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The Second Coming and Its Consequents | John Calvin · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the deep dive from Reformed Thinking.
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We're an organization that's really dedicated to
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understanding the systematic truth of Scripture.
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And in this deep dive, we're taking that collection of
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sources you sent over, and our mission is to organize them.
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Right, to build a clear framework around some of the,
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well, some of the most certain and frankly dramatic truths in
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all of the Christian faith. Our focus today is pretty
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straightforward. We're looking at cosmic
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eschatology, the study of final things, and we're going to 0 in
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on three specific interconnected events prophesied in the Bible
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and the. Absolute centerpiece here.
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The event that really kicks everything else into motion is
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the second coming of Christ. This one event triggers two
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other massive consequence. First, the resurrection of
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everyone who has ever died. And that resurrection
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immediately sets the stage for the final judgement of, well,
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all of humanity and all created spiritual beings.
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And that sequence, that chronological order, is just so
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vital for understanding how God's plan wraps up.
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It's causal, right? One thing leads directly to the
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next. Exactly.
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The certainty of the Second Coming is the foundation for the
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hope of the resurrection. And you know that universal
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gathering of everyone is what even makes a final judgment
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possible. These three acts really define
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the consummation of God's entire plan in history.
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OK, so let's start where the sources begin, which is with the
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sheer certainty of Christ's return.
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This isn't presented as some, you know, speculative idea.
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It's called an indispensable doctrine.
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It's a very core of the believer's hope.
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The certainty is there right from the moment of Christ's
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departure, I mean right after his ascension.
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You have angels speaking directly to the disciples.
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It's in Acts chapter 1. Right in Acts 1.11.
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Yes, and they say this same Jesus who has been taken from
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you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen
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him go into heaven. It's an unambiguous promise.
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And that passage is so key because it doesn't just confirm
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the fact of His return, it starts to find the character of
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it. Of course, Jesus himself
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confirmed it too, when He told His followers in Matthew 24 that
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people will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven
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with power and great glory. So the event itself is not an
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option, it's a fixed point in the future.
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It's settled. The fact is absolutely settled,
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but, and this is the other side of the coin, scripture is just
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as clear that the time is completely unknown.
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And it's that tension, right? The certainty of the event
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versus the uncertainty of the schedule.
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That's what creates the need for believers to be vigilant.
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It is. Jesus couldn't have been more
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direct about it in Mark 13.32, he says.
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But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels
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in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
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It's a garden secret. So the pastoral instruction we
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see over and over again is be watchful, be prepared.
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Because you just don't know when the owner of the house is going
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to return. It creates this this perpetual
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posture for the church. It's this mix of hopeful
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anticipation, but also this working knowledge that the
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return could happen tomorrow or it could be generations away.
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It keeps you from getting lazy, but it also stops you from
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trying to set dates. It does now.
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You mentioned the character of the return, and the sources
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really break this down by contrasting it with his first
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coming. Right.
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The first Coming was all about humiliation.
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A quiet birth. A ministry met with skepticism.
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A death on a cross. But the Second Coming is the
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absolute opposite. It's the final stage of Christ's
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exultation and the sources layout 5 specific attributes
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that define the character of his return.
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And these attributes are important because they help
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guard against theological errors, right against ideas that
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try to water down what the second coming actually is.
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That's right, the first two are just fundamental.
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The return will be personal and it will be bodily.
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OK, let's unpack that personal. The personal nature is the core
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of it. It's literally Jesus, the same
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historical person, the God man who walked the roads of Galilee
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is the one who is coming back. Not just a spiritual influence
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or something like that, no. Not at all.
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In John 14, Jesus himself says I will come back and take you to
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be with me. It is the Lord Himself
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descending. And the bodily aspect just flows
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right out of that doesn't. I mean, the angels in Acts said
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he would return in the same way he departed.
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And he departed bodily, so he has to return bodily.
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This is such a crucial distinction because it pushes
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back against any view that tries to spiritualize the whole event.
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Like the idea that Pentecost was the real second coming, just in
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spirit. Exactly.
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Or that his coming just refers to his spiritual presence in the
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church today. But Christ has been spiritually
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present since Pentecost, and many of the promises about his
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future coming were written long after that.
