Big Authority Shifts (12) Second Coming

When Jesus ascended into heaven, God said to him.

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet....
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle (Psalm 110:1,3).

Jesus will sit at the right hand of God until his church has defeated his enemies and established his Kingdom. Then when the commission is complete and the Kingdom has fulfilled all prophecies, Jesus will appear to receive the victory that his church has established for him.

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor 15:24,25).

God will open the spiritual realms, so that everyone can see the glory of Jesus. The church will hand authority over all human institutions back to him, and he will give it to the Father. Jesus does not return to establish a Kingdom, he returns to receive the Kingdom established by the church and the Spirit. History ends when Jesus hands all authority back to God.

The impact of this event on spiritual authority and the consequences for humans are described in Times and Seasons.

Spiritual Interactions (11) Parousia

When Jesus returns at the end of the age, the gap between the spiritual world and the physical world will be completely removed and everyone will be able to see into the spiritual realms. The appearance of Jesus will be a massive interjection of the spiritual dimension into our physical world.

Jesus return will bring a change of seeing. The spiritual realms that are currently hidden from the people on earth will be opened up for everyone to see. Paul wrote of the “manifestation of Jesus’ appearance” (2 Thes 2:8). He was explaining that the spiritual dimensions will open and be visible to everyone on earth.

The limits of our human seeing make the physical world appear bright and real. The spiritual dimension seems distant and dim to us, as it must be perceived by faith. When our seeing is changed, the physical world will fade into obscurity. As the spiritual world comes into clearer focus, we will be stunned by its glory. Jesus does not come back to earth. He appears when the spiritual world is opened and joined with the physical world for everyone to see.

When our spiritual eyes are opened to see clearly, the spiritual dimensions of life will suddenly be real. When the curtain is pulled back, the indescribable glory of Jesus will be revealed. Once they can see reality clearly, everyone on earth will see Jesus seated on the throne at the right hand of the Father. He has always been there, but from a human perspective, he will seem to have appeared.

The appearance of the earth and sky will be totally changed. With the physical and spiritual dimensions merged, earth will seem much less grand. Physical things will not have changed, but we will be seeing them in correct perspective for the first time. We think that space is immense, but when we see the spiritual realms, it will suddenly seem small. As we see the glory of the spiritual realms for the first time, Jesus will be revealed, while earth and space shrink away.

►Jesus Appearance (1) - Parousia

The short season that marks the end of the Kingdom age will be cut short when Jesus appears on the stage. This event is often referred to as the “second coming”, but this phrase is not used in the scriptures, so I will not use it. The Greek word is “parousia”, which means “appearance” or “arrival”. It is a much stronger word than “erchomai,” the usual Greek word for “come”, which The epochal event that marks the end of history is the Appearance of Jesus (parousia).

The Bibles says that his appearance will light up the sky from one end to the other. Those who believe him will be share his glory with him. The elements will melt and the heavens and earth will seem to pass away.

The first half of Matthew 24 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, but Jesus inserted a brief description of his Appearance by way of contrast.

For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the appearance (parousia) of the Son of Man (Matt 24:27).

No one will miss this event. His appearance will light up the entire world like the lightening lights up the sky. Jesus will be visible to everyone on the earth.

A good analogy would be a rock star waiting in the wings while the atmosphere builds. His entrance onto the stage in a climax of sound and light would be called an appearance.

Question

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is everywhere and exercises all the awesome power of God.

In contrast Jesus is constrained by the physical limitations of being human. Even though he has a spiritual body and can move between the physical and spiritual worlds, he can only be one place at a time. He could not raise himself from the dead, but needed to be raised by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here is my question: If the Holy Spirit, who is all powerful cannot bring in the Kingdom of God, how would Jesus be able to do it when he returns?

I suppose that he could get his followers to kill everyone who opposes him, but that would not be a very nice kingdom. It would be quite different from the Kingdom that he promised.

Dimensions (8) Second Coming

The second coming is not Jesus coming back down from way up there, like a bungee jumper on a sky hook. The Greek word used for the second coming is “parousia”. It means to appear. It is speaks about our seeing. What is actually going to happen is an opening up of the spiritual realm, so that people on earth can see into the spiritual dimensions of reality. The Greek word used is epiphaneia, which means “manifestation” (2 Thes 2:8). The spiritual dimensions will be blown open for everyone on earth to see.

