7 Reasons Christ Will Come the Second Time

Okay. Well, let's go through... I'll just quickly go through what we covered in the sermon and then pick up where we left off there. We talked about seven reasons why Jesus came the first time and why God would even do this to have Him come twice. But it's obvious in the first time that He had to come as a human being.

To fulfill the way God wants to do this, He had to come as a human being. So the reason He came the first time was Jesus came to redeem mankind from the death penalty that we all have incurred upon ourselves and we can't get rid of it. We can't save ourselves. We all have sinned. We all have sinned. Part of us. We can't get out of sin. So He had to come the first time to save us from death and from sin. He then came... A second reason was Jesus came to die and be resurrected as the first-born elder brother in God's kingdom. He came to defeat Satan as the ruler of the earth. He came to institute the New Covenant.

He came to establish the New Covenant church. He came to leave his followers the example of how to live. And He came to reveal the Father. So we see those reasons He came the first time. So why does He come back the second time? Well, if the first reason He came the first time was to redeem mankind from the death penalty and from sin, then He comes the second time to complete the redemption process for all humanity.

He came and He died. He was resurrected, but it's not done, is it? In fact, the majority of humanity since the time of Jesus never even had an opportunity of redemption.

So He started something, but He doesn't start completing it until the second coming.

When He actually begins to redeem all of humanity. It's very interesting. There's a prophecy about this, and I say it too.

So He comes to establish God's Kingdom on the earth to continue the redemption process. He doesn't come just to establish God's Kingdom. There's a purpose for establishing God's Kingdom, and it is to continue this redemption process of bringing humanity to God for forgiveness and to have the opportunity of relationship, have the opportunity to be changed, have the opportunity for eternal life. Now think about this passage, which is a Messianic prophecy. Everybody agrees. Think about this in terms of not His first coming, obviously, but His second coming. What is He going to do? Verse 2 of Isaiah 2. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mouth of the Lord's house shall be established on top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. He comes for everybody. The second time He comes is to bring all humanity. The first thing you have to do is have to come to Him and order them to have this relationship with the Father. He has to reveal the Father. He has to teach people. He has to do all the things He did in His first coming. He has to now do with the world. And many people shall come and say, Come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God of Jacob. And He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His pass. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people, that shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. And nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn more anymore. He comes the second time to continue now this work of redemption. He doesn't come just to rule. Oh, I'm going to come now and just be in charge of all the nations. He comes to bring them to God in His ways, and He will teach His ways. So He comes to...the second coming is just as much about salvation as the first coming.

But now He's going from, I died for humanity, and started a church, to I died for humanity, and I'm coming for humanity. I'm coming for humanity this time. I'm coming for everyone. So He's coming back now as King of Kings. Now He said that He came the first time to become the first-born elder brother, right? He's now the first-born. Well, He's still only the first-born. You know, it didn't say He came to be the only child. He came to be the first-born. Where's the rest of them? He comes back to resurrect the saints, so now He is actually literally a first-born. He's not an only child. He's a first-born. Because you will have other people resurrected and become spirit beings. You know, we've read...or are members of the family of God, literally children of God. We read in Hebrews 2, 14 through 18 in the sermon. Let's go back to Hebrews 2. See, what we're seeing is, is everything He did in His first coming... Let's go off there. Everything He did in His first coming initiated a process. He came in His first coming to initiate things that when He comes the second time, He would begin the completion of what He initiated. So if He began to redeem people, but He's starting on a small scale, when He comes back, He's to redeem everybody. If He came to be the first-born, there has to be more. So we read in Hebrews 2. Let me get to Hebrews 2 here. And this is what we call, of course, the first resurrection. It is the next, you know, group of children that are going to go through the process. Hebrews 2, verse 9.

Now, this doesn't mean Jesus needed some kind of character perfection process, okay? But He did have a whole new set of experiences, did He? As a human being. The captain of our salvation became like us so we could bring all these children... or He could bring all these children to God. And in doing that, He had never felt tired before. He never... He says, yeah, I never attempted to sin. I've seen sin now.

I understand... He understood it. But He experienced what a human being feels drawn towards sin. He just never did it. He had no desire. But there would be something there that would be attractive. He was able to reject it immediately, which we don't do. But He saw the attractiveness of sin as a human being. So He learns this perfection is not perfection of His character. It is experiences that He has to share with us. See, I mean, He can't have any perfection as the Son of God.