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So a literal physical return is still in the future.
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The language is just so physical.
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The body, the clouds, it all points to a real person
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returning. It does.
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The third attribute follows. From this it will be visible.
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Some translations say conspicuous.
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It will be seen by everyone. Yes, and this is vital for
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pushing back on some misinterpretations, both
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historical and contemporary. If the return were secret or
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invisible, how could Matthew 24.30 be true?
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They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven
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with power and great glory. You know, some groups have
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claimed Christ's reign began invisibly on a certain date in
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the past. They have.
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But the sources dismissed this idea because Christ's departure
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was a visible public event that men witnessed with their own
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eyes. The Bible defines his return by
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that same standard of visibility.
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Every eye will see him. The visibility is tied to the
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purpose of the event, isn't it? It has to be seen by the very
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nations he's about to judge. Absolutely.
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OK, so #4 it will be unexpected. This goes back to the indefinite
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timing. The sources talk about signs
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that will happen before the event.
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Things like widespread war, apostasy, the great Tribulation.
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Right. Even cosmic disruptions, the sun
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darkening, and so on. But those signs don't won't give
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you a countdown clock. They tell you the season is
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near, but not the hour. And that unexpected nature means
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it's going to catch a lot of people completely off guard.
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Paul warns in First Thessalonians that sudden
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destruction will come when people are saying peace and
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safety and feeling secure. It'll be like the days of Noah.
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The world will just be going about its business, completely
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unaware that the clock has run out.
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That surprise element is a deliberate part of God's
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justice. It is.
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And finally, the 5th attribute, the return will be triumphant
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and glorious. This is the ultimate contrast.
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If the first coming was humiliation, this is Christ's
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full final exaltation. He's not coming back as the
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Suffering Servant. He's the conquering King.
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He descends with great glory with his angels announced by the
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Archangel and the trumpet of God.
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His purpose is to judge, to sit on His glorious throne and judge
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all nations. You know, it creates such a
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powerful dramatic irony when you think about.
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It it really does. To think that Christ stood
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there, judged and condemned at the end of his earthly life,
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mocked by earthly rulers, and then to know He will return and
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sit as the supreme undeniable judge over those same kinds of
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rulers and systems. It just underscores the absolute
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sovereignty of God over all of history.
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OK, so let's shift a little bit and talk about the language, the
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vocabulary used for this return, because this is where a lot of
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the big end times debates really hinge, isn't it?
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It is specifically the debate over whether the second coming
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is 1 single unified event or if it's a two stage process.
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A process separated by something like the Great Tribulation.
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That's the one, and the debate often boils down to three major
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Greek terms that are used for Christ's return Perogia,
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apocalypsis, and epiphania. So there's a major view out
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there, often tied to pertribulationism, that tries to
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divide these terms up. How does that usually work?
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Well, they argue for separation in meaning.
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They suggest that Perugia, which literally just means presence or
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arrival, refers to a secret invisible stage.
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The so-called secret rapture. Right, the coming for the
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Saints, which they say happens before the tribulation.
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Then they reserve the other two words, apocalyxis, which means
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Revelation and Epiphania appearing for the public
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glorious stage at the very end, the coming with the Saints.
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So their whole timeline is built on separating the vocabulary.
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It is, but the sources we're looking at argue very strongly
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against this. They conclude that the
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vocabulary points to a single unified event.
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So what's the strongest scriptural argument against
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separating these terms? The key is just to look at how
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the New Testament authors actually use the words.
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If they were describing 2 totally separate events, you'd
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expect their usage to be distinct and consistent.
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But it's not. Not at all.
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They use them interchangeably to describe the loudest, most
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public events you can imagine. OK, give us an example.
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What about Perugia, the word they reserved for the secret
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part? Well, if Perugia were secret, it
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would be quiet, right? But First Thessalonians 4 uses
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Perugia to describe an event with a command from Christ, the
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voice of an Archangel, the trumpet call of God, and the
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Dead Rising from their graves. That's about as loud and
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conspicuous as it gets. It's not subtle.
