Sunday, June 24
However much we tend to think of the second coming of Jesus as a New Testament teaching alone, that’s not true. Of course, only after the first coming of Jesus, after His death, resurrection, and ascension were we given a fuller and richer revelation of the truth surrounding the Second Coming. But, as with so much else in the New Testament, the Old Testament reveals hints and shadows of this crucial truth long before it will happen. With the doctrine of the second coming of Jesus, the New Testament authors didn’t reveal a new truth; instead, they greatly enhanced a truth that had already been revealed in the Bible. Only now, in light of the crucified and risen Savior, can the promise of the Second Coming be more fully understood and appreciated.
Read the following texts. What do they teach us about the second coming of Jesus? Isaiah 13:6, 9; Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 12:1.
Beyond question, the “day of the LORD” will be a day of destruction and sorrow and turmoil for the lost. But it is also a day of deliverance for all of God’s people, those who are “found written in the book” (see also Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5, 13:8) . This theme, that of the “day of the LORD” as a time of judgment against the wicked but also a time when God’s faithful are protected and rewarded, is found in the Old Testament. For instance, though some will face the “LORD’s fierce anger”, those who heed the call to “seek righteousness”, and “seek humility” will “be hidden in the day of the LORD’s anger” (Zephaniah 2:1-3, NKJV).
Read Matthew 24:30, 31. In what way do these verses show this same great dichotomy between the lost and the saved at the second coming of Jesus?
As final events unfold, which side we are on will only become more apparent. What choices can and must we make now to make sure we’re on the right side?