But He now is perfect for us. It wasn't His perfection, so to speak. There's a perfection for us. Yes, I've been through it. Yes, I experienced it. So He could be the captain of our salvation. I find that an amazing concept. Because I used to wonder... For years I wondered, what would be perfection? And it's hard for anybody to explain that, because He doesn't need perfection. And it's like, oh, yeah, for us, He had a perfect experience now. He experienced the captain of salvation needed to be like us. He needed to experience what He experienced, so He did.

And now God says, yeah, now I can bring all these other children in. He says, For both he who sanctifies, and those who are being sanctified, are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed... Say, okay, they're all of one. He who is doing the sanctification, and all the children... In other words, He who is holy, who is now making all the children holy... You already see it in a minute, He's not talking about the Father.

Who is making all the children holy, He is not ashamed to call them what? Brother. He says, yes, you are my brothers and sisters. For God's plan to be complete, I had to come down and, quote-unquote, be perfected. What's that mean?

I had to be like you. I had to suffer like you. I had to experience what He experienced, so that I can take you where God wants you to go. Because I've been there. I know I can do this. I can...

This relationship takes place. I am not ashamed to call you my brothers and sisters. And I will declare your name to my brother in the midst of the assembly. I will sing praises to you. That's actually a quote from the Old Testament. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, here I am, and the children who God has given me. Actually, for my sake. So what we see here is this perfection process now becomes real in that there's... He is the firstborn of many brethren.

He's not the firstborn... He's not the firstborn of... Cows. You think about Him. Why are you the firstborn of... See, this is very important. He is the firstborn of like kind human beings who become spirit beings. With spirit bodies. Which He has. Christ has a spirit body. I keep losing it here, don't I? Christ has a spirit body. So, for there to be a firstborn, there's got to be other kids. And that first resurrection, now there's more than a firstborn.

So that's the next part. That's the next stage. The whole point of this is to bring many, many, many, many people into the family. Which I get... That's why I get so frustrated with the doctrine of original sin. His purpose is to bring just a few in. And send everybody to hell. No, His purpose is to bring many, many, many in. And the few that are incorrigible, He destroys. So now we have the firstborn take on a whole new meeting with His Second Coming. With His Second Coming, Christ comes to remove Satan.

Remember, He already defeated him. But He let him be around, hang around for a while. He comes back the second time and says, times up! Satan does not rule because he has power over God. Satan is on the earth today because God lets him. This isn't an even match here in some way. It's because God lets him. This isn't the old... There's an ancient group back... They existed for many, many, many years back in the early part of the first, second, third, fourth century.

They were called the Manichaeans. And they believed that there was light and dark. And that was good and evil. So when you walked into a dark room, you were an evil. When you walked outside and saw the sun, you were in goodness. And they were just like dark. There were two things. And they were equal. And God was the Lord of light. And Satan was the Lord of darkness. And they were equal. There's no equality here. Let's go to Revelation 20. Revelation 20.

And verse 1. He says, And then he's gone forever. God removes him from humanity. But when Christ comes back, he's already defeated him. You know what that means for you and I? Satan may influence us. But we have the power of God to overcome that influence. We have the power of God to overcome sin.

We have the power of God to throw back Satan. Because he's already been beaten. He's already lost the war. He just can't give up. He just can't give up. The moment the Roman soldier killed him, which Satan may have instigated that that he'd win, the moment the Roman soldier killed Jesus, he lost.

Oh, the penalty has been paid for humanity's sin. And he's got to be resurrected. Because he told him, I'll be resurrected. And he was. So he lost. When Jesus died, he lost. And he was defeated. And when Christ comes back, it's done. I'm not going to have you around for a thousand. I'll let you out for a little bit, and then you're going forever. So the defeat of Satan wasn't the removal of Satan. It was just his defeat, which we need to understand. You and I, as members of the new covenant, living after his first coming, recipients of God's Holy Spirit, the power to defeat Satan has given to us.

It's not our power. Don't go up against Satan by yourself. You will lose. We lose to him all the time, and so suddenly we go and lose him. But with God, we will win those battles. But now he's removed. Now, the fourth reason that I said he came the first time was to establish the new covenant. But the new covenant was established with a small group of people called the church. The new covenant wasn't yet, and yet the promise of the new covenant is to the world.

