Principles of the teaching of the Christ’s return in the Bible

Principles of the teaching of the Christ’s return in the Holy Bible

Javad Ghasemi Ghomi

Abstract:

The existence of Christianity as a living religion of the world is dependent upon the belief of Christ’s return in its every aspect. One of the basic principles of this teaching is the majestic return of the Christ in Eschaton era which is considered as one of the dominant beliefs of Christian society. When living in him, getting alive with him and eternal life along him in the kingdom of skies is reckoned as the reward of belief on the Christ, certainly a Christian believer will always wait for his majestic return so that he lives with Christ in the divine kingdom. The New Testament being a manifesto of Christian beliefs gives a good account of this return for the Christians. This teaching has been vastly reflected in the beginning parts of the New Testament such as the first and second book of Paul to Thessalonians. In this article, we will strive to explore this subject so that by going through some of the related verses we understand the divine value of this issue. We should consider that the resurrection of dead, the last judgment and the end of times are also the related topics which normally come under the research evenly due to their strong connection with the return of Christ.

Keywords:

The second coming of the lord, Eschatology, Soteriology, Epiphany, The promise of Redemption, Redeemer, Resurrection, General Judgment, Evangelicals, Renascens christianis, Eschaton, Apocalypse, The End, Millennialism, Millenarianism, Revelation, Antichrist

Preface

The concept of the Christ’s returns is one of the common beliefs of Christian society and as it is linked with the resurrection and judgment therefore it is one of the fundamental and important parts of the Christian theology and belief, because the reward of believing in Christ is getting alive and living with an eternal life with him in the kingdom of skies. This delight and expectation has been reflected very well in the beginning parts of the New Testament such as first and second book of Paul to Thessalonians. However in the later books such as books of Paul to Timothy and Titus and similarly the books of Peter the social aspect of the Christianity has been focused upon.  This phenomenon came into existence when after a period Christians in the first church understood that contrary to their perception the Christ’s return is not so near. However a minority within them still believed that the Christ will return shortly and will establish his kingdom of thousand years which will only end on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, small millennialism groups have always come into existence in Christianity to spend all their energies for the preparation of Jesus reappearance in the Eschaton era. However, some verses in the New Testament intensify this waiting and by declaring the time of appearance unknown they reckon it as a sudden occurrence. For example, in the Bible of Mathews it has been narrated from the Jesus himself:

“You cannot be aware of the time and moment of my arrival, because it is only in the hands of God. No human is aware of that moment, even the angels; only god knows it.”

Or it has been narrated from the Christ in the Bible of Luke:

“Always be ready because I will come at the moment in which you would not expect.”

Stress upon the permanence of waiting is also seen in the New Testament:

“You should keep your backs fasten and your lantern lightened up, you should be like those who are waiting for their masters when they will return from the marriage so that they open the door immediately whenever they arrive. Blessed are those who are found awake at the time of their master’s return.  Hence you also be prepared because human’s son will arrive at the moment that you don’t except to.”

• While stressing on the unexpected return of Jesus Christianity defines its goal as the establishment of a divine government to fulfill the promise of kingdom of skies. In addition to this, the appearance of Jesus is reckoned as the only solution for the continuation of life and Jesus is introduced as the redeemer of humans and king of the kings. According to Prophet Daniel he will change and rebuild the social, economic, political, educational and theological system on the basis of divine law.

Similarly, Christians believe on the symptoms for the return of Jesus:

Soon after a difficult test, days will come in which sun will get dark, moon will lose its light, stars will fall down, divine powers will also get shaken and then the symptoms of the reappearance of that divine human will get apparent.  Then all the tribes of the world will get depressed and worried and then Jesus will descend from clouds with majesty, honor and power.

In the Bible of Mark while stressing upon the same contents it has been pointed towards the collection of companions by the Jesus:

“Then Jesus will arrive with majesty, honor and power and will send the angels under his command to all parts and corner of the universe and will gather his selected ones from the four corners of the world from the highest point of the sky to the lowest point of the world.”

The hope for an enlightened world in which the man fulfills all of his desires, purifies from all the sins and gets free from all material associations and also belief in a redeemer who fulfills these wishes can be clearly seen in the Holy Bible.

