Tonight’s Bible study looked at the subject of the Second Coming of Christ, an event heralded by the ‘last trumpet’ (1 Cor 15:52, see also 1 Thess 4:13-18). This has been a hotly debated topic for centuries, discussed by Jesus in Matt 24; as with all prophecy, there is an element of uncertainty and it is unwise to be dogmatic about these events. All too often, people want to be certain of dates and times, but Jesus made it clear that this coming again (often known as the ‘parousia’ or ‘arrival’) cannot be tied to dates in this way (see Matt 24:36, 1 Thess 5:1-11). The Thessalonians clearly felt that if the coming of Jesus was imminent, there was no point in doing anything except sit back and wait for it, a view Paul refuted in 2 Thess 2. We live somehow with the tension between the fact that Jesus could come soon and that this coming does not seem (in our eyes) to be anywhere on the horizon (see 2 Pet 3:3-9). Essentially, the truth that Jesus is coming again should shape how we live every day, whilst in the meantime, we seek to serve Him faithfully until His return.
Views about the Second Coming have been manifold. Some believe this will come at the end of the church age and tribulation; others that the Rapture (Christ coming for His church) will precede this final coming to reign and judge. Passages in Revelation (e.g. Revelation 7 & 8) are sometimes interpreted to mean that the church will be taken out of the great tribulation; others believe that all will face testing and trials before the end of the age. Paul makes it clear to the Corinthians, however, that we have a sure and certain hope of resurrection: ‘For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.‘ (1 Cor 15:52-53) This hope shapes how we live on earth and how we wait patiently for what we do not yet have. As John puts it, ‘Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.‘ (1 Jn 3:2-3)