Wednesday, June 27
However central and crucial the Second Coming is, according to the Bible not all Christians see the event as a literal, personal return of Jesus Himself. Some argue, for instance, that the second coming of Jesus occurs, not when Christ Himself returns to earth but when His Spirit is made manifest in His church on earth. In other words, Christ’s second coming is accomplished when the moral principles of Christianity are revealed in His people.
How thankful we can be, however, that this teaching is false. If it were true, what long term hope would we really have?
Read the following New Testament texts about the Second Coming. What do they reveal about the nature of Christ’s return?
“The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a reed in the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a roar as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriek of a hurricane like the voice of demons upon a mission of destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way. Mountain chains are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports that have become like Sodom for wickedness are swallowed up by the angry waters. Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God, ‘to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.’” — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy , p. 637.
The return of Jesus is such a massive event that it literally brings the world as we know it to an end. When it happens, everyone will know it, too. What Jesus accomplished for us at the first coming will be made fully manifest at the second.
How should living with the reality of the Second Coming impact how we live now? How should it help us remember what the really important things in life are?
