“Christ Returns To Earth”
Acts 1:6-11
Ever since that day people have been discussing the Second Coming, the day in which Jesus once again sets foot on the earth.
And notice how Jesus left; bodily, physically, and visibly.
In the 14th chapter of Zechariah the prophet predicted that Christ foot would first touch the earth at the Mount of Olives. That is the exact place He left from.
So Jesus is coming back in the same way to the same place.
The first time he came was the same as we all came only His was much more humble.
He was born of His mother, grew up as a child like all of us, and He left this world at an
early age a King.
This time He returns as He left but with much more fanfare than when He came the first
time. Because this time when He returns as King it is to set up God’s Kingdom on earth.
Revelation 19:11-16
Notice how John describes Jesus as a fierce warrior executing judgment on those who
have rejected Him.
A much different Jesus than when He came the first time as the Lamb of God to save and
take away the sins of the world.
He comes riding on a white stallion, which has always been the symbol of conquest.
Illustration: Western Heroes.
And when He comes this time every single eye will see Him and those eyes will see the
scars in His hands from the nails where He hung on the cross.
And those eyes will see the scar from the sword that pierced His side and the scars from
the beatings He received during the crucifixion.
And the eyes of Jesus will flash vengeance as He righteously judges those who
slaughtered His people.
And He will be faithful to every promise and warning that is written in God’s Word.
In verse 13 we are told that He is wearing a white robe but that it is stained with blood.
The blood of His enemies which fulfills what Isaiah had seen in a vision. Isaiah 63:1-4
In verse 16 we read that written on His robe is “King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords”.
This is not to inform, people will know who He is, this is written to honor Him.
To all the great and famous leaders be it kings, presidents, governors, generals or
whatever the title past and present there are none with the greatness of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 19:17-21
The hardness of men’s hearts now reaches an all time high as everyone who opposes
Christ’s return joins forces against Him.
And upon Christ’s return the Antichrist and the False Prophet are immediately judged and
cast into the lake of fire.
In other words the evil of these two is so great that they are sent immediately to begin
their punishment.
Then Christ will judge all of those still alive on earth who have rejected Him.
Jesus spoke of this very judgment in the 25th chapter of Matthew.
Matthew 25:31-46
The sheep are those who followed Jesus and the goats are those who didn’t.
It is as simple as that.
The second coming of Christ will begin the millennium or the 1000 year reign.
Millennium comes from the Latin words milli meaning 1000 and annum meaning year.
Now over the years there has been a theological dispute as to whether this will be a literal thousand years.
The big issue is whether or not God ever promised such an earthly kingdom, and if He did, will He keep His promise literally?
There are more prophecies in the Bible about this kingdom and its significance to the believing Jew that any other theme of prophecy.
The message in the prophecy from the Old Testament is that the Messiah would come and set up an earthly kingdom over which He would rule from the throne of David.
The important detail concerning this prophecy in the book of Revelation is the duration which is said to be 1000 years.
There are four phases that happen during this period and they are described in chapter 20.
Revelation 18:1-3
Phase one is where Satan is put away by a powerful angel that does six things to him.
1) He seizes him 2) He ties him up 3) He throws him in the bottomless pit 4) He locks it with a key 5) He seals it 6) He releases him after the 1000 years.
Phase two is the resurrection. Job speaks of this resurrection.
Job 19:25-26 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
In the New Testament resurrection is used 40 times and always means bodily resurrection.
There are two resurrections, first will be the believers and next will be the non-believers.
John 5:28 "Do not be amazed at this, for 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.
There are 4 parts to the first resurrection the first being when Christ was resurrected after spending 3 days in the tomb.
The second part will be the rapture when all the living and the dead in Christ will rise.
The dead in Christ will arise first.
The third part will be those Tribulation Saints, those who survived the Tribulation by remaining faithful to God.
And the fourth part will be those who live through the 1000 years.
Phase three will be when Satan in unbound and judged.
Revelation 20:7-12
After Satan is released why would anyone follow him now?
Jeremiah said, “No one can really know how bad the heart is.”
Even Adam and Eve fell in a perfect environment.
Illustration: A person’s environment verses his heart.
So Satan is released and the first thing he does is start a war. He gets Israel’s old enemies together but he doesn’t get his war effort off the ground.
In verse 10 we read that God destroys them and throws Satan into the lake of fire.
Phase four is the last judgments of God.
This is the second resurrection that deals with the non-believers as we just read in John.
Everyone is familiar with John 3:16 and it is probably the most quoted verse in the Bible because the world loves what it says.
But the problem is the world fails to read verses 17 and 18 or maybe they don’t want to.
John 3:17-18 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
God did not create Hell for man. He created it for Satan. Man just chose to follow Satan.
And finally in verse 12 we are told that the books are opened.
There has been different opinions concerning this. Is it one book or is it more than one?
Since all translations refer to it in the plural sense I believe there is more than one book.
I believe there will be three books. The first book will be God’s Word opened to show what was demanded of each person.
Second will be the works book showing the life you lived good and bad.
And third will be the Book of Life which will be the list of names of those who’s reward is Heaven.