And that's what's so interesting about Isaiah 42. Let's go to Isaiah 42. So we see that as we go through this, everything that we said in the first list was just an initiation of something that's now being completed in the second list. Isaiah 42, verse 1. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom I sold the lights. I put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles, He will not cry out nor raise his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench. And he will bring forth justice for truth. So he's going to be gentle, but he's bringing justice, too. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastland shall wait for his law. Now, there's going to be all... It's going to be... the whole earth is going to be...

encompassed with the law of the servant from God. And thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth, and which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. I the Lord have called you, this is the servant, in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, and those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

Notice the Messiah himself is the covenant. And the passage here is the Gentiles, the world. I am giving him so that you and I can come into a relationship, God is saying. So, Christ himself is the covenant of God's covenant to the world. This is the agreement between God and the world, is Christ. Because you want to get there through Christ. So the agreement is, this is my son, he dies for you, you accept him, and you and I can enter into a covenant.

See? We can now enter into an agreement, because I've given him as the covenant. But notice it's to the world. This is only happening in a very small way in the church. It's never been. The church has never been the majority of people. I don't care how you define Christian, it's never been the majority of people on earth.

This prophecy is about his second coming. Now the giving of him as the covenant was first coming. Fulfillment of his law, fulfilling the whole earth, all the coastlands, and all the people coming to him. That's the second coming. Giving him as a covenant now has meaning to the world. The new covenant is made with the world. And that really doesn't happen until he comes the second time. Every person, if you're a Hindu in India, you're eventually going to have to go to Jerusalem. I don't know if you actually have to go there. You probably will. There's not going to be a huge population at the end of the tribulation.

You probably won't go there, where Christ is literally on the earth. And you will accept him as God's covenant for you. And you will no longer be a Hindu. You will now enter into the new covenant. And you will have to give up. This is how he brings everybody in. Him being here on earth with a temple and being there to be worshipped, but the whole purpose will get into his purpose.

It isn't just to him. Just like everything in his first covenant was what? You think about it. Everything he did was, let me show you the Father, let me show you the Father, let me show you the Father. Why is he going to be on earth? He's doing the same thing. He's just doing it with everybody. It's not just the Church. I find these kind of things so exciting because we live in an evil world. Satan is the God of this world. And we live in, you know, the Church itself is always in trouble because we're always trying to fight our own human nature.

Satan's trying to fight us. We're out of step with society. I don't care where you live. We live in a great place because we're not persecuted. But you never fit. Can you imagine an entire world? An entire world where God's way is being taught. There are no other religions. See, that's a problem too. One world religion, one world government? That's evil. That's not what Christ is there. So we see the New Covenant now being expanded out. We see prophecies like Isaiah 42 beginning to be actually fulfilled at the Second Coming.

Only just beginning to be fulfilled at His first covenant. When He instituted, oh, started the New Covenant. But He didn't mean just with us. His whole purpose was this is for the world. And I find it interesting. He was given as a covenant. He is the covenant.

He's how you enter into an agreement with God is through Christ. He's the offering. You know, you have a covenant with God in the Old Testament you had to bring a sacrifice. Here's this person's sacrifice. This is the covenant for you. Makes it now possible for you to come to be what God said the Father says. Now, I talked about how He point number five before was the saints.

He prepares people. And we already said, well, that there are people resurrected. So He's not just the... He is literally the firstborn now. Because there's a resurrection. And that's, of course, in Revelation. We read those verses, verses one through three. If you read verse four, it's about the first resurrection.

All the saints are resurrected. But why? Why are... I mean, we're resurrected now to be in His family. But we have a specific reason. You know, people have said, why are we called now? Well, because we're the weak of the world. There's a purpose for calling the weak of the world now. If Christ is going to raid on earth, and He's going to establish a spirit family that helps rule the earth, takes care of the earth, teaches human beings, He's got to prepare them for that. And the last thing He's going to do is pick a bunch of famous people.

He's just not going to do that. So you can find great comfort in, you were called, because you're basically a nobody. That's why He called all of us! We're nobodies! Because God says, I can work with you because I have something I want you to do. And we have to remember this. You and I are not just called right now. Life is more than, oh good, God called me, I accept Christ, I was baptized, I keep the Holy Days, I keep the Sabbath, and I know the basic doctrines. Okay, and I'm going to live a nice Christian life.

Okay. But you have a purpose greater than that. Let's go to Revelation. Well, let's go to Matthew 24. This at the stage, and then we'll go to Revelation. Revelation 24. Verse 29.

Immediately after the tribulation, of the days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will be born, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great shout of the trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So, both the dead and those who are alive are going to be gathered from all over the world. It doesn't matter whether they're alive, dead, or dead, are going to be resurrected, and they will meet Christ in the air, and he's no longer, I mean, he really is now the firstborn. He's not just an older child. He's the firstborn. But there's something else here that's going to go to Revelation that we have to recognize. Revelation 20, verse 4.