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And then you have Two Thessalonians 2.8 which uses
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Perugia to describe the event where Christ destroys the man of
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lawlessness. That is an undeniably public
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historical act of judgment that everyone on earth will see.
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So the word Perugia is tied directly to loud public final
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events. And what about the other two
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terms, Apocalypsis and Epiphania?
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Are they only used for that final public return?
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No, and that's the other part of the problem for the two stage
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view. Those words are also applied to
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the church's immediate hope. The church is told to eagerly
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await the Apocalypsis, the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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That's in First Corinthians, I see.
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And Paul describes the believers 1 hope as the blessed hope and
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Epiphania, the appearing of Jesus.
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That's in Pitas. So if the Church's hope is the
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Epiphania, which the two stage view says is at the end of the
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tribulation, then the supposed secret rapture before it just
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doesn't work as the primary hope.
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So the conclusion from the sources is that these 3 words
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are basically synonyms. They're describing different
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aspects. The arrival, the revelation, the
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appearing of one single glorious public second coming.
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That's the argument, and that unified view leads us right into
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a nuanced discussion about timing.
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We have to be careful to distinguish between the words
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imminent and impending. Let's define those clearly for
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everyone. Imminent would mean it could
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happen at any second, no preconditions needed at all.
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Correct, whereas impending suggests the event is absolutely
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certain to happen, but there are some known conditions or
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prophecies that have to be fulfilled first.
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Now those those who argue for strict imminence, they really
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lean on Jesus's commands to be watchful, right?
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Their logic is that if there were any preconditions, then
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we'd know for sure certain times when it couldn't happen.
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And that would, in their view, cancel out the need for constant
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readiness. But.
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The sources we have argue against that strict eminence by
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pointing to preconditions that are stated right there in
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Scripture. What are some of those?
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There are a few very clear ones. First, Jesus himself told
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parables that indicated a delay, like the one about the nobleman
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who went to a far country. That clearly suggests the
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passage of time. Right.
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And then there were specific events.
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Jesus prophesied the temple's destruction, for instance, which
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happened in 70 AD. That had to happen first.
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It did, and think about the Great Commission, Jesus says in
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Matthew 24. The Gospel must be preached in
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all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the
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end will come. So the Second coming literally
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could not have happened until that global mission was
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underway. A strictly imminent return was
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impossible for the early church. It was, and there was another
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one very specific to Peter. Jesus told him how he would die
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in old age. If Christ had returned the day
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after he ascended, that prophecy about Peter would have been made
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false. So, OK, if there are definite
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preconditions, we can't really say the event is strictly
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imminent. But then how do we keep that
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sense of urgency that Jesus commanded?
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And that's where the analogy and the sources really helps.
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Think about ordering a package. You know the package is coming,
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It's certain, so it's impending. But you also know the delivery
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track has to cross three state lines and make four other stops
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before it gets to you. So I know it can't be here in
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the next 5 minutes. Exactly.
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You know those preconditions have to be met.
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But once those preconditions are met, the time remaining is
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totally unpredictable. At that point, the event
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becomes, for all practical purposes, imminent.
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So we should think of the whole complex of events around the
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second coming as being perpetually imminent.
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We always need to be ready for that season to arrive.
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Yes, but the second Coming itself, in the grand scheme of
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history, is best described as impending.
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It's certain to happen once God's timetable of fulfilled
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prophecy is complete. That's a helpful distinction.
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It gives you urgency without getting into date setting and
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speculation. It provides a stable framework.
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OK, so the second coming with its trumpet blast and the
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Archangel's voice immediately kicks off the next massive
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event, the resurrection. This is really where the hope
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for the individual believer comes to its glorious
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conclusion. It is, and the sources outline a
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very clear teaching on the resurrection.
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They break it down into three main characteristics.
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It's a work of the Tryon God, it's bodily, and it's absolutely
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universal in its scope. Let's spend a minute on the
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Trinitarian nature of this. I think that's something people
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don't always consider. It's an act so big that all
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three persons of the Godhead are involved.
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That's right, the Father's role is that of the ultimate
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orchestrator, the one who raises.
