Good News for All Nations

If the Thessalonians remain faithful to the apostolic message, they will receive the Crown of Glory when Jesus arrives from Heaven – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20. Having turned from dead idols to serve the Living God, the saints of Thessalonica will receive a glorious crown when Jesus returns if they continue their present course. This includes remaining “ blameless ” in conduct and persevering in persecution and tribulation.

The Church of Thessalonica began to serve the Living God and wait eagerly for the arrival of His Son from Heaven – 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10. The saints of Thessalonica responded to the preaching of the Gospel by turning “ from idols to serve the living and true God .” Their life orientation changed radically because of their new allegiance to Jesus Christ. Rather than a comfortable life in Macedonia, they chose a path that guaranteed opposition, trials, and even persecution.

Just as unprepared men were destroyed by the Flood, so unrepentant men and apostates will be overtaken by destruction when Jesus arrives . Jesus compared the final years before his return to the days before the Great Flood. “ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be ” when the “ Son of Man ” returns. In the account in Luke’s Gospel, Christ also equated this future period with the “ days of Lot .” Both analogies stress the same point - (Luke 17:26-30).

Foundational to our future hope is bodily Resurrection when Jesus arrives in glory at the End of the Age . Paul’s description of the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians was written to comfort believers over the fate of their compatriots who die before Christ’s return. We need not sorrow “ like the others ” since the righteous dead will be resurrected when the Lord “arrives” from Heaven.

Central to salvation in the Apostolic tradition is the bodily resurrection of the dead when Jesus arrives to gather his saints . Foundational to our future salvation is the resurrection of the dead. That event will coincide with the future arrival  of Jesus. Our resurrection is based on the past resurrection of Jesus , and our salvation will remain incomplete until he raises the dead, transforms those believers who remain alive, and gathers all his saints (“ He will send his angels, and they will assemble his elect from the ends of the Earth to the ends of heaven ”).

The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will result in our resurrection and the end of the last enemy, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. Certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the dead. In response, the Apostle Paul explained that bodily resurrection is fundamental to Christian salvation, and he pointed to Christ’s past death and resurrection as the precedent for our own resurrection.

The righteous and the unrighteous will be “ gathered ” before Jesus on the Last Day, the former for vindication and salvation, and the latter for condemnation. This event is linked consistently in the New Testament to the “ arrival ” of Jesus at the end of the age when he will resurrect the dead, judge the dead and living, and consummate the Kingdom of God.

Jesus will arrive on the Day of the Lord to raise the dead, judge the wicked, and end death itself . Paul discusses aspects of Christ’s future arrival in his first letter to the Corinthians, including the “ Day of the Lord ,” the consummation of God’s Kingdom, the resurrection of the dead, the bodily transformation of saints still alive when Jesus arrives, the judgment of the wicked, and the end of death.

Jesus will arrive at the end of the present age, rewarding his saints but judging and condemning his enemies . Jesus will arrive at the end of the age “ on the clouds of heaven ,” as promised in the Scriptures. The Day of the Lord will mean the completion of the Kingdom of God, the end of death, the new creation, and the judgment of all men.

The figure of the Son of Man in the Book of Daniel is the source of Christ’s self-designation - The Son of Man . The term “ Son of Man ” is the self-designation heard most often on the lips of Jesus in the gospel accounts. It is from the vision of Daniel of the “ one like a Son of Man ” who received “ the dominion and kingdom .”   All the tribes of the Earth will mourn when “ they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of Heaven .”

The arrival of Jesus will mean the resurrection of the dead, the commencement of the New Creation, and the final judgment . Several Greek terms are applied by the New Testament to the return of Jesus, including ‘ Parousia ’ (“arrival”), ‘ erchomai ’ (“coming”), ‘ apokalupsis ’ (“revelation”), and ‘ epiphaneia ’ (“appearance”). Regardless of which one is used, it is always singular in number, it always refers to only one future “arrival,” “appearance,” “revelation,” or “coming.”

When the subject of the Second Coming is raised, quite naturally, the question of what “sign” or “signs” will precede it is asked, and invariably, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, famines, and similar catastrophes are proposed as harbingers of that day. Yet Jesus himself gave us the  definitive answer  to this question, namely, the  completion of the mission of the Church  to proclaim his salvation and lordship to all nations.