THE THIRD COMING OF CHRIST?

Wednesday 28 May

"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. 'Tell us,' they said, 'when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’” Matthew 24:3 (NIV)

"By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep." 1 Thessalonians 4:15 (BSB)

We hear so much said about the first coming of Christ and His second coming but nothing about His third coming. Most people let alone believers don’t even know about it. They have been told that Jesus is coming back a second time for his own. We are going to examine this further.

Let’s look at His first coming. I’m sure you know about it. We call this the incarnation of Christ. The virgin birth. Apostle John penned it as ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. This was the first time in the history of humanity that ‘God was manifest in the flesh’. Every other encounter was with angels and by the Spirit that would come upon the prophets to carry out certain tasks. It’s important to note that this was the first coming of Christ in bodily form.

Next we have the second coming of Christ to His disciples and to those in Jerusalem for forty days. I’m reminded of how Jesus said to Thomas who missed Christ’s first visitation to the disciples ‘touch me now and see I have flesh and bone’. Put your fingers into the nail prints of my hands and put your hand into my side.’ This is significant because it showed that Jesus second coming was also bodily. He ate with them yet He was able to appear suddenly then disappear, and even pass through solid objects.

We need to understand the fact that Christ’s first coming to the earth bodily was for the world; FOR US. We have also seen that after His resurrection Jesus in the Holy Spirit came bodily to his disciples; TO US. What about His third and final coming? Will it also be bodily? The simple answer is yes but probably not in the way you are expecting

Firstly, our two opening verses are about the third coming of Christ. I believe the third coming of Christ will be THROUGH US. What is the scriptural evidence for this?

In Romans 8:19 Apostle Paul says, ‘For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.’ not God.

The word for manifestation here is ‘apocalypsis’ in Greek and it means a revealing or unveiling. To remove or take the cover off something so something else can be clearly seen. If you study your Bible well, you will find ‘apocalypsis’ is usually used only for Jesus Christ. Here is where it gets interesting. Every creature of creation is waiting to see the full manifestation of Christ in the believer.

This is where the cover or ‘veil’ of our mortal bodies will be removed and Christ in us the hope of glory will be fully revealed to the whole world! By His Spirit He will be seen in us and manifesting Himself in all His glory THROUGH US.

It makes verses like ‘when we see Him we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is’ and ‘as He is so are we in this world’ truly come alive.

What does this all mean? Let me try to break it down quickly for you.

The Bible states there will be an appearance of Christ from the heavens but the third coming of Christ will not be like the first two. This is what Paul was communicating when He used the expression ‘the manifestation of the sons of God.’ This is truly mind blowing!

Every saint that has been glorified in Christ ‘that are alive and remain’ will be the revelation of Christ to every creature. The event will occur at the end of the world. This is what the third coming of Christ will be like. After that, those same sons of God will be quickened or caught up with our new bodies to meet the Lord in the Spirit,’ not the air. And I love the next part ‘and so shall we ever be with the Lord’.

The first coming was FOR US. The second coming was TO US. The third coming will be manifested THROUGH US.

Full disclosure of the new creations in Christ!

APPLICATION

Have the consciousness that Christ the hope of glory is living and abiding in you therefore you have already been glorified.