a whole industry in recent years. Hal Lindsey's 1970 book The Late Great Planet Earth and the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have been at the forefront of speculations about the second coming of Christ. Besides the many books, there are websites, TV evangelists, lecture series, movies and videos all pitching what the authors believe will be what happens. Some of these feature imaginative and vivid embellishments of Bible prophecies mingled with contemporary political and social theories. Most, if not all of these works go well beyond anything revealed in the Bible and are properly classified as fiction - not as Bible prophecy.
What you and I need to do is not complicated. We just need to be living our lives for Christ. Our lives need to be a reflection of God’s holiness... noticeably different, set apart from this world, aligned to Him. We need to be “all in” with our attitudes, commitments and actions as we walk with our Lord, waiting for His return.
Be ready, that’s it. Be confident in your preparation. DON'T BE CAUGHT UNPREPARED! In all you do, be assured that what you are doing in this world, nurtured by the leading of the Holy Spirit, prepares you for His return and the wonders He is bringing with Him... for you!