We read the first three verses where Satan is bound. Now, he's been defeated, but he's removed. So, they who sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and not received his mark on their forehands or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. We can go to 1 Thessalonians, and 1 Corinthians, where we go through resurrections here, which will be the next sermon we'll be doing in the series of Hebrews 6. We will go through those Scriptures, where Christ comes back, there is a resurrection of the saints. Now, the resurrection of the saints isn't so all. We all get to go to heaven while Jesus Christ comes to earth and sets up his kingdom on the earth. That's not what happens. Well, what are we going to do for a thousand years? It says we reign with Christ. We will serve him in taking care of the other brethren, which will be the whole world. That's what we will do. We will be serving him in however he wants us to take care of the world, to bring them to him. I wouldn't get too caught up in no good. I get to be a king and beat people with my rod of iron. I'm not sure that's what we'll be doing a lot of, but that's because you look at what he's doing. Let's look at his work, right? Redemption, teaching the world about God. This is what we'll be doing. And whatever authority comes with that is spirit beings. There will also be physical human beings doing that, too. Teaching people about God. That's what the physical church will be doing, and that's what Israel will be doing. That's why Israel is returned to the Promised Land. To do what they were supposed to do all along, physically teach people about God. So Israel we brought to the Promised Land, whatever's left of them, scattered all over the world, and they will be taught to be the physical teachers. The church itself rules with Christ. Rules over what? The earth. Helping human beings rebuild a devastated planet. And repopulate a devastated planet. So, when we look at that saints receive and is first coming, the promise of resurrection, and is second coming, that promise of resurrection is fulfilled. Papoya is just to be resurrected, have a big banquet, sit around and have a party with the friends. It's to get to work. I'm sure we'll give a little bit of a party. We're going to be a happy bunch of beings, right? We're going to be happy. Actually, I believe once we're changed, we'll experience happiness for the first time, what real happiness is. Because sin will be gone, and all the negative results of sin that's in our minds will be gone. So, we will experience happiness at a level like Christ does, like God does. That's not what we experience now. Because we're too shackled by all this other stuff. Remember I said number 6 was He left an example and not only to see that example, but to transform us into His image, transform us into what that example is. Micah chapter 4. Micah chapter 4.

Verse 1. Now, this is very similar to a passage we already read in Isaiah, but it's slightly different.

Verse 4. Now, the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. In verse 3, he talks about how they won't learn war anymore. There'll be no war, there'll be no conflict anymore. Verse 4 talks about how every person will have their own property. And, you know, this is the time he's talking about here. He is going to now teach all the way to God's way. Guess who's going to have to be the examples of that? You and I have the Bible, they'll have the Bible. There will also be all the saints that have been changed. All the people of God that have been changed. Abraham's alive. I've often wondered how much interaction we'll have with human beings. I can't imagine a human being who's praying to God, and Abraham shows up and says, no, no, no, that's not right. He's going to show up. I do not know what the interaction will be. But we will be involved. It may just be in an invisible way. I don't know. Because there are going to be physical human beings doing the physical things. But we will be ruling with him, helping him do his work of redemption, of bringing people to God. And the last point I mentioned was how Christ came to reveal the Father. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15.

The resurrection chapter. We'll be going through much of this next week. Verse 23. We ran part of this already. We're talking about Christ is the firstfruits. Each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, after those who are Christ that is coming. Then comes the end. So this is at the end of the millennium. So when he comes back, that second coming is to continue and complete now what he initiated in his first coming. It takes the millennium and the great white throne judgment for him to complete his work. That's why the Father doesn't come down yet. The work of this family, creating this family, was given to Christ. And the Father doesn't come here until Christ has finished it. So we're helping Christ through the millennium. And then we're going to help Christ through the great white throne judgment when all of humanity, whoever lived has resurrected, billions and billions of people resurrected. And then you have the lake of fire. And then all you have left, at the end of the great white throne judgment, you have the lake of fire for all the incorrigibles. All you have left are the children who have been changed. The children who have been changed. What is it all about them? This is the work of Christ. This is what you and I are involved in now and what we'll be involved in for that millennium of great white throne judgment. It's his work. Our center is what he is doing and that we will be serving him so that we will prepare all this for the Father or be participating in preparing this for the Father. He goes, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to the Father. Now, we've been through all the Holy Days now. We've been through the Feast of Tabernacles. We already went through it. A tomelet and trumpets. Feast of Tabernacles were to the last great day, the eighth day, the great white throne judgment. When he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy will be destroyed his death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. In other words, he's not over the Father. When all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, then God may be all in all. But it's all done! Christ, at the end of the great white throne judgment, delivers the entire family to the Father. Now remember, God is in us through what? The Holy Spirit. God's Spirit will be in all. There won't be any children without God's Spirit. God will be in all of us. Which is a nice thing to think about. Because you know what? If you're a spirit being, and you're connected to God through his spirit, you will not be able to sin. How could you? I really find that comforting. If I'm a spirit being, and God is in me, his spirit is in me as a spirit being, I mean God in me as a physical being, I still sin. But God in me as a spirit being, sin will be impossible. We will not be able to sin. Can you explain 29? 29. Now when all things are made subject to him, then the son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that part of it. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for their dead? Oh! That one is a tough scripture. That's a little bit out of what we're talking about. But I tell you, well I already did baptism, didn't I?