The initial believers also had great interest in explaining the return and redemption of the Christ. The Prophets used to expect that Christ appears in their era and the generations after them also kept this hope alive. This onerous wait continued till the third century but after the era of Constantine Empire and with them accepting Christianity and with the difficulties and hardships of Christian becoming lesser (fourth century) the return and appearance of the Christ was slowly and gradually forgotten. Sociological and historical analysis of this issue requires another discussion and we shall only discuss the belief in Christ’s return according the Holy Bible on the basis of the New Testament and views of Christian orators and also the events before and after the appearance of the Christ.

In the recent century the church has referred to this teaching of the Holy Bible by again stressing on this fact despite negligence and existing opposition and millions of religious Christians murmur this prayer daily: “Amen! Come oh the God Christ. 

The New Testament and the Christ’s return

The Holy Bible gives a lot of importance to the subject of redemption and return of Jesus. The return of Jesus has appeared more than 300 times in the New Testament and several complete chapters are assigned to this subject. In addition to this, some of the other books of the New Testament are also linked to this subject. Therefore, it can be said that this teaching is considered as one of the most important teachings of Christianity.

Henry Tison writes in his books “Christian Theology”:

“The true understanding of the Christ’s return is the key of the Holy Bible. Without understanding the return of the Christ correctly we cannot perceive many of the holy teachings, laws, promises and samples of the Holy Bible. For example, the teaching that Christ is prophet, priest and king also cannot be understood without understanding the Christ’s return correctly. 

In many verses Christians are motivated that they should be prepared and get relief through it, strengthen the weak persons for this reality, bear the hardships and save their confidence because God will return shortly and bring rewards and blessings for his waiters.”

Christ’s return is the big hope of the believers and the arrival of the redeemer and the return of the Christ is the real hope of the Christians and the Christianity lives due to this concept, as it is said by Peter:

“Blessed are God and the father of our God the Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy gave us a rebirth and a new hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ amongst the dead.”

Johanna says:

“Oh my loved ones, we are now the children of God who has not appeared until now, but we know that once he appears we will be like him. Because we will see him as he is and whoever has this hope regarding him will clean himself similar to him.”

Believing this teaching develops a strong passion for stability in faith, belief and tranquility and creates piety durability and stability.

Henry Tison reckons the belief in the reappearance of the Christ as the origin of many other beliefs and actions:

Accepting this belief causes us to clean ourselves and become careful and resilient.     

This belief encourages the sinful persons to return and gives an alarm to the non religious and is the cause of stability and resilience in hardships and sorrows.”

It is clear that this belief was the real cause of the Christianity; it was not possible to get fooled by the world for the ones who heard that the Christ has said that he will return. They were waiting for his return and used to live with the same belief and used to strive that others also come towards him and belief on his return.”

The Bible creates a very strong motivation for the service of the Christ by promising and explaining the return of Jesus:

“The son of human will come at the moment which you will not expect. Hence, who is the honest and scholarly servant whose master gives the responsibility to his family to give food to him at a specific time? Blessed is that servant whose master arrives and finds him busy in such work.”

Prophet Peter says in his teachings:

“Hence give the right of everyone to him.  Give respect to the one deserving it, ransom to its deserving one, fear to its deserving one and honor to the one deserving it, never get indebted to someone in any case but only the love because if someone gives love to the other he has practiced the religion. Do not rape, steal, never give false testimony, do not be greedy and every other law which exists is included in this law that love your neighbor as you love yourself, love never does bad to the neighborhood, hence love is the completion of religion and specially when you recognize the time has arrived that we should get awake because now our success is nearer. From the time we have believed night has passed away and the day came nearer. Hence actions have made the night go out; we should wear the new weapons and act decently as we do during fasting not like we do during parties, immorality, fighting and jealousy. Instead, you should wear Jesus the God Christ and do not go after the solution for your sexual desire. 

