Christ has two comings. In His first coming He accomplished redemption and became the Spirit to dispense Himself into His believers, thereby accomplishing His New Testament economy and laying down a solid foundation for His second coming. In His coming back Christ will take up and judge the believers, marry His bride, slay the enemy, save the Israelites, judge the nations, and bring in the restoration in the millennium. This lesson will explain the prophecies in both the Old Testament and the New Testament concerning Christ’s coming back. Through these prophecies God’s children can properly understand the truth regarding the Lord’s coming back and eagerly wait for the Lord’s coming in hope.
Concerning Christ’s coming back, the New Testament uses the Greek word parousia, which means “presence” and is used in reference to the coming of an honorable person. The New Testament uses this word to refer to Christ’s coming, indicating that His coming back is His presence as the most honorable person with His believers. In relation to time, Christ’s coming will begin from His throne in the heavens before the great tribulation, the last three and a half years of this age (Matt. 24:37-42; Rev. 12:5; 14:1-5; Luke 21:36), it will continue with His remaining in the air during the great tribulation (1 Thes. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:23; Rev. 10:1), and it will end with His coming from the air to the earth at the end of the great tribulation (2 Thes. 2:8).
Matthew 24:42-44 prophesies that Christ will come secretly as a thief and that no one knows the time of His secret coming: “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes...For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming.” Christ will be sent by God in His second coming as He was in His first coming. The Father is the Sender, and the Son is the sent One. Only the Father who sends the Son knows when that time will be; the Son who is being sent does not know. This is what is said in the Gospels: “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even...the Son, but the Father only” (v. 36; Mark 13:32). Christ’s secret coming is mainly for the rapture of His overcomers so that they may be kept out of the three and a half years of the great tribulation. Hence, the believers should be watchful and prepare themselves for the Lord’s coming.
At His coming back Christ will be the bright morning star to the overcomers (Rev. 22:16), appearing before the darkest hour, prior to the dawn. At the time of Christ’s first appearing, it was not the Jewish religionists but the magi who saw His star (Matt. 2:2, 9-10). At His second appearing Christ will be the morning star as a reward to the overcomers, who love Him and wait in watchfulness for His coming, but to all others He will appear only as the sun (Mal. 4:2). The morning star appears in secret, whereas the sun appears publicly. The Lord promises that if we are watchful and wait for His coming, His appearing as the morning star will be a reward to us.