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Paul explains this in Romans 8.11, that the Father, he who
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raised Christ from the dead, will also give life to our
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mortal bodies. And he does this through the
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Spirit. Precisely.
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The raising is done through the Spirit who lives in the
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believer. So the Spirit acts as the agent
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of that renewal, preparing the body for its eternal state.
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And the Son Jesus isn't just the one returning, He is the entire
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basis for our hope of resurrection.
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He is the guarantee. Christ is called the first born
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from among the dead. That title indicates his
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supremacy, and it's a promise that where the head has gone,
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the body the church has to follow.
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As Paul says, if Christ didn't rise, our faith is useless.
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It's all for nothing, but because He rose bodily and
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perfectly, our future resurrection is guaranteed by
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His. His resurrection is the pattern,
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the promise, and the power behind ours.
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OK, let's move to the scope of this resurrection, which is a
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difficult truth, but an unavoidable one in Scripture.
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It is universal. It includes both the righteous
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and the unrighteous. And this universality is
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structurally necessary for what comes next.
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The final judgement requires every single soul who has ever
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lived to stand before the judge. And for that to happen, the dead
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have to be physically re embodied, yes.
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The body was the instrument for the deeds done during earthly
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life, whether good or bad, So the body must be present to
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receive the verdict. The prophet Daniel talked about
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this thousands of years ago in Daniel 12.
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He said multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will
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awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting
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contempt. There are no exceptions, and
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Jesus says the same thing in John five.
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He states very clearly that all who are in their graves will
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hear his voice and come out. Those who have done what is good
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will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise
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to be condemned. So even the bodies of the wicked
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are resurrected. They are, but not for renewed
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life and joy. They're resurrected specifically
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to receive condemnation in their physical forms.
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This universal resurrection is the mandatory step that gathers
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every human being from the very first to the very last to the
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judgement seat. Now this brings up another
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critical point the sources make distinguishing the biblical
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resurrection from what we might call resuscitation.
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They're not the same thing at all.
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Not even close if the resurrection was just bringing a
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body back to life like what happened with Lazarus.
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That body would still be subject to decay and sickness, and it
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would eventually die again. Exactly.
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That's resuscitation. It's a temporary fix.
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But the biblical resurrection is totally superior.
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It delivers the imperishable. Paul is so emphatic about this.
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In First Corinthians 15 he says flesh and blood cannot inherit
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the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
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imperishable. So our current physical bodies
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in their current state are not fit for eternity.
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They have to undergo a radical change.
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A complete transformation. The sources call it a
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metamorphosis. They define it as the
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utilization of the old body, but a transformation of it.
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So there's a continuity of identity.
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It's still you, but the composition is entirely
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different. The Apostle Paul calls this new
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form the spiritual body. Right.
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And he contrasts it with the natural body or the soulish body
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that's buried. Now that term spiritual can be
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confusing. People might think it means non
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physical like a ghost. But that's not what it means.
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It doesn't mean it's ethereal. It means the body is now
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completely governed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
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It's free from sin, weakness, and decay.
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It's a body that is perfectly suited for eternal life in God's
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presence. So it's still a material body,
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but it's material that's been made fit for glory.
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What does that mean for how it functions?
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It means it will be perfected. No more pain, no sickness, no
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death. Every physical limitation or
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imperfection we have now will be gone.
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Jesus also hinted at a dramatic change in earthly functions like
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marriage, suggesting our existence will be on a whole new
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plane. And the model for this new body
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is Christ's own glorious body. Yes, but we have to be precise
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here. We're not necessarily being
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molded on the body Christ had in the 40 days between his
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resurrection and ascension. The one that still had the
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wounds and eight fish. Right.
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We are being modeled on his current post ascension body, the
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body of his completed exaltation, the one that is fit
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to be at the right hand of the father.
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It's a total qualitative shift. To help us get our minds around
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this idea, retained identity but a total change in substance.
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The sources use that really powerful analogy of
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petrification. Yes.
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Think of a log that gets buried in mud.
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Over millions of years, mineral rich water seeps through it and
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every single organic cell is slowly replaced by a mineral
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deposit like silica. So it turns to stone.
