The Comings Of Christ

John 14:3b - I will come again.

 

Faith Community Church, Pipestone, MN

Sunday, December 30, 2001

Dr. Oliver R. Blosser, Pastor

       The Lord always takes the initiative in coming to His own. The Bible contains repeated promises of the Lord’s coming. It has always been the Lord’s intention to dwell among His people. This means that Christ comes to the believer personally. Not every Biblical text about our Lord’s coming is a reference to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!

       In a world that seems to be unraveling at the seams, life requires that man find a special hope and comfort outside of himself. The various comings of the Lord- past, present, and future- provide a special promise of hope and comfort for the believer’s life. For the Lord Jesus pledged to come and be with His people so that we might find an unspeakable joy and an abiding pleasure in His presence. Therefore, to explore these comings of the Lord is a spiritual blessing to every believer.

       The Sacred Scriptures speak of seven comings of our Lord. The New Testament believer can rejoice in each one of them!

 

1.  Christ came at the fullness of time.

       When it was time for the blessed Redeemer to come into the world, God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world, John 4:42; Acts 13:23. At the Incarnation, God became flesh in Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, at Bethlehem.

Galatians 4:4-5- But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Reason for His Coming- That we might be redeemed and adopted into God’s family.

2.  Christ came to His eleven disciples in a glorious bodily form following His Resurrection.

       Before His finished work on the cross, Christ told His disciples that following His Resurrection, He would meet them on a mountain in Galilee, Matthew 28:7, 9-10.

Matthew 28:16-20- Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

       Jesus appeared to His disciples several times after His Resurrection from the dead, Mark 16:9ff.; John 20:19.

Reason For His Coming: To confirm His Resurrection to His disciples and to give them the Great Commission. This coming of the Lord restored their joy following His crucifixion and fulfilled His promises.

 

3.  Christ came in the form of the Holy Spirit to all believers after His ascension.

       At His ascension, Jesus went to heaven in His physical, glorious, resurrected body. Just prior to His death, Jesus assured His disciples that they would see Him again- And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you, John 16:22, cf., John 14:19; 16:16. Our Lord also promised that He would bring His comforting, spiritual presence to His own followers after His physical departure from earth. This happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within the believers.

John 14:18- I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Acts 2:1-4-   And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

       It happened just as He said! Jesus went away at the Ascension, Acts 1, but ‘came again’ on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2, through the Holy Spirit. As the indwelling Head of the church, the Lord has been with His people continually- feeding and leading, teaching and helping, fulfilling His promise. The Spirit does not replace an absent Christ; He provides His presence.

Reason For His Coming: That He might abide with believers always in a spiritual form (the Holy Spirit) by means of indwelling during the Church Age.

 

4.  Christ comes into a believer’s life when he/she opens the door to Him.

       Every day, somewhere in the world, someone experiences Christ’s coming. When a sinner repents and calls on the Lord for salvation, Jesus comes to that individual in a real, personal way. He is always waiting for each person to open the door of his/her life to Him. He is calling, trying to get the attention of each individual.  Revelation 3:20- Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. When a person responds and listens to Him, Jesus comes into that person’s life and brings hope, help and salvation! He comes to each new believer as a friend and companion. His presence is a reality which sustains the believer throughout the trials and troubles of life.

I John 5:20-   And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Reason For His Coming: To develop a personal, intimate relationship with each believer through a New Birth experience, through the Word and by the Spirit, John 3:1-8.

 

5.  Christ will come for the soul of every believer at the time of death.

       In the Bible, death is defined as the separation of man’s soul/spirit from the body. The believer’s body is said to have fallen asleep in Jesus until the Resurrection to immortality. Christ comes to receive the believer’s soul.

Psalm 49:15-   But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

John 17:24-   Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world, cf., Psalm 56:13; 62:1; Luke 23:43.

Reason For His Coming: Christ comes to receive the soul of the believer into the realms of glory in Heaven and to pronounce the blessing:  Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord, Matthew 25:21.

 

6.  Christ will come for every believer (body and soul) at the time of the Rapture.

       The Rapture is Christ coming as a Bridegroom to receive His Bride, the Church, into glory.

I Thessalonians 4:13-18- But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

       At this future event, the Lord will come for both living and deceased believers. Every believer will receive a glorified body at this time and be with Christ forever.

Reason For His Coming: To receive His Bride (the Church), and take her to the Father’s House to abide with Him forever, John 14:1-3. In the meantime, the Bride must be prepared for her Bridegroom; for His coming is imminent- Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book, Revelation 22:7, 12, 20.

7.  Christ will come again at His Revelation to establish the Kingdom of God upon this earth.

       At this final coming of the Lord, Christ will come to reign with His Bride over the nations in the Kingdom of God.

Revelation 11:15-   And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Daniel 7:13-14-   I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.   14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Revelation 1:7-   Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

       Here our Lord returns to establish a Kingdom of peace, prosperity, righteousness, and justice upon the earth. He comes unexpectedly as a ÔThief in the Night,’ Matthew 24:50; Luke 21:34-35.

Reason For His Coming: Christ comes to end the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon, to deliver Israel from the hatred of the nations, to resurrect the righteous Old Testament dead, to reward the righteous, to destroy the Antichrist and the wicked of the nations, to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth and to make all things new in a new creation!

Challenge

       What do the comings of Christ mean for the believer? It means that God is love and He takes the initiative to come to the believer through a love relationship. The comings of the Lord demonstrate His desire for a personal relationship and fellowship with believers that will last for all eternity. All of this reveals His willingness to fulfill His covenant blessings and to live in the midst of His people.

       It has always been God’s plan, since Creation, to live with His people. He created man for fellowship with Himself! When that fellowship was lost through sin, God began at once to reach out to mankind and to come to Him. Throughout time, God has been preparing mankind for the coming of the Savior. And in the fullness of time, He sent His only Son as a means of coming to us with His message of redemption and love.

       You can accept such love for your life or you can turn from it in rejection or you can ignore it or delay your acceptance of it. Christ came, comes and will come to us in these different ways. You can accept His love, hope and comfort as you enter into a New Year by choosing to come to Christ in a more personal, intimate way.

John 7:37- In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

James 4:8a-   Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. 

Accept this challenge and develop your relationship with the Lord throughout the coming year.