What will happen when Christ comes back? (part 1)

Christ is not coming back merely to be seen and make a lot of noise. He has an agenda that is clearly stated in Scripture. It is important for every Christian--in fact every person on earth--to know what will happen at His return. If we learn nothing else about what the Bible says about the future, we need to learn what will transpire on the day of His second coming.

Scripture describes several momentous events that will coincide with the second coming. We'll look at four of these:

1) Christ will defeat all His enemies

2) Christ will resurrect all the dead

3) Christ will judge and sentence everyone

4) Christ will destroy the creation

We'll see that each event is inextricably tied to His return. As we look at these events individually, we'll notice a lot of overlap. A verse about Christ defeating His enemies may be tied in to the resurrection. A verse about resurrecting all the dead may also mention their judgment. A verse about the judgment may talk about the end of the world. God has a reason for this overlap. It proves the events are interrelated. Though the pieces of the puzzle are given "here a little and there a little," all the pieces together form a single composite picture of Christ's return. Some people might look at two pieces of the puzzle and pronounce them two separate events in history. But the continual overlap of these events makes that kind of approach unsustainable.

So I'll try to focus on these four events individually, but some overlap and repetition is inevitable--and ultimately will help us see the picture more clearly.

1. Christ's enemies will be defeated

When Christ returns He will take final vengeance on all His enemies. These enemies are physical and metaphysical: anti-Christian secular leaders and their followers, religious leaders who spread false doctrine, those who deny Christ, those who torment His followers, Satan himself, even Death itself. Christ's return will mark their last day of power.

Paul writes:

“But every man [resurrected] in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (I Corinthians 15: 23-26).

Notice this all happens “at his coming”: a resurrection, putting an end to the power of others, putting all enemies under his feet. Many think the phrase “he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet” means He will reign for centuries on earth. But it’s a clear reference to Psalms 110: “The LORD said unto my Lord [Christ], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (v. 1). Christ is reigning right now in heaven at His Father’s right hand. And He will do so until the appointed day when all his enemies, including death itself, are to be completely destroyed.

How can anyone know when all the enemies have been defeated? Because he gives us a benchmark: “the last enemy is death.” The last enemy can’t be defeated before the other enemies. When the last enemy is defeated, then all the enemies will have been defeated. Death, we learn, is vanquished at the resurrection, when all mortals are given immortal bodies. Paul explains this in such a way as to leave no doubt:

“…the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15: 52-55)

This account comes from the same chapter that tells us “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” and that this occurs “at his coming.” If the resurrection occurs at his coming and signifies the ultimate defeat of death (as these passages make clear), then Christ cannot at that point begin to rule over sinful men on a sin-cursed earth. Such a scenario would leave in existence countless enemies after “the last enemy” had been put down.

John gives us another glimpse of Christ defeating His enemies in Revelation:

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.…And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19: 11, 15).

Does “rule them with a rod of iron” mean He’s going to reside on earth as a dictator for an extended period of time after He returns? Not at all. That phrase is a direct quote from the second chapter of Psalms. All we have to do is turn there to find out what it means: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel” (v. 9). The same imagery is repeated earlier in the book of Revelation: “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers” (2: 27). So it’s obvious the rod of iron is not a king’s golden scepter, as many suppose. The rod of iron is contrasted with pottery. What does the rod of iron do to the pottery? It destroys it. It is a symbol of Christ destroying all His earthly enemies at His return.

Revelation 19 goes on to tell us the fate of those subject to the “fierceness and wrath” of the rod of iron. The birds of the air will

“eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great….And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Revelation 19: 18, 21).

They are all destroyed, both great and small; not even a remnant is left. No sinful men will linger in this world after Christ returns.

We also learn that “the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet….These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (v. 20). These represent the worldly leadership of God’s enemies. The parallel passage in Chapter 20 informs us that after these “armies” arrayed against Christ are defeated, “the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (v. 10). Immediately after this John describes the resurrection (wherein the “last enemy”—death-- is defeated) and the eternal judgment.

But when Christ appears will He strike some people dead only to resurrect them perhaps minutes later? Most likely He will. Although we can’t say with certainty over what time span these events will transpire, there’s no reason to believe Christ won’t expedite His plans. Death will be a reality up until the very second the general resurrection takes place. Many people will die a natural death just before the Day of the Lord; many will die at His coming. But all will be resurrected simultaneously, whether they died ten centuries earlier or ten seconds earlier. This is the next fundamental teaching we’ll look at.

Very effective video

Taking a break from the future to feature this video from the here and now: Remember November.

Suggested alternate title: Psalms 109:8.

#3: In what manner will Christ come back?

Some people teach that Christ will next return secretly and silently, invisible to the vast majority of mankind. But what does the Bible say?

We already read in Acts that He will come back "in like manner" as He ascended. So how did He ascend? As the apostles looked on "he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1: 9). So His return will be a reverse of that: He will come down visibly in a cloud. This can't be stated more simply than when John tells us, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him" (Revelation 1: 7).

The apostle Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, gives a more expansive account of this event: "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17). Christ comes down; His chosen join Him in the clouds.

So the first thing we can say with certainty about the manner of Christ's return is that it will be a descent in the clouds that is visible to all.

In a separate letter, writing about the same event, Paul tells us, "we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15: 51, 52).

So not only does Christ descend visibly in the clouds, He also comes with great fanfare. The above verse in First Thessalonians makes the same exact point. The sound of His coming will be unmistakably loud: "the trumpet shall sound"; "the last trump"; "the trumpet of God"; "a shout"; "the voice of an archangel." Does anyone doubt that "the trumpet of God" and "the voice of an archangel" will be thunderous and deafening? When God's Son returns from heaven with "a shout" will it be barely audible? Not likely. When God delivered the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard "the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled" (Exodus 19: 16). How much louder will be "the last trump" of His second coming?

When it comes to the manner of Christ's return, then, Scripture leaves little room for debate: it will be a descent in the clouds, visible and exceedingly loud. There are no verses that suggest He is going to slip back unnoticed.

But won't He come "as a thief in the night"?

This is an oft-quoted phrase used to teach a clandestine return of the Messiah: Christ as cat burglar. But that is not the meaning of the phrase when read in context. The phrase "thief in the night" is used twice in the New Testament in association with Christ's personal return.

Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica that "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." He then speaks of the "sudden destruction" of the wicked and adds, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." He explains, "they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober." (1 Thessalonians 5: 2-8).

The meaning of the phrase, then, is clear: only to those who dwell in darkness--those who are spiritually asleep--will Christ's return be completely unexpected and unwelcomed.

In a similar passage Peter states that "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." This follows a long discussion about the destruction of the wicked, who "willingly are ignorant" and scoff about "the promise of his coming" (2 Peter 3: 4, 5, 10). Like the wicked in Paul's description, they are figuratively "drunken in the night." To them Christ's return will be a moment of complete shock and anguish, akin to an invader kicking down the door at 3 a.m.

Christ uses the same metaphor for the same purpose when He says, "...if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up" (Matthew 24: 43). The "thief" analogy, therefore, is used to suggest not stealth, but sudden calamity for those whose eyes are closed.

So the cumulative picture painted by all these verses comes into focus: Christ will descend in the clouds, heralded by "the last trumpet," visible to all, and completely unexpected by the wicked.