The stages of the return and appearance of the Christ

On the basis of the teachings of the holy bible, the events of the eschaton era and the return of the Christ will take place in several steps:

1. The first return of the Christ or his arrival in skies:

This stage includes the abduction of the believers and lifting them to the skies. Suddenly in a wink of an eye and without any precedent information, Jesus Christ will abduct those who are prepared for his return and lift them to the sky. Prophet Paul says:

“Indeed I tell you a secret that we all will not sleep; instead we will get shifted in a wink of an eye due to the last horn, since the horn will give the sound and the evil dead will rise and we will be accepted.

However our native land is the sky from where we wait for our redeemer the Jesus Christ so that he changes the form of our shameful body to his pleasurable form.”

Goal of this meeting in the sky is the rescue of the believers and giving rewards to them and doing their accountability with respect to the capabilities wealth, and opportunities given to them.

Another important goal is to prepare the ground and to remove the hindrances in the way of appearance. The hindrances in appearance can be worldly governments or Satan which has been mentioned as non-religious, dajjal, Antichrist or law breaker.

2. Period of great agony.

After the first appearance of the Christ and before second one a period of great agony has been predicted. This period according to some evidence will be seven years and will be a period of such hardships and difficulties that there has been no such period before.

Henry Tyson defines this period according to the teachings of Holy Bible as this:

When the believers get abducted then there will be no salt and light left in the world. A short period after the abduction there will be no redeemed existent in the earth. The Holy Spirit will stop its holding services from the world. Immorality and darkness will grow rapidly in that period and sin will spread everywhere and the Non-religious Person will appear. Satan and his angels will have great power over the world. However arrival of the Christ will remove any hindrance in the propagation of religion and agenda of the eschaton era.

3. The second return of the Christ and his kingdom of 1000 years on the earth.

On the basis of the teachings of the Holy Bible, spirits will come out of the mouth of dragons, monster and false Prophet and will fight with the quarter of kings of the world so that they prepare them for the Great War “the Armageddon”.

They will gather to occupy Jerusalem and make the Jews and Palestine their slaves. However, when they will be near to the victory, Christ will descend from the sky with his army and after conquering them in the final war their leader will be arrested and thrown into the lake of fire.

Their soldiers will also be killed by the sword coming out of the mouth of the Christ and the way will be paved for the establishment of Christ’s government.

This period will be one thousand years and Christ, the ruler of the world, will be worshiped and complete justice will be established in the world. Satan and the evil spirits will get locked and will be thrown in Abyss for a millennium.

Functions and Performance

What is the goal of Christ’s second return on the earth? What will be the results of his appearance? Christian writers by referring to the Holy Bible have listed the goals of the appearance of the Christ; some of them are as follows:

1. Display of his grandeur and glory.

One of the goals of Jesus is to display himself and his greatness to the people. All sections of the humanity will see the son of human coming over the cloud with great power and glory.

He will also appear for his enemies:

“He will come with clouds and every eye will see him and those who have thrown lance at him and all nations of the world will cry for him.”

2. Establishment of the new government.

Christ will fight against his enemy along his army who will accompany him on his arrival but this war will be short and will end with a comprehensive victory for the Christ. “After this victory the political opposition against the Christ and the divine kingdom will be finished and the way for the establishment of new system will be paved. “

3. Redemption of the Israelites.

On his return Christ will redeem the Israelites from their enemies.

“Hence say that the god of the Jew says this: I will gather you amongst the nations and will position you in those countries from which you were dispersed and will give you the land of Israel.”

Thus Israel will be redeemed, as it is written a redeemer will appear from the Zionists and will remove the irreligion from the Jacob. Some of the Christian writers believe that the promise of the redemption of Israel does not mean that all the Israelites will accept Christianity. Since redemption of Israel is specifically linked with seeing the Christ. As it is stated:

God will support the inhabitants of Jerusalem on that day and weakest of them will be like David and the family of David will be in their presence just like God and God’s angel. God will decide to kill all the nations who will come against Jerusalem on that day and I will pour the spirit of blessing and supplication on the David’s family and inhabitants of Jerusalem and they will look at me, on whom they threw lance, and do mourning just like as they do for their only son.”

Therefore, obduracy of the Israelites will continue till the time of repletion of the nations. Israelites will repent and return towards the God.

