9 Amazing Facts About Jesus' Second Coming

Captain Scott O’Grady was shot down over Bosnia on June 2, 1995. He pulled the ejection lever and parachuted into enemy territory. For six days he hid under bushes, ate bugs, and drank rainwater. To make himself less visible, he covered his face with mud. Sometimes enemy soldiers passed within a few feet of his hiding place, but they never found him.

What O’Grady didn’t know was that from the moment his ordeal began, intense preparations were made to rescue him. He was wondering, Do they know I’m alive? Are they going to come for me? Do they care? And all the while the United States military was mobilizing to come and get him. They had 40 airplanes in the air looking for him. They were using satellites. They were getting help from other nations. And O’Grady was wondering, Will they come for me?

Our planet has been kidnapped. You and I are living in enemy territory. Some people wonder whether God has forgotten us. Don’t you believe it! God’s army is making preparations even now to rescue you and me. He’s coming. He’s coming soon!

Certain questions about Christ’s return keep coming up from interested and concerned Christians. In this article I’d like to respond to nine of those questions.

Pay special attention to the italicized words in each Bible text.1

1. What is the primary reason Jesus is coming the second time?

Answer: Shortly before He left this earth, Jesus said to His disciples, “ ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms,’ ” and “ ‘I am going there to prepare a place for you.’ ”2 This is the language used to describe an ancient Hebrew wedding. In Bible times, it was the custom for the man to build a honeymoon chamber at his father’s house before he claimed his bride. So, in essence, Jesus said to His disciples, “ ‘In my Father’s house are many honeymoon chambers.’ ”

Do you think that after all this work Jesus is going to forget His bride, His people? Of course not! That’s why He said, “ ‘I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’ ” 3

A bridegroom comes to get his bride because He wants to be with her. Jesus is coming back because He wants to be with you and me, and He wants us to be with Him. There’s no better reason for His second coming than that!

2. Will Jesus come back alone?

Answer: No. Jesus said, “ ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.’ ”4 Do you know how many angels there are? You’ve heard of guardian angels. More than six billion people live on our planet, and if each one has a guardian angel, that’s six billion angels. So a conservative estimate would be that at least six billion angels will accompany Jesus when He returns!

3. Will there be people alive on the earth when Jesus comes?

Answer: Absolutely! Jesus said, “ ‘At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.’ ” And John the Revelator said, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.”5

4. What will happen to the wicked when Jesus comes?

Answer: When Christ rose from the dead, an angel rolled away the stone. The Bible says that the glory of this one angel made a hundred of Rome’s bravest soldiers fall down in shock like dead men.6 Now think of the six billion angels who’ll return with Jesus! The apostle Paul said that those who “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus . . . will be punished with everlasting destruction.” And he added that they will be destroyed “with the brightness of his coming.” 7

5. What will happen to the dead people at the second coming of Jesus?

Answer: There are two kinds of dead people: the righteous and the wicked. Jesus said that “ ‘a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.’ ” 8 So there will be two resurrections. Revelation says, “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection.” That’s obviously the resurrection of the righteous. And “the rest of the dead”—that would be the wicked—“did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.” So the wicked won’t be resurrected until the end of the thousand years.9

6. What will happen to the righteous when Jesus comes?

Answer: Paul said that “we will all be changed.” And he explained how: “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” 10 In this life every human being who ever lived is doomed to die. But when Jesus comes, He will give His people immortality so they can never die!