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It turns to stone. The original form, the shape,
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the grain of the wood. The identity of that log is
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perfectly preserved. You can still see exactly what
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it was, but it's composition is now something completely
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different, something imperishable.
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It keeps the memory of the form, but it's made of an eternal
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material. That's the idea.
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Our identity is maintained, but the composition is radically new
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and fit for the glory of God. It implies a complete reset of
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all our physical needs. This new body won't need food or
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sleep in the same way. It's the complete fulfillment of
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our physical redemption. So the Second Coming gives us
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the judge. The Universal Resurrection
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gathers all the subjects, and that leads us right to the final
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act in this cosmic framework, the final judgement.
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This is it, the moment of final resolution.
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All accounts are settled and the eternal fate of every created
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being is sealed. The first question, of course,
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is who is the judge? Now we know God the Father is
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the ultimate authority, but the sources are very clear that the
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Father delegates this role entirely to the Son, to Jesus
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Christ. He does.
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Christ Himself says this in John 5.22.
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Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all
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judgement to the Son. And the reason he's given that
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authority is tied to his humanity.
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Yes, because he is the Son of Man, and this choice makes him
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perfectly qualified. He's fully God, so he has the
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omniscience and the perfect justice required.
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But he's also fully man, so he has a genuine, lived
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understanding of the human condition.
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The apostles preach this consistently.
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Peter says in Acts that Jesus is the one whom God appointed as
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judge of the living and the dead.
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And Paul said in Athens that God has set a day when he will judge
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the world with justice by the man he has appointed.
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So Christ's role as judge is central to both salvation and
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condemnation. And this brings us back again to
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that powerful irony we talked about earlier, the sheer
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reversal of the situation. He's.
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Staggering. I mean Christ, the one arrested,
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dragged before human judges like Caiaphas and Pilate, mocked and
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condemned. That same man now sits on his
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glorious throne to judge all nations, including the very
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systems that put him to death. It is the ultimate vindication
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of who he is. It shows that no human
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authority, no matter how powerful it seems, will escape
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the final judgement of the one they crucified.
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Now, the sources also mentioned that believers will somehow
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share in the judging. How does that work if Christ has
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all the authority? It's a fascinating aspect of our
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final glorification. Paul says in First Corinthians
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that believers will judge the world and even judge angels, and
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Jesus promised the disciples they would sit on 12 Thrones
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judging the tribes of Israel. So what does that look like?
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It suggests that believers, once justified by Christ, will
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participate in administering his final rule, perhaps by publicly
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affirming the justice of his verdicts or by serving as
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visible symbols of his complete triumph.
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But the authority is Christ's alone.
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We're just Co reigning and participating in his declared
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judgment. OK, so let's talk about the
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scope. Who is being judged first?
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It's all humanity. No one is left out.
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Paul couldn't be clearer in Romans 14.10.
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We will all stand before God's judgement seat.
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And that's not just for non believers.
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Every human who has ever lived must appear.
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This brings up a common question.
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Believers also appear before the judgement seat of Christ.
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If we're already justified by faith, what's the point?
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This review. That's a great question.
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The sources confirm that the judgement of believers is not to
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determine their eternal destiny that was already settled by
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faith, faith in Christ. So it's not a retrial.
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No, rather this judgment is to make public their status and to
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evaluate their works for the purpose of rewards.
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It's the public vindication of God's grace and a demonstration
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of the believers faithfulness. This leads to a really sensitive
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but crucial question. If we are justified, will the
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sins of believers still be revealed at the judgment?
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If our sins have been removed, why would they be brought up
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again? This is something that needs to
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be handled with great care. Scripture teaches that all
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secrets will be revealed. The judgement is an evaluation
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of everything done in the body, whether good or bad.
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So they will be revealed. It seems so.
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The sins of believers will likely be revealed, but, and
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this is the critical distinction, they will be
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revealed as pardon sins. OK, so the revelation of those
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sins actually serves a powerful theological purpose.
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Serves at least two. First, it demonstrates the
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staggering reality of God's grace.
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It shows just how lost the believer was and how complete
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the forgiveness in Christ really is.
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It proves the cross was sufficient for everything.
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It magnifies grace. It does.