4. Judgment of the nations.

Other than judgment regarding the kings, leaders and soldiers Christ will do another judgment after the end of the Armageddon and the total establishment of his government. In this judgment Christ will sit on his majestic throne and will judge between nations and the peoples and will question them regarding their behavior with God’s brothers. He will reward the good ones with eternal life and the bad ones with eternal punishment.

5. Blessing the earth through spreading justice.

Blessing the earth and providing justice, peace and harmony are reckoned as the goals of the Christ’s return because the dryness of the earth and its thorns and brushwood are the results of sins and injustice of human. After the earth getting purified from curse and sin due to Christ’s return all the creations even the earth and its herbs will also be redeemed. Wild lands will grow like red flowers and water will flow there and lakes will come out of the deserts and dry places will convert into water springs. Sapling will come out from the Jesse tree trunk, a branch will grow from its roots and the spirit of god will get positioned there. Means that the spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counseling and power and sprit of recognition and fear of God and his happiness will be in the fear of God and will not judge according to his eye sight and hearing of his ears instead he will judge with justice. He will make the right decision for the oppressed and will strike the world with stick of his mouth and will kill the evil persons with a whiff of his lips. Justice will be the belt of his back and trust will be the belt of his chest. Wolf will stay with lamb, tiger will sleep with goat, and cow’s youngling and lion will sleep together and drive their kid away. Cow will eat with rooster and their kids will sleep together and lion will eat chuff like a cow. Newborn baby will play with the snake hole and a baby who is not given milk will put his hand over the bill of python. No one will do mischief in my holy mountains because world will be full of the recognition of God such as the sea is full of water.

Christ’s return according to Protestants

Protestants being one of the three main branches of Christianity looks towards the end of the world as one of their important theological fundamentals. There is an interesting chapter of Eschatology in Protestant theology in which its main substance is regarding the return of Christ and its link with the belief on Christ. According to the Protestant belief and the holy bible, the human’s son will return second time around in overwhelming manner and will full the world with good and kindness. In this section we will analyze this issue and its aspects according to the viewpoint of Protestants. The events which will take place before the arrival of the Christ are as follows:

First: Common publication of the Bible which has been clearly discussed in Psalms, Isaiah, Reviewers, Jeremiah, Habakkuk and Mathew.

Second: Interest of Jews in converting to Christianity.

Third: Happening of big apostasy among the Christian believers and appearance of Antichrist and his elimination. Paul has pointed that great enemy with the names of “sinful man”, “son of destruction”, “enemy of Christ”,  “monster raised from the earth having two horns such as goat”, “false Prophet”, “adulterate” and Babylon.     

Fourth: Entering of the church in modern age with the majesty which has been remembered as millennium is one of the very clear sentences of the holy bible.

Fifth: The holy bible hints regarding the temporary silence of Satan in the end of millennium war, intense war of church and arrival of the Christ.

The events which will take place after the arrival of the Christ are as follows:

1. Resurrection.
2. Final judgment.
3. End of times.
4. Appearance of Christ’s divine kingdom in full perfection means the entering of believers in their divine majesty.

Some of the proofs regarding the return of Christ being majestic

1. The similarity of narrations regarding first and second arrival such that there text is also similar and because the first was specific and intended, the second one will also be similar.
2. Stipulation of the text of the holy bible, such as acts of the prophets, Mathew, Luke, Thessalonians, Hebrews and revelation.
3. According to the related results this arrival must be visible: He will call all the tribes of the earth, will resurrect young and older dead, evil person will say to mountain and deserts: “Slide down and hide us”, holy ones will be lifted in the clouds to meet their God.”
4. The context of the Christ’s words as the Prophets have understood and believe is such: “He will come majestically and it is the matter which should be waited for.” 

No one knows the time of that majestic arrival and will never be known till it takes place.”

The prediction of the return of Jews:

In Old Testament there are famous prediction regarding the dispersion of Jews and none accepting them in the world despite being the privileged nation and other predictions regarding their return and accepting the true religion. There are differences regarding the meaning of return of this nation:

Some say that the Jews will return at their old lands means the Palestine and will rebuilt the temple and perform their specific worships in their actual ways. However some other believe that Jews will accept the true religion means that they will get affiliated with the Christian church, will follow the New testament, will accept Jesus and him being the Christ as promised in the Old testament. (The second concept regarding the future and predictions of the Jews is correct).