No, it's a long explanation. Let me do this. Let me actually set time. Next Bible says it. Go through it. Because I do don't want to rush. I know. I don't want to rush through it. Because I can give you an answer but I don't want to rush through it. I would like to make sure that I take you to the places I need to take you to, which off the top of my head I don't know if I will. So instead of giving you my pad answer, next Bible study I will cover. Sometimes I always feel more comfortable. I can give a pad answer. This is the answer. But I sometimes feel like, no, I would like to really break it down so that you know where the answer comes from. So I'll do that next time. So now we've gone through the seven reasons why Christ comes to second. They're all connected to the first time. If you wrote them down and wrote down the Scriptures and you go home and just study it and think about it you'll start to see the connections, how they fit. You also will find other Scriptures that help you fit them together as we see what God is doing. So why do we do this? What's the purpose of, okay, that's very interesting. He just gave me some knowledge. No, this has to be more than knowledge. So I'll conclude with this and then open up for questions. But Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2.

verse 11. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Now remember grace we usually define it as unbear it and pardon. But grace, the act of salvation, grace, the actual word means more than it. Unbear it and pardon is grace, but grace literally means favor. In other words, because of God's favor, not because anything you did, because of God's favor, God does something for you. The giving of the Ten Commandments was actually an act of grace. Because we could come up with those ourselves. God gave them to us. So when it comes down to grace is a big thing because it's a very powerful word that means God does something. I mean, if you really get down to it, every time you and I take a breath, it's for the grace of God. Because if God says, stop breathing, we stop breathing. So it is a merit and pardon. Because obviously you and I don't get pardoned by anything we do. Christ's sacrifice is for us and that's why we receive this pardon. But when you really look at grace in the context, you start to realize many times this meant in a bigger sense. Well, that's what the word means. God's favor. For the favor of God. Now think about it that way. He's doing something for you because it's a favor. Because he just feels like doing it. Because he's showing you himself as an extension of what he's doing. For the favor of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying and godliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So this salvation, which is Christ, has been shown to us. And because of that, we should live a certain way. Then he says in verse 13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. So there you go. This should motivate us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, to live righteously, and to be purified, and be zealous to do the works of God. That's what this does. That's what we really understand, this salvation that has appeared to all men, through Christ. It was through this person that everybody got to see salvation. Through that, this should now motivate us to obey God, to please God. If we obey God only because we have to, because we're sort of mad at it, because God makes me do it. I don't want to get punished. We're missing the point. We obey God because we love God, because we want to please Him. We hope God's pleased with me. Sometimes we think God can never be pleased with me. When you obey God and you do it, think about a child. A child can do something really bad. You're really upset with them. Five minutes later, they do something really good, and they look at you at that little face and you go, boy, I'm proud of you. That's God with us. That He can be pleased because the little effort we do, and we use His power, we use what He gives us, we use Him, and He does something in us. We don't contribute much to this, but we have to contribute for it to work. You and I don't contribute much to this process, but we have to contribute or it won't work. That's what's so amazing. It's God's power. But we have to submit it, because God won't make us do it. He could, but He won't. It's a gift He's given us. It's a curse, too. Free will. It's a gift and it's a curse. Because we've messed free will up really bad. Okay. Any questions or comments, then, about what we've covered here? There's a pretty big subject. Like I said, it wasn't new, but I put it together in a way I think it helps you hopefully see this bigger picture.

Well, good. You're just too tired to...