The Second Coming of Christ Will Be… (Luke 17:22-30 and Acts 1:11)

In Luke 17:22-30 lightning is a metaphor for the Second Coming of Christ. Just as lightning is visible, quick, and unexpected, Jesus's Second Coming will be too. In Acts 1:11 the angels said Jesus would return from heaven the same way that He ascended to heaven: bodily and physically for all to see. Table of contentsFirst, Like Lightning, the Second Coming of Christ Will Be VisiblePreterism Is the Belief That the Future Is in the PastPartial PreterismFull Preterism Is HereticalSecond, Like Lightning, the Second Coming of Christ Will Be QuickSuffering and Then GloryJesus's Second Coming Is Associated with Two Familiar Accounts of JudgmentFirst, the Days of NoahSecond, the Days of LotThird, Like Lightning, the Second Coming of Christ Will Be UnexpectedJesus’s First Coming Was for Salvation and His Second Coming is for JudgmentIf We Don't Want to Be Taken by SurpriseFootnotes https://youtu.be/-nMUXR7tfLs In Luke 17:22-30 lightning is a metaphor for the Second Coming of Christ. Acts 1:11 teaches Jesus will return from heaven like He ascended. Contrast allows things to stand out. For example, when the moon is out during the day, we can’t see it very well, because it is close to the color of the sky. But we can see the moon very well at night, because its white and gray color stands out so sharply against the black night sky. Similarly, lightning stands out incredibly well against the night sky, because of its bright white color against the black background. Jesus chose lightning as a metaphor for His Second Coming: Luke 17:22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. Jesus was going to be gone from the disciples and they were going to long to see Him. But he said they would not be able to, because they would not be alive when He returned. Maranatha was the common greeting among Christians in the early church. It is an Aramaic word that means “the Lord is coming” or “come, O Lord.” The desire the disciples would have to see Christ is the same desire we should have. Many New Testament verses encourage us as believers to have this desire. Here are a few: 1 Corinthians 1:7 As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 1:10 Wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Titus 2:13 Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ Jude 20 Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. There were going to be people claiming that Jesus had returned, and he did not want His disciples misled into thinking that He had returned in some secret or mysterious way that was concealed from the world. Because, the truth is, there will be no mistaking when Jesus has returned. There are three reasons it is very fitting to compare Jesus’s Second Coming with lightning. First, Like Lightning, the Second Coming of Christ Will Be Visible The disciples would not need to believe people who said, “Look, there!” or “Look, here!” because the Second Coming will be as visible as lightning that lights up the whole sky. In the Amplified Bible, Luke 17:24 reads, "For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, gives light to the other part of the sky, so [visible] will the Son of Man be in His day." There will be no mistaking when Jesus returns. It will be universally visible. Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Despite everything Jesus had taught, there were two things the disciples did not understand that led to their question in Acts 1:6: They didn’t understand that Jesus would leave them. Jesus spiritually established His Kingdom in His First Coming, and He was going to physically establish His kingdom at His Second Coming. But the disciples thought He was going to physically establish His kingdom now. But one thing the disciples were not confused about was that there would be a physical kingdom established on the earth: This mirrored what Christ taught and what the Old Testament predicted. Otherwise, [Jesus] would have corrected them about such a crucial aspect of His teaching. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary, page 1432. Jesus told the disciples they didn’t need to worry about the timing of His Second Coming. Instead, they needed to worry about remaining faithful until that time (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit would come upon them and empower them to be His witnesses worldwide. This is still the mission today as we preach the gospel and send missionaries all over the globe. The cloud that received Jesus is the glory cloud, or Shekinah, that represented God’s presence receiving His Son into heaven. This is the cloud that went with the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 13:20–22). This is the same cloud God spoke to Moses from (Exodus 33). To make it simple, the words a cloud took [Jesus] out of their sight means God the Father. More than likely, the two men in Acts 1:10 were angels. It seems like they had to show up, because the disciples would have stood here staring into heaven until Jesus returned. The angels clearly said Jesus would return from heaven the same way that He went to heaven (Acts 1:11). He ascended to heaven bodily and physically, so He is going to return from heaven bodily and physically for all to see. Preterism Is the Belief That the Future Is in the Past Preterism is based on the Latin preter, which means “past” It is the eschatological or prophetic view that the end times were fulfilled in 70 A.D. when Rome attacked Jerusalem. One important distinction is there are two groups. Partial Preterism Partial preterism is the belief that most of the book of Revelation and the Olivet Discourse, such as the Rapture, Tribulation, Antichrist, and mark of the beast, were already fulfilled. But they still look forward to the Second Coming of Christ to physically establish His kingdom on the earth. R. C. Sproul, Kenneth L. Gentry, Gary DeMar, and Hank Hanegraaff (the Bible Answer Man) are well-known partial preterists. The Orthodox Presbyterians (OPC) and the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) are partial preterists in terms of denominations. Full Preterism Is Heretical Full preterism is the belief that ALL future events, such as Jesus’s Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment, are in the past. In the case of the final judgment, they believe it is still is in the process of being fulfilled. Many full preterists believe that we are living in a form of the new heavens and new earth of Revelation 21 and 22. Even though partial preterists and full preterists would seem to be close together eschatologically, because they are both preterists, there is actually a world of difference between the two. There is so much difference that partial preterists are within the realm of Orthodox Christianity, but because full preterists deny a future Second Coming of Christ and future resurrection of the dead, they are outside the realm of Orthodox Christianity. In other words, full preterists are heretics. I couldn’t find any recognizable, respected full preterists or full preterist denominations. Second, Like Lightning, the Second Coming of Christ Will Be Quick Revelation 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John The "things that must soon take place" refer to the events described in the following chapters. Preterists cling to these words and date the writing of the book of Revelation earlier than 70AD, so that they can say the events describe what occurred in 70 A.D. There is strong evidence to support the book of Revelation being written in the last decade of the first century around 95 AD, near the end of Emperor Domitian’s reign (81-96), and well after Rome attacked Jerusalem. In other words, Revelation couldn’t describe events in 70AD. The word for "soon" is tachos, and it means, “quickness, speed.” It is related to our word tachometer: Acts 12:7 An angel…struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly (tachos).” And the chains fell off his hands. Acts 22:18 “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly (tachos).” There is another Greek word used to refer to something happening in the near future: Revelation 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for THE TIME IS NEAR. The Greek word for "near" is engys. Revelation 1:1 is not referring to WHEN Jesus will return (soon after John wrote this). It is referring to HOW Jesus will return (quickly). The NKJV has an asterisk that says soon can also be translated as “quickly” or “swiftly,” and the HCSB says what must QUICKLY take place. Revelation 3:11 I am coming soon (tachos).