Jesus is coming back! Today, we will consider the question - how?
When Jesus ascended into heaven the first time, the angels declared to the disciples "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." - Acts 1:11. At His trial, Jesus told the High Priest, "Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." - Matthew 26:64. When Jesus comes a second time, He will come on the clouds of heaven. We are told in Revelation 1:7 that when He comes "every eye shall see Him". Paul gives further description of the event: "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:" 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Jesus Himself described His coming - "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." - Matthew 24:27.
Let me summarize: 1) He comes on the clouds, 2) He comes with the earth shattering shout of an archangel, and 3) His coming is so bright it is like lightning the shines from east to the west. His coming is so spectacular that every eye will see Him. It is certainly not a "secret" coming as some have taught. There will be no doubt as to who is arriving! The righteous and the wicked alike will know it is Him. The wicked try to hide, even calling the rocks down on themselves but, the righteous "lift up their heads, for their redemption draweth near." - Luke 21:28.
His second coming is so powerful that even the dead in Christ will rise from the dead! And those who yet alive will be changed and caught up to meet Him in the air - "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." - 1 Thessalonians 4:17. In the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, the words "caught up" is 'rapio' from which we get the word 'rapture'. Some have tried to separate this rapture from His revelation to support their secret coming theory, but, Scripture is plain - they all happen together!
As He comes with the clouds, and the shout of the archangel, and as lightning across the sky, so bright that every eye will see Him; the dead in Christ are resurrected and we who are yet alive will be transformed and caught up to meet Him in the clouds. Paul wrote the Corinthians about it as well; "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." - 1 Corinthians 15:52. The rapture and the revelation of Christ all happen at the same time.
There is another very interesting aspect of this event. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Paul writes that we rise to "meet" the Lord in the air. The Greek word translated 'meet' is 'apantēsis' and it is only used one other time in the New Testament. When Paul was on his way to Rome, the brethren there came out to 'meet' (same word apantēsis) them and escort them into Rome. So we see, that when we rise to meet the Lord in the air, it is to greet Him and accompany Him back to the earth, where we will help Him overcome and judge the wicked. The Book of Jude quotes a prophesy of Enoch that describes this; "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." - Jude 1:14, 15.
The redeemed of the Lord will be active in His victory right from the beginning of His second coming.
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