The Glorious Day

The arrival of Jesus will mean the end of the present world order, the resurrection of the dead, and the arrival of the New Creation.

Jesus will arrive in power and great glory at the end of the present age, appearing “on the clouds of heaven.” This climactic event will coincide with the completion of the Kingdom of God, the resurrection of the dead, the termination of death, the New Creation, and the final judgment of all men.

On that day, the Son of God will vindicate his saints by raising them from the dead, and he will usher in the New Heavens and New Earth “in which dwells righteousness” - (2 Peter 3:13).

• “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, WAITING FOR the blessed hope and the glorious manifestation of THE GREAT GOD, and of our Saviour, Jesus Christ” – (Titus 2:11-13. Note the echoes of Isaiah 25:8-9).

• “Having swallowed up death itself victoriously, the Lord God will wiped away every tear from every face. He has removed the reproach of his people from all the earth, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. And in that day they will say: Behold our God in whom we have trusted, and he will save us! This is the Lord! We have waited for him, and we have exulted and will rejoice in our salvation” – (Isaiah 25:8-9).

Two key aspects of this day are described in the writings of John, Peter, and Paul: the gathering of the righteous and the judgment and punishment of wicked and disobedient men. Jesus will judge the nations upon his arrival, resulting in the condemnation and punishment of the unrighteous, but rewards and everlasting life for the righteous (“I come quickly. And my reward is with me, to render to each man according to his deeds” – Revelation 22:12).

[Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash]

The prologue of the Book of Revelation includes a declaration about the future coming of the Lord, as does the concluding section of the Book (twice). This proclamation is reiterated in the middle of the Book. Thus, the future arrival of Jesus is central to the message of Revelation:

• “Behold, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS. And every eye will see him, and THEY WHO PIERCED HIM. And ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN over him” – (Revelation 1:7. Compare Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 12:10, and 12:12 in the Septuagint version).

• “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” – (Revelation 16:12. Compare Revelation 3:3, 3:11).

• “Behold, I COME SPEEDILY. And my reward is with me, to render to each man according to his works” – (Revelation 22:12. Compare Zephaniah 1:14, Revelation 22:7).

The arrival or ‘Parousia’ of the Son of Man will be an event of great finality (‘Parousia’, παρουσια). On this day, the Nazarene will appear in glory and gather his elect. The curse inflicted on humanity and the creation and the penalty of death will be reversed, and the entire creation will rejoice when the sons of God are raised from the dead, and Jesus is glorified in his church, the assembly of the saints – (Compare Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28):

• “For what is our hope or joy or CROWN OF REJOICING? Are not even you, before our Lord Jesus, at his arrival [‘Parousia’]?” – (1 Thessalonians 2:19. Note the verbal allusion to Isaiah 62:3).

• “When he will come TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, and to be marvelled at in all those who believed, on that day” – (2 Thessalonians 1:10. Compare Isaiah 44:23, 49:3).

• “For the earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” – (Romans 8:19-21).

In Christ’s parable of the Wheat and the Tares, humanity is divided into two groups and brought before the “Son of Man” at the end of the age: the just and the unjust. The “wheat” will be gathered into his “barn,” but the weeds or “tares” will be tied in bundles and burned. The wheat represents “the sons of the Kingdom,” and the tares symbolize “the sons of the evil one” - (Matthew 13:24-30).

Likewise, the parable of the Sheep and Goats pictures all nations gathered before Jesus for judgment at the time of his arrival. “Then he will sit upon the throne of his glory,” judging the nations. The sheep will inherit the Kingdom of God, but the goats will be cast into “everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” - (Matthew 25:31-46. Compare Matthew 16:27).

The same idea is found in the Book of Revelation when all men who take the mark of the Beast are “cast into the Lake of Fire,” and otherwise are judged “according to their deeds” - (Revelation 20:11-15. Compare Revelation 14:9-11, 19:20, 22:12).

