Theme · eschatological
Second Coming
The angels at the ascension promise that Jesus will return in the same way he departed. Paul teaches the churches to expect his coming: the dead in Christ will rise, the living will be transformed, and he will destroy every enemy. Jesus himself describes a coming in glory with angels, gathering the elect and separating the righteous from the wicked. The early church prayed 'Maranatha — Come, Lord.' Revelation culminates in his appearing as King of kings and the establishment of a new heaven and new earth where God dwells with his people forever.
Related doctrines
Passages expressing this theme
- 1Cor 1:7 — So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
- 1Cor 15:23 — But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
- 1Cor 15:52 — In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
- 1John 2:28 — And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
- 1Thess 2:19 — For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
- 1Thess 3:13 — To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
- 1Thess 4:16 — 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:
- 1Thess 4:17 — 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.
- 1Thess 5:2 — For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
- 1Thess 5:23 — And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 2Pet 1:16 — For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
- 2Pet 3:4 — And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
- 2Pet 3:10 — But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that
- 2Pet 3:12 — Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
- 2Thess 1:7 — And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
- 2Thess 1:10 — When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
- 2Thess 2:3 — Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
- 2Thess 2:8 — And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
- 2Tim 4:1 — I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
- Acts 1:11 — Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
- Dan 7:13 — 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.
- Heb 9:28 — So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
- Jas 5:7 — Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter ra
- Jas 5:8 — Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
- John 14:3 — And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
The Church Fathers on Second Coming
Paul is referring here to the second coming of Christ.
After a long time, because there is a long interval between the Saviour's ascension and His second coming.
For My second coming, most radiant and most glorious, will not be confined to any one place, but just as lightning is not hidden but appears from one end of the earth to the other, so bright and manifest will My second coming be, and it will be hidden from no one. Therefore, do not yield to the temptations of false…
Or He comes every day with great power to the mind of the believer in the clouds of prophecy, that is, in the Scriptures of the Prophets and the Apostles, who utter the word of God with a meaning above human nature. Also we say that to those who understand He comes with great glory, and that this is the more seen in…
(Epist. 119, 11) All that is said by the three Evangelists concerning the Advent of our Lord, if diligently compared together and examined, will perchance be found to belong to His daily coming in His body, that is, the Church, except those places where that last coming is so promised, as if it were approaching; for…
After the Lord answered the disciples' question about the destruction of the city, here he begins to answer those things that pertain to the second coming. Now this coming is the coming for judgment; therefore it is divided, because first he sets forth the signs and manner of his coming; secondly, he treats of the…