Chapter VIII

Second Coming of Jesus

&

Kingdom of God in Heaven  

 

Day of the Lord & 2 nd Coming of Jesus:

At the end of Era of Peace that is at the end of the Kingdom of God in this world, the Second Coming of Jesus occurs and the Kingdom of God in Heaven begins. Many readers are not able to distinguish between the ‘Day of the Lord' and 2 nd Coming of Jesus and they think that they are same occurrence. Actually they are two different incidences with a gap of an Era. Even though these are two separate occurrences with a long gap of centuries, they were mentioned in bible in many places as a series of single happenings. But actually they are two that we should not get confused.  

Both are different:

As we saw in Luke 21:25-28 in the chapter V of ‘ Two witnesses & The death of Antichrist ', we see in Matthew 24:15-31 that say about the ‘End of the Age' and about the 2 nd Coming of Jesus as a series of single incidence. Let us read the verses: “‘So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 17 someone on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; 18 someone in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, “Look! Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!”—do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, “Look! He is in the wilderness”, do not go out. If they say, “Look! He is in the inner rooms”, do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

29 ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”  

Here, the sufferings told in the verses 15-28 say about the End of the Age that is Day of the Lord. End of the Age means the end of the present Era. The verses 29-31 say about the 2 nd Coming of Jesus . The incidences said in the verses 29-31 about the 2 nd Coming of Jesus will take place only after the Era of thousand years that is after the Era of peace is over that may take centuries . The suffering stated in the verse 29 is the sufferings of the final war of Revelation 20:7-10 that is immediately before the 2 nd Coming of Jesus.  

Final War:

Revelation 20:7-10 says, “ 7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle ; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea. 9 They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Destruction before 2 nd Coming:

This incident will take place just before the 2 nd Coming of Jesus. On his 2 nd Coming the Day of Judgment occurs. During the Final war the present heaven and earth will be burnt down by fire. Let us read 2 Peter 3:7: “But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire , being kept until the day of the judgment and destruction of the godless.”

Reign until his Coming:

Until now Jesus is reigning the whole thing from the right hand of God Almighty the Father. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 say, “ 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” At the 2 nd Coming of Jesus the death will be destroyed and then there is no death in this world.

Resurrection of Dead and judgment :

At the 2 nd Coming of Jesus all who died will be resurrected. 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.” St. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, “

15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive , who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet , will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first . 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

This is what Jesus says about in John 5:25-29, “‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live . 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 27 and he has given him authority to execute judgment , because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and will come out —those who have done good, to the resurrection of life , and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation .” Martha also referred this resurrection when Lazarus was dead in John 11:24 where she says, “‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.'”

This Daniel 12:2 says, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake , some to ever lasting life , and some to shame and ever lasting contempt.”

Resurrection in imperishable body :

When the dead are resurrected they are resurrecting in imperishable body. This is the body that is imperishable. We can call it Spiritual body. When Jesus resurrected he was in such a body with flesh and bone who ate but capable of appearing in the closed room and capable of disappearing. Let us read 1 Corinthians 15:50 -55: “ 50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God , nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed ,  52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet . For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?””

Final Judgment in detail:

Revelation 20:11-15 say, “ 11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead , great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. 13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; 15 and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Regarding this judgment Jesus says in John 5:

30 “‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.'”

Final Judgment in Matthew:

Matthew 25:31-46 says, “‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left . 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand , “Come, you that are blessed by my Father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37 Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40 And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand , “You that are accursed , depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44 Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45 Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment , but the righteous into eternal life .'” Thus righteous are rewarded with heavenly enjoyment and bliss endlessly without death. This is the Kingdom of God in Heaven

God will be all in all:

Then Jesus in heaven hands over the kingdom to the God Father. Let us read: 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 & 27-28, “ 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. “ 27 For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection', it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all .