Question:
What is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and why
is it important?
Answer:
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the hope of
believers that God is in control of all things, and is faithful to the
promises and prophecies in His Word. In His first coming, Jesus Christ
came to earth as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem, just as prophesied.
Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies of the Messiah during His birth,
life, ministry, death, and resurrection. However, there are some
prophecies regarding the Messiah that Jesus has not, as of yet,
fulfilled. The Second Coming of Christ will be the return of Christ to
fulfill these remaining prophecies. In His first coming, Jesus was the
suffering servant. In His Second Coming, Jesus will be the conquering
King. In His first coming, Jesus arrived in the most humble of
circumstances. In His Second Coming, Jesus will arrive with the armies
of Heaven at His side.
The Old Testament Prophets did not make this
distinction between the two comings. This can be seen in Scriptures such
as Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; and Zechariah 14:4. As a result of the prophecies
seeming to speak of two individuals, many Jewish scholars believed there
would be both a suffering Messiah and a conquering Messiah. What they
failed to understand is that the same Messiah would fulfill both roles.
Jesus fulfilled the role of the suffering servant (Isaiah chapter 53) in
His first coming. Jesus will fulfill the role of Israel’s deliverer and
King in His Second Coming. Zechariah 12:10 and Revelation 1:7,
describing the Second Coming, look back to Jesus being pierced. Israel,
and the whole world, will mourn for not having accepted the Messiah the
first time He came.
After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the angels
declared to the apostles, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into
the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven”
(Acts 1:11). Zechariah 14:4 identifies the location of the Second Coming
as the Mount of Olives. Matthew 24:30 declares, “At that time the sign
of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the
earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
the sky, with power and great glory.” Titus 2:13 describes the Second
Coming as a “glorious appearing.”
The Second Coming is spoken of in greatest detail
in Revelation 19:11-16, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white
horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire,
and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which
no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood,
and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in
heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on
white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may
strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and
He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And
on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND
LORD OF LORDS."
