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The second coming is soon. In fact, Jesus promised His disciples that He would come again. John 14:1-3 says, “Let not your heart be troubled...In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus will come back soon. However, no one knows the exact time when Jesus is coming again. Mark 13:32 says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Interestingly, the disciples asked Jesus the same question just before He returned to heaven. At that time, Jesus told them it was not for them to know the times or seasons which are in the Father’s authority. Therefore, Jesus may come back tomorrow, next month, next year or 100 years from now. So what does this mean for you and me? Always be ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Watch and focus on Jesus because the devil is seeking to distract mankind from understanding the signs and closeness of Jesus’ coming.
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Jesus is patiently waiting to come back, because He is giving humanity as much time as possible to choose and follow Him. Jesus wants as many people as possible to repent and return to heaven with Him. 2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
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There are many confusing non-biblical theories about the second coming of Christ which distract many people. Will He appear spiritually to only a select few? Will Jesus’ second coming only be in certain physical locations? Will Jesus appear in the desert? Jesus warned about deceptions in the last days. In fact, in Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus cautions believers not to be deceived by people coming in the name of Jesus claiming to be Christ. Therefore, our only safeguard is to turn to the Bible alone for answers.
Many people ask, how many people will see Jesus when He returns? Christ’s second coming will be bright, loud and glorious. This event cannot be hidden, every human on planet earth will see Jesus. He will come back personally and literally. Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him.” There will not be a person on earth who is unaware of Jesus’ return. Jesus Himself describes the manner of His coming. Matthew 24:27 states that the return of Christ will be like the brightness of lightning illuminating the entire sky from the east to the west. Verses 30 and 31 of the same chapter describe Jesus coming with power and great glory and with the sound of a great trumpet, that awakens the righteous dead who are then gathered from the ends of the earth. Learn more about Jesus coming back as a thief in the night.
Christians should be on guard, watching and praying until the day of the Lord. The Bible says in Luke 21:34-36, “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
We know Jesus’ second coming will be a literal event and will be just like He went to heaven the first time. Acts 1:9-11 says the following, “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’”
The Bible says that the angels will return with Jesus and they will come with a loud sound of the trumpet to gather from the whole earth those who have died in Christ. (Matt 16:27; 24:31; 25:31)
At Jesus’ second coming the righteous dead will be raised to life and taken up to heaven along with the righteous who are still alive on the earth. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
When Jesus returns to earth the wicked who are left alive will call for the rocks and hills to fall on them because they cannot look upon the face of Christ (Revelation 6:15-17). The wicked will be destroyed with everlasting destruction because they did not know God or obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
At the moment of Jesus’ second coming, at the last trump, the mortal bodies of the saved will be transformed and they will receive immortal bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:52-53 says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
The Bible says that Jesus is coming back to reward the inhabitants of the earth and bring many back to heaven with Him (Revelation 22:12). The Bible also says in Matthew 25:34, “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”
Jesus, more than anything, wants to spend time with you. He invites you to return to heaven with Him to enjoy an eternity with no more tears, pain or suffering. What would keep you from accepting the invitation of Christ? What would keep you from putting Him first in your life? What would be more important than saying, “I want to pattern my life after Jesus and soon live with Him forever?”
Original article located on Bibleinfo.com: Second Coming of Jesus