In both of Christ’s parables, the righteous receive everlasting life, and the ungodly are condemned. There will be only one final judgment, and it will occur when the Son of Man returns at the end of the age.

In his final sermon given on the Mount of Olives shortly before his arrest, Jesus declared that when the Son of Man arrives, he will be accompanied by his angels, and all the nations and tribes of the Earth will mourn:

• “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And then ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH will mourn, and they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, AND THEY WILL GATHER HIS ELECT from the four winds, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER” - (Matthew 24:30-31. Note the verbal allusions to Isaiah 11:12, Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 12:10-12).

PAUL AND PETER

Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians teach that the righteous dead will be raised when Christ returns, and together with those believers who remain alive, the entire assembly of the saints will “meet Jesus in the air” as he descends from Heaven. After that, the saints will be with the Lord forevermore – (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The arrival of Christ will be heralded by “the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.” It will be a day of triumph for the Church. God appointed His children to obtain salvation through Jesus rather than divine wrath – (1 Thessalonians 5:9, Matthew 24:29-31).

In contrast to the righteous, “the Day of the Lord will arrive with sudden destruction” upon the unprepared and the disobedient. Thus, the day of Christ’s arrival will bring salvation to some, but judgment and destruction to others - (1 Thessalonians 5:1-7).

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle states that the righteous will be vindicated and rewarded when Jesus is “revealed from heaven with his angels.” However, the persecutors of the Church and all “who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” will pay the ultimate penalty, “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.” We should note how Paul stresses the actions of the condemned. They chose to reject the gospel and persecute Christ’s disciples - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Paul calls this event the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus, “the Day of the Lord,” and the “revelation of Jesus from Heaven.” Regardless of which term is applied, Christ will gather his saints and judge their persecutors, including “the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction.”  We should note that for Paul the terms ‘the day of the Lord’ and ‘the day of Christ’ are interchangeable - (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9).

• “So that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you unto the end, unaccusable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” - (1 Corinthians 1:7-8. Compare Philippians 1:6, 2:16).

The righteous dead will be resurrected, the Kingdom of God will be completed, and the final enemy, Death, will be abolished forever. All this Paul locates on the last day, the Day of the Lord (“then comes the end…” - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

The Apostle Peter connects the judgment of the wicked, the dissolution of the existing creation, and the arrival of the New Creation to the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus, events that will occur on the “Day of the Lord”:

• “But THE DAY OF THE LORD will come as a thief, in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DISOLVED with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the arrival [‘Parousia’] of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements WILL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT? But, according to his promise, we look for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, in which righteousness dwells” - (2 Peter 3:3-13. Note the verbal allusions to Psalm 97:5, Isaiah 34:4, 51:6, 66:22, Joel 2:31, Amos 9:5).

Likewise, the Book of Revelation links the judgment of the wicked to the coming of Jesus. On that day, “every eye will see him” and “all the tribes of the earth will wail because of him” (Revelation 1:7). For the wicked and impenitent, it will be the day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb, but righteous men and women will be rewarded:

• “And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet. <…> And THE NATIONS WERE ENRAGED, and your wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who fear your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth” – (Revelation 11:15-18. Compare Psalm 2:1, Revelation 6:12-17).

The old order will be removed, and the glorious victory of the Lamb will usher in the New Heavens and New Earth, and death will be only a memory, if that – (Revelation 1:7, 6:12-17, 11:15-19, 16:12-21, 19:17-21).

And so, the return of Jesus will coincide with the final judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the gathering of the elect, the perfection of the Kingdom of God, the termination of death, and the arrival of the New Creation. It will be an event of great finality.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The End of Death - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will result in our resurrection and the end of the last enemy, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• The Redemption - (Redemption includes our resurrection from the dead and the deliverance of the creation from bondage to sin and corruption)

• The Redemption of our Bodies - (Redemption includes our resurrection and the new creation, and the Spirit is the guarantee of the future inheritance)

• The Unshakable Foundation - (Christ’s Death and bodily Resurrection are foundational and indispensable to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles)