The Final Coming of Christ
Our Hope in the Resurrection in the End of Days
Good Morning,
The next obvious question after speaking about the nature of life after death for the believer is what takes place next in the order of God’s promises. For Christians our true hope and the reason why we die in peace and comfort is because we understand, through the vow made to us in our Savior, that we will partake in the resurrection on the last day in our glorified state. Yet, as with the apostles who inquired to Jesus about the same thing we have wonderings in our heart about the how, when, where, etc... of this future blessing. Our Larger Catechism queries and responses today are going to help us understand how to properly consider the resurrection, how to live in light of that hope, and why it is we can trust in the word spoken by Christ to His Father in the high priestly prayer of John 17, namely v.24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”.
As we approach the Q/A for today let’s come with a mind to listen, be encouraged, as well as to be reproved a little for our attempts to peer behind the curtain. There are a couple of aspects of the Second Coming that are spoken about here that may fly in the face of things you have been told of the Millennium as well as the so-called “rapture”. While the Larger Catechism does not speak on them explicitly the content of the below will speak to them in a way which should help us better understand the Biblical case for why we as ARPs do not believe in the pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib conceptions of Christ’s return. Let’s go ahead and read them for ourselves:
Q. 87: What are we to believe concerning the resurrection?
A. We are to believe, that at the last day there shall be a general resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust: when they that are then found alive shall in a moment be changed; and the self-same bodies of the dead which were laid in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the power of Christ. The bodies of the just, by the Spirit of Christ, and by virtue of his resurrection as their head, shall be raised in power, spiritual, incorruptible, and made like to his glorious body; and the bodies of the wicked shall be raised up in dishonor by him, as an offended judge.
Q. 88: What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?
A. Immediately after the resurrection shall follow the general and final judgment of angels and men; the day and hour whereof no man knows, that all may watch and pray, and be ever ready for the coming of the Lord.
The passage that our catechism question cites to begin with is Acts 24:15 which states, “I have hope in God, which [the prophets] themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” In the context we have a conversation ongoing between the apostle Paul and the Roman governor Felix. The former is explaining to the latter how his Christian testimony aligns with the Old Testament, and differs from the Jewish scoffers that seek to discredit Paul’s words. As he exposits the text Paul shows Felix in an apologetic way that Felix needs to understand that there is no escaping the final judgment. All men, the just and the unjust, will be raised at the end of days, at the same time, and will all face the same prosecution for their sins. The difference of course between the just and the unjust will not be their personal keeping of the law, but the work which was done on the behalf of the just, by their Redeemer, Jesus Christ the Righteous. It is for Felix time to make a decision, and sadly as the chapter continues we hear that Felix is “almost persuaded”, but providence intervenes with a company transfer and he is taken out of the presence of Paul to hear the gospel message no more.
It is one of the sadder tales of the Bible, but one of the most potent for the Q/A’s.
A criticism some make of the Larger Catechism is that it is like a car manual, there to tell you how to fix stuff and where to find the parts. Which has always struck me as an odd critique. We need manuals to know that kind of stuff. However, the devotional aspect of what we see above is an important part of understanding why catechizing is important. The more we read and hear of what the Lord has done for us the more our hearts are strengthened and molded in the image of the Son. In the day Christ returns we hear that all those on Earth who are alive at the day along with those who have died in Jesus will be immediately and irrevocably changed. Their countenance as well as their very person will be glorified. There was a foretaste of this told to us in the book of Matthew when at the death of Christ the graves gave up their dead to witness to His coming resurrection. Like Lazarus’s own coming again these men and women who were gone, were now here. Yet, unlike these and the example of Lazarus the future resurrection is a permanent one. We are not taken up into the clouds to await the fullness of Jesus’s earthly reign for according to Revelation 21 and 22 He is coming here in power and glory to establish His eternal kingdom with those who belong unto Him. See also 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [d]asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
This event being described is concurrent with the Day of Judgment as spoken about in our catechism question above. The Great White Throne will be here, and in the day of our Lord’s ruling those who belong unto Him will remain, while those wicked whose bodies will be raised in dishonor will be tossed into the Lake of Fire with the condemned angels and princes.
In closing, the last clause in the second catechism question should be on our hearts and minds daily. Are we prepared and ready for Christ’s return? Or are we acting/living like Pagans having put the whole matter out of our worldview? The answer to this makes all the difference. We must be in regular contemplation not only of the awesomeness of that day, but in humble readiness to meet our maker in all joy and thanksgiving for His gracious gift of eternal life by grace alone.
Here is a last word:
https://www.reformation21.org/blogs/the-truth-about-the-rapture.php
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church