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Defenders Podcast
Defenders 3: Doctrine of the Last Things (Part 8): The Purpose of the Second Coming
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Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig. For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonablefaith.org We've been talking about the second coming of Christ, and last time we talked about the nature of his second coming. Now we want to turn to the subject of the purpose of the second coming. Why will there be such a thing as the second coming of Christ? Let me suggest four purposes that are fulfilled by Christ's coming again. First, Christ's second coming completes the work of redemption. Christ's second coming completes the work which was begun with the cross and the resurrection of Christ, and and now is finally consummated by his return. Let's look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 22 to 28 and 50 to 57. Here Paul writes, for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection under him, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him. That God may be everything to everyone. I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Lo, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy victory? O Death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage it is very clear that the triumphant second coming of Christ completes the work of redemption. It will be the final destruction of sin and of death the last enemy to be destroyed, then all things will be given over to God the Father. As the Son delivers the kingdom to God, so while the kingdom of God is already present here on earth amongst those who know Christ, it will come in triumph and destroy every enemy, especially death at the return of Christ. So first of all, the second coming of Christ completes the work of redemption, freeing us decisively from Satan, death and hell. Second, Christ's second coming is the occasion of the resurrection of the dead. Those who die go into an intermediate state between the death of the body and the final resurrection. We'll talk about that subject later in this class. But the resurrection of the dead will not occur until the return of Christ. That is when the dead will be raised. John 5, 25, 29 is Jesus prediction of this event. Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Here Jesus speaks of the dead, both righteous and unrighteous, which will be called forth from the graves at the time of the return of the Son of man for judgment. That forms a nice segue to the third point. Third, the second coming of Christ will be for the purpose of judging all people. As Jesus said, people in general will be raised from the dead. And and he refers to this as a resurrection of judgment. Look at Matthew, chapter 16 and verse 27 for a reference to this function of the second coming. Jesus says, for the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then his he will repay every man for what he has done. This indicates the coming judgment executed by the Son of man. See also 1 Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 3 and 5. Paul says, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I I do not even judge myself. I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God. Here Paul talks about not judging too quickly. He said, I don't even judge myself. I'm not aware that I'm outside of God's will or in sin in any way. But ultimately it will be the Lord who will bring out every hidden thing and, and disclose the heart purposes of every person. Then judgment will occur. When does this happen? He says it happens when the Lord comes. Finally, see Jude verses 14 and 15, speaking of the unrighteous. He says it was of these also that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying, behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Here he speaks of the Lord coming to bring judgment upon the unrighteous. So there will be a judgment that will occur at the time of the return of Christ. Finally, fourth, the Second Coming serves to gather the church. This is referred to, for example, in. In Matthew 24:29 31, Jesus said, Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. So there will be this great ingathering of the elect of God, of the Christians who are still alive at the time of the return of Christ. The dead will be raised and the elect Christians will be gathered, and together they will be ushered into the kingdom of God. So the work of the Second Coming is multifaceted. It occurs to complete the work of redemption, to resurrect the dead, to bring all people to judgment, and to gather the church. Next time we'll look at one of the most interesting and difficult questions concerning the second coming of Christ, namely, the question of the time of the Second Coming. When is Christ going to return to raise the dead, judge all people, and gather the church? As you can imagine, this is a controversial question on which there are a variety of views. So we'll look forward to discussing that with you next time.