The proofs regarding this concept being correct are:

1. The spiritual interpretation of these predictions which point towards the return of Jews to the Christian church is according to the teachings of Holy Bible on other instances.
2. Judaic religion is enigmatic and many issues and their aspects are also enigmatic however in the New Testament all this got finished.
3. Prophets have not given any prediction regarding the return of Jews to Palestine and renewal of their religion, instead they have clearly predicted Jews returning to God, accepting the Christ and converting to Christianity after all the nations.
4. The theme of the new testament and its teaching which is the negation of Judaic traditions forever and the refusal of Jews  to accept any other nation as the privileged one of God after themselves.
5. The interpretation of some of the predictions similar to the New Testament completely validates our stance such as actions 15:14-18, Romans 9:25-33, 11 and 25-27 and Galatians 8:3.
6. The results of text to text interpretation are unacceptable and improbable for any mentally normal Christian.

Relation between the return of the Christ and the millennium

Whether millennium is before the arrival of the Christ or after it, it must be said that according to the protestant belief predictions of the Bible clearly points towards the spreading of Christianity all around the world and its dominance over all the enemies and obstacles such that it will absorb the hearts of the humanity and this majestic period is called millennium.  Some believe that arrival of the Christ is before this period, means that this millennium will start after the return of the Christ and the Christ means the king whose capital is Jerusalem. This concept is not accepted by all Christians.

The right concept is this that the arrival of the Christ is after the millennium and habitation of Satan at the end of the world which will take place simultaneously with resurrection and the final judgment. Then this world will burn and new earth and sky will come into existence.

The 24 th and 25^th verses of Gospel in the bible of Mathew, which are the sayings of the Christ and is one of the enigmatic predictions, predicts the destruction of Jerusalem. This incident hints towards the return of the Christ and the final judgment at the end of the world. Without any doubt the Christ has hinted towards the destruction of the Jerusalem which took place at the hands of the Romans because there is an enigmatic hint at the destruction of the world at the end of the Christ.

General dominance of the bible in a millennium and detention of Satan in that period has been pointed also in the book of revelations 20: 4-10 and the meaning of the first resurrection is the dominance of Christianity in the world.

The final judgment and end of the world

According to the holy bible God has specified a time in which he will judge one fourth of the habitants with justice. It is clear that in this world humans are under the moral possession of God therefore there is no way except judging every person according to his capacity. Ransomed people through the Christ will be redeemed because of the capacity of their redeemer whether before the arrival of Christ or after him.

Summary of the views of the Bible regarding the final judgment

1. It is the factual incident which will take place in a specific time and this matter will be understood through angels and evil persons being confined till the Day of Judgment and this is the issue which is imminent after the final judgment and after the Day of Judgment. The last judgment is one of the incidents simultaneous to the end of the world and arrival of the Jesus and all these incidents will take place.
2. The justice of god will completely become obvious and the secrets of humans will also become clear. Everyone will be judged according to his deeds in the world and that day is the reflector of the just judgment of the God.
3. This judgment will be at the time of the return of the Christ and universal resurrection such as it is clear from these sentences: ……………………………………..
4. Christ is the judge. Such that he said: “Father will not judge anyone; instead all the judgment has been given to the son.” Peter says:”Christ is the one who has been specified by the God as judge of the living and dead.” Paul says:” God has specified a day in which he will do the judgment among one fourth of the inhabitants with justice and specified that person and guided all towards him by resurrecting him amongst the dead.
5. Judgment will be done amongst all the people and sinner angels, since everyone will be given the reward according to his deeds. Similarly, regarding the sinner angels it has been stated that God have tied them with chains till the Day of Judgment. At the arrival Satan and the evil angels will be thrown in the Abyss.
6. The law of judgment on that day is the divine law, except for those who have attained some blessing of the Christ, those whose names are noted in the book of life because they have been reckoned as good companions of the Christ and have combined with the Christ due to their faith and have become a single entity or they have reached their reward due to their deaths.