Everyone will see Jesus seated on the throne at the right hand of God, (whatever that means given that it is an imperfect physical analogy for a far greater spiritual reality). Those who have not been born again will be almost destroyed by the sight. Those who are evil will be totally powerless before his glory.

The spiritual realms will be so glorious that the physical world will shrivel in comparison. It will seem like earth and sky are collapsing and disappearing, but it will just be that everything is coming into it correct perspective. When we can see clearly into the spiritual realm, everything in earth and space will fade away under the comparison.

The elements will seem to be dissolving before our eyes. The stars will seem to be rolling up like a scroll. It is not that they will be disappearing. Rather, the beauty and wonder of the spiritual realms will be so wonderful, that the earth and sky, as we know them, will fade into insignificance.

Some of this is captured y this woodenly literal translation of 2 Pet 3:10,12.

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The spiritual world will come near with a booming, the orderly arrangement of things will be loosed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be exposed…. That day will bring about the releasing of the spiritual dimensions by fire, and the order of things will liquefy in the heat.

The words give a sense of the spiritual world intruding into the physical world. Such a dramatic event would produce plenty of heat and light.

Iron Rod

Many Chrisitans believe that Jesus will eventually return to earth and rule the world from Jerusalem. He will oversee a large bureaucracy and powerful army that will force people to obey and worship him. This view of Jesus is based on misunderstanding of an expression used several times in the bible: “He will rule them with an iron rod” (Rev 19:15).

The iron rod is a fairly simple image. Iron represents permanence and strength. The rod is a shepherds crook. New Zealanders should understand this phrase, because the aluminum shepherds crook was invented here. Aluminum was a superior metal for crooks, because it is lighter to carry and can be bent more accurately.

When I was a young farmer in the late 1960s, I would use my crook to catch a sheep that needed assistance. While the sheep was staring at my dog, I would sneak up behind the sheep and hook its hind leg. The crook presses on a nerve that forces the sheep to move backwards towards me, so I could grab it and tip it up to give the attention needed.

I used my crook to catch sheep the needed assistance and to catch lambs that had strayed from their mother. If a sheep was being attacked by wandering dogs, I would have used my crook to drive them away from the sheep. I never used my metal crook to strike the sheep.

The iron rod is an image of Jesus caring for his flock; it is not a weapon used by him to enforce obedience.

Many Christians think that Jesus sitting in Jerusalem and ruling as a king would be the perfect government, but this is awful. The thought of Jesus using an “iron bar” to crush his opposition is repulsive, because it is contrary to the gospel. God will never use force to change to the world. He prefers to touch the hearts of people, so that they will freely choose to obey him. His answer to the problems of the world is the gospel of Jesus and the healing power of the Spirit. If Jesus has to come back to sort out the world, the gospel must be powerless and the Holy Spirit is a failure. God is backing the Holy Spirit to get the job done, so wait for Jesus to return to do it is a false hope.

We must never forget a very important fact. God’s greatest gift to mankind is freedom. Therefore, he will never force people unwillingto obey him. He will allow them to experience the consequences of their choices, because that is part of freedom, but he will not stop people choosing. God wants people to obey him, because they love him, not because they have to. The most that he will do to make them obey him is the stirring of the Holy Spirit in their conscience.

After Life (5) - The Second Coming

When history is complete Jesus will appear again.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thes 4:16-17)

Christians who are still alive on earth will be caught up into the air to be with Jesus. At the same time, the souls of the saints who have died and are in Paradise will have their bodies raised. Clothed in spiritual bodies they will return with Jesus when he comes in ther air.

We will then be ready to live with Christ in glory forever. We will all go together to the last judgment to receive our final reward, eternal life with Christ.

More here

Jesus is Coming Soon

I am amazed at the number of Christians who just assume that Jesus is coming soon. This idea is so much a part of the accepted wisdom that it is never questioned. No one ever asks if this is what the scriptures actually teach.

Down through history, Chrisitans have believed that Jesus would be coming soon. Most believed the signs were being fulfilled in their time. They were all proved wrong by history.

The minority who believed that God has more to do on this earth before Jesus can return have been proved right by history again and again.

We should always be ready for Jesus to return, but my reading of the scriptures is that God has a lot of goods stuff to do, before he will be ready to send Jesus back to end the show. I will be disappointed if Jesus returns soon, because I want to see the Holy Spirit show us his full bag of tricks.


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