JESUS IS COMING AGAIN
We believe in the personal and bodily return of Jesus Christ to this earth…
Conservative Christians who believe in the veracity of the Bible often disagree on details of the end times. We have differing opinions of the tribulation, of the timing of the rapture, of the identity of the antichrist, and of the nature and timing of the ‘millennium’, the thousand-year reign of Revelation 20.
But all conservative Christians agree that Jesus Christ will return to earth someday, as in our statement of faith (quoted above).
When the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven, the angels told them “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1.11).
“This Jesus” – the same person, the one who died, was buried, and rose again – and so that same person will return someday.
“In the same way” – Jesus ascended bodily and so will return bodily.
Since Jesus left from the earth it is reasonable to assume He will return to the earth.
Someone might ask: How else would Jesus come?
Some liberal Christians believe that Jesus “returns” when He “comes” to take a soul to heaven at death. They believe the ‘return’ of Jesus is personal, but not bodily or “to the earth”.
Others liberal Christians see the ‘return of Jesus’ as figurative – fulfilled in the progress of human goodness in the world, perhaps by the work of the Holy Spirit in the souls of men. In this view Christ ‘returns to the earth’, but His return is neither personal nor bodily.
We conservatives wouldn’t deny that Jesus might welcome a soul to heaven at death or that the Spirit of God might bring about goodness in the world. But we would say that neither of these things fits the bill of the return of the Christ taught by Jesus Himself and passed onto us by His apostles.
We affirm this simple truth about the return of Jesus Christ, leaving room for differences of opinion on other matters relating to the end times which really are not fundamentals of the faith.
Conservative Christians who believe in the veracity of the Bible often disagree on details of the end times. We have differing opinions of the tribulation, of the timing of the rapture, of the identity of the antichrist, and of the nature and timing of the ‘millennium’, the thousand-year reign of Revelation 20.
But all conservative Christians agree that Jesus Christ will return to earth someday, as in our statement of faith (quoted above).
When the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven, the angels told them “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1.11).
“This Jesus” – the same person, the one who died, was buried, and rose again – and so that same person will return someday.
“In the same way” – Jesus ascended bodily and so will return bodily.
Since Jesus left from the earth it is reasonable to assume He will return to the earth.
Someone might ask: How else would Jesus come?
Some liberal Christians believe that Jesus “returns” when He “comes” to take a soul to heaven at death. They believe the ‘return’ of Jesus is personal, but not bodily or “to the earth”.
Others liberal Christians see the ‘return of Jesus’ as figurative – fulfilled in the progress of human goodness in the world, perhaps by the work of the Holy Spirit in the souls of men. In this view Christ ‘returns to the earth’, but His return is neither personal nor bodily.
We conservatives wouldn’t deny that Jesus might welcome a soul to heaven at death or that the Spirit of God might bring about goodness in the world. But we would say that neither of these things fits the bill of the return of the Christ taught by Jesus Himself and passed onto us by His apostles.
We affirm this simple truth about the return of Jesus Christ, leaving room for differences of opinion on other matters relating to the end times which really are not fundamentals of the faith.