All those who have accepted the Christ will be able to become the children of God and all those who recognize him as the redeemer God will get redeemed and all those who have not respected and trusted on him will perish. Therefore, all those who have heard the Bible and his gospel and have not accepted it will be punished not only because of not accepting the divine law but also because of rejecting the Christ who is the source of the great judgment, as the Paul says: “one who does not love the God Christ should be punished.”

7. Judgment of everyone is according to the luminosity which is blessed to him: Hence the servant who knew the will of his master and did not prepared himself for that will be hit many lashes; however who performs good deeds unintentionally will be hit lesser lashes. Everyone who has been given more his accountability is also more.

Our redeemer says: I say to you that on the day of reward the condition of the triplet of Sidon will easier than you.

Pauls say that: Nations does not have any excuse, since they have recognized God but they have not praised and thanked him like God. Those who perform sin without divine law and also die without it and those who do it with the divine law will be judged according to the divine law.

8. The reward of good doers and sinners will be certainly specified on the Day of Judgment and will be destined to their eternal place this concept is clear by the dangerous words of the Christ. Later will go to the eternal torment and the just one will be destined to the eternal life.

End of Time

Most famous verses which are proof for the end of time are:

1. You have created the universe and skies are actions of your hands. They will perish but you will remain and all of them will become like a threadbare and you will change their robe and they will change.
2. Lift your eyes towards the sky and look down towards the earth, because sky will perish like smoke and earth will become like a threadbare.
3. Because now I will create new sky and new earth and past things will not be remembered and will not be recalled in the mind.
4. Sky and earth will perish but my sayings will not perish.
5. Since the creation is waiting for the appearance of the sons of God, because the creation became the follower of vanity not due to its own will but due to one who made it submissive in the hope that the creation itself will get independent from the bond of immorality so that it can take part in the independence of the sons of God.
6. World which existed at that time got drowned in water and perished but the sky and earth got stored for the fire at the same time and have been protected till the day of judgment and perishing of the nonreligious people. However God will come on a day like a thief and will dissipate with a great sound and burnt elements will collapse and the earth and everything in it will get burnt. But we are waiting for a new skies and new earth according to his promise which will be full of justice.
7. And I saw that someone has written on a big and white board, sky and earth escaped from him and there was no place for them. And I saw the new sky and earth because the first sky and first earth passed away and there is no see.

The subject of end of time has been discussed the Bible in another way as well, such as: “Sky and earth will get perished in the end, as it is proved from the Peter’s saying:  Someone who encounters between the destruction of the world through storm and the last desolation through fire, destruction with storm will certainly take place hence the desolation through fire will also take place certainly.”

On the basis of many proofs, at first earth was a flame of fire and if God wants its return to the original state is easy. Desolation in these verses does not means perishing since the burning of the world does not necessarily result in its collapse, instead the world renewal has been used for the situation of the world after that desolation and also with the term return of all things, independence from all immorality and the new sky and earth.

The change which will take place on the last day is not for the entire material universe instead it is only for the earth and atmospheric elements because the perishing of all of the mighty universe and the humanity which is like a drop of the sea of God’s actions at the time of judgment is not certifiable. The things which have come in the Bible are specifically for humans such that world has become accursed due to the sins of humanity and this curse will get removed after completing the ransom of humanity. The creation which got abased due to the sins of human was the earth and it is the creation which will get independent from the bounds of immorality and according to Peter the world which got destructed through water will get burnt through fire.

The result of this change is the creation of new skies and earth though this content is unclear in the Bible. However preferred point of view is that the new earth will be the residence of good doers and if this earth became the residence of good doers and kingdom of the Christ then it cannot be said that the saints will be confined to this worldly boundaries instead it can be said that good doers are capable of going to other worlds and are not limited to one place.

Proof of the resurrection of the Christ and the relation between his and his nation’s resurrection

1. Prediction of the Christ regarding his resurrection
2. Testimony of Prophets is as clear as of the Christ
3. Testimony of contemporary Christian groups and people of the starting centuries after the prophets.

Relation of the resurrection of the Christ and his nation has been pointed in Romans 8:11 & 23…. And the promise of ransom is not just for spirit instead it includes the body as well and keeping in mind that believer is united with the Christ at his death, in the resurrection also he is like this. Prophets have also stressed on the relation between the resurrection of Christ and his nation.