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And 2nd it relates to rewards. Paul talks about how some works
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will be burned away like wood, hay and stubble.
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Revealing past sins might help in discerning the true quality
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and motivation behind the works we did after we were saved.
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And it's not just humanity being judged.
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The sources confirm that evil angels will be judged at this
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time too. That's right, these spiritual
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beings are also accountable. Peter writes that God held the
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angels who sinned in chains of darkness for judgement.
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Jude says the same. So the judgement is truly
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cosmic. It covers every creature that
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has rebelled against God. So now we get to the how?
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What's the basis for the evaluation?
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The sources? Layout?
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2 components that work together. Right component 1 is the earthly
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life and deeds. A person's actions are the
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public evidence, Paul says. We appear so that each of us may
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receive what is due us for the things done while in the body,
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whether good or bad. The books are opened and they
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contain the record of our lives. And we have to be so careful
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here. Deeds are the evidence, but they
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are not the source of our acceptance with God.
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Absolutely not. The sources warn against
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thinking that just doing outwardly good things is enough.
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Jesus himself warned that some people who claim to do great
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deeds in his name will be told. Depart from me.
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I never knew you. So the deeds are just a
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reflection of the heart. They confirm the reality of a
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person's relationship with Christ.
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They don't create it. That's it.
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And that leads to the second component, the revealed will of
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God. This is the absolute unchanging
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standard that the evidence the deeds is measured against.
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So God's revelation is the standard.
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It is for those who heard Christ's teaching.
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His words will be the standard, He said.
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The very words I've spoken will condemn them at the last day.
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His demands are absolute. What about those who live, say,
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apart from the law? People who didn't have the
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written scriptures. God's standard is still
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perfectly just, Paul writes in Romans 2.
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All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the
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law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
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So God's justice is calibrated to what a person knew.
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It is, even without the written law, the standard of God's
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justice. Written on the heart, the
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conscience, and seen in creation is enough to hold people
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accountable for their rebellion. No one will have a credible
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excuse. And we have to under score the
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finality of this verdict. It is permanent and irrevocable.
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Jesus ends his teaching on the final judgment by stating that
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ultimate separation. The wicked go to eternal
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punishment, the righteous to eternal life.
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Once the judge speaks, that's it.
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The verdict is fixed for all eternity.
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No appeals, no reversals. So this has been a really
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comprehensive deep dive. We've laid out a crystal clear
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framework for the future, all organized around these
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certainties in Scripture. We started with the Second
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Coming, that single impending, visible and glorious event.
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Which then initiates the resurrection, a necessary
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universal and transformative event, giving us that new
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imperishable spiritual body. All of which culminates in the
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final judgement, which is executed by Christ Himself,
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based on the evidence of our deeds, weighed against the
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perfect standard of God's revealed will.
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And, you know, these certainties have immediate implications for
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anyone listening. First, they just affirm that
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history isn't random or meaningless.
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It's moving toward a definite, predetermined consummation under
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God's sovereign control. History has a point.
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And second, this framework guarantees that real, absolute
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justice will be dispensed, every wrong will be righted, and every
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act of faithfulness will be publicly rewarded.
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It validates God's righteous government over everything.
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And finally, because the Second Coming is fixed and the
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judgement is irrevocable, it's a powerful call to action for us
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right now. We have to live in a state of
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readiness, acting in line with God's will.
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The Judgement Day isn't just some future event, it's meant to
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be a present motivation for holiness.
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You know, we spent some time on the incredible nature of the
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resurrection body, how our perishable bodies will be
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transformed into these imperishable pain free vessels
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fit for eternity. We use that analogy of
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petrification, keeping the same identity but with a completely
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new perfected composition. So here's a final thought to
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leave with you. Since that ultimate physical
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redemption is guaranteed, and since our bodies will be raised
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to be perfectly fit for holiness and glory, how should that sure
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hope change the way we steward, treat, and even think about our
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current perishable bodies right now?
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That is the essential link, isn't it, between doctrine and
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life. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive. We hope this systematic approach
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to eschatology brings both clarity and hope.
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We look forward to exploring the truths of Scripture with you
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again soon.