The Great Day

The arrival of Jesus will mark the end of the present world order, accomplish the resurrection of the dead, and inaugurate the New Creation.

Jesus will return at the end of the present age. His arrival will coincide with the completion of the Kingdom of God and the judgment of all men. The Son of God will vindicate his saints by raising them from the dead, and he will usher in the New Heavens and New Earth, “in which righteousness dwells” – (2 Peter 3:13).

Two key aspects of this final day are described in the writings of John, Peter, and Paul: the gathering of the righteous and the judgment and punishment of wicked and disobedient men. Jesus will judge the nations upon his arrival, resulting in the condemnation and punishment of the unrighteous, but rewards and everlasting life for the righteous (“I come quickly. And my reward is with me, to render to each man according to his deeds”).

[Photo by Maxim Hopman (Amsterdam) on Unsplash]

The prologue of the Book of Revelation includes a declaration about the future coming of the Lord, as does the concluding section of the Book (twice). This proclamation is reiterated in the middle of the Book. Thus, the future arrival of Jesus is central to the message of Revelation:

• “Behold, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS. And every eye will see him, and THEY WHO PIERCED HIM. And ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN over him” – (Revelation 1:7. Compare Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 12:10, and 12:12 in the Septuagint version).

• “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” – (Revelation 16:12. Compare Revelation 3:3, 3:11).

• “Behold, I COME SPEEDILY. And my reward is with me, to render to each man according to his works” – (Revelation 22:12. Compare Zephaniah 1:14, Revelation 22:7).

The coming of the ”Son of Man on the clouds of the heavens” will be an event of great finality, the day when the Nazarene appears in glory and gathers his saints to himself. The curse inflicted on humanity and the creation and the penalty of death will be reversed forever, and the entire creation will rejoice when the sons of God are resurrected and revealed – (Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Romans 8:19).

In Christ’s parable of the Wheat and the Tares, humanity is divided into two groups and brought before the “Son of Man” at the end of the age: the just and the unjust. The “wheat” will be gathered into his “barn,” but the weeds or “tares” will be tied in bundles and burned. The wheat represents “the sons of the Kingdom,” and the tares symbolize “the sons of the evil one” - (Matthew 13:24-30).

The parable of the Sheep and Goats pictures all nations gathered before Jesus for judgment at the time of his arrival. “Then he will sit upon the throne of his glory,” judging the nations. The sheep will inherit the Kingdom of God, but the goats will be cast into “everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” - (Matthew 25:31-46. Compare Matthew 16:27):

A similar image of final judgment is found near the end of the Book of Revelation:

• “And I saw a great white throne, AND HIM WHO SAT UPON IT, FROM WHOSE FACE THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS FLED. AND NO PLACE WAS FOUND FOR THEM. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books, ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it. And Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. And they were judged, every man according to their works. And DEATH AND HADES were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if anyone was not FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK of life, he was cast into the lake of fire” – (Revelation 20:11-15. Note the verbal allusions to Psalm 97:5, Jeremiah 17:10, Daniel 2:35, 7:10, 12:1, Hosea 13:14. Compare Revelation 2:11, 3:5, 17:8, 13:8, 20:6).

In both of Christ’s parables, the righteous receive everlasting life, and the ungodly are condemned to everlasting punishment. There is no third alternative.

In his Olivet Discourse, Jesus declared that when the Son of Man arrives, he will be accompanied by his angels, and all the nations and tribes of the Earth will mourn and wail in anticipation of what is coming:

• “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear 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 forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, AND THEY WILL GATHER HIS ELECT from the four winds, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER” - (Matthew 24:30-31. Note the verbal allusions to Isaiah 11:12, Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 12:10-12).

ACCORDING TO PAUL AND PETER

In his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul teaches that the righteous dead will be raised when Christ returns, and together with those believers who remain alive, the entire assembly of the saints will “meet Jesus in the air” as he descends from Heaven. After that, the saints will be with Jesus forevermore – (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The arrival of Christ will be heralded by “the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.” It will be a day of triumph for the Church. God appointed His children to obtain salvation through Jesus rather than wrath – (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

In contrast to the righteous, “the Day of the Lord will arrive with sudden destruction” upon the unprepared and the disobedient. They will be judged according to their deeds. The day of Christ’s arrival will bring salvation to some, but destruction to others - (1 Thessalonians 5:1-7).

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle states that the righteous will be vindicated and rewarded when Jesus is “revealed from heaven with his angels,” but their persecutors and all “who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” will pay the ultimate penalty, “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.” On that day, Jesus will be “glorified in his saints” for all to see - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Paul calls this event the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus, “the Day of the Lord,” and the “revelation of Jesus from Heaven.” Regardless of which term is applied, Christ will gather his saints and judge their persecutors, including the “Man of Lawlessness” - (Compare 1 Corinthians 1:7-8, 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9).

• “And to you who are afflicted, rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, and on those who disobey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” – (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).

The righteous dead will be resurrected, the Kingdom of God will be completed, and the final enemy, Death, will be abolished forever when Jesus arrives. All this Paul locates on the last day, the Day of the Lord (“then comes the end…” - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

The Apostle Peter connects the judgment of the wicked, the dissolution of the existing creation, and the arrival of the New Creation to the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus, events that will occur on the “Day of the Lord”:

• “But THE DAY OF THE LORD will come as a thief, in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DISOLVED with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the arrival [‘Parousia’] of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements WILL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT? But, according to his promise, we look for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, in which righteousness dwells” - (2 Peter 3:3-13. Note the verbal allusions to Psalm 97:5, Isaiah 34:4, 51:6, 66:22, Joel 2:31, Amos 9:5).

Likewise, the Book of Revelation links the judgment of the wicked to the coming of Jesus. On that day, “every eye will see him” and “all the tribes of the earth will wail because of him” (Revelation 1:7). For the wicked and impenitent, it will be the day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb:

• “And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. And THE SUN BECOME BLACK as sackcloth of hair, and THE MOON BECOME AS BLOOD. And THE STARS OF HEAVEN FELL TO THE EARTH, as a FIG TREE CASTS HER UNRIPE FIGS when SHE IS SHAKEN of a great wind. And the heaven was removed as A SCROLL WHEN IT IS ROLLED UP, and every mountain and island was moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every slave and freeman, HID THEMSELVES IN THE CAVES AND IN THE ROCKS OF THE MOUNTAINS; and THEY SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS ANDTO THE ROCKS, FALL ON US, AND HIDE US from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath is come; and WHO IS ABLE TO STAND?” – (Revelation 6:12-17. Note the verbal allusions to Isaiah 2:10, 2:19, 34:4, Daniel 8:10, Joel 2:10-11, 2:30-31, 3:15, Hosea 10:8, Nahum 3:12).

• “And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet. <…> And THE NATIONS WERE ENRAGED, and your wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who fear your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth” – (Revelation 11:15-18. Compare Psalm 2:1).

The Day of the Lord will be the day of judgment for the wicked, but it will be the time of reward, life and glory for the saints. The old order will be removed, and the victory of the Lamb will usher in the New Heavens and New Earth, in which righteousness overflows, and death will cease to be even a memory – (Revelation 1:7, 6:12-17, 11:15-19, 16:12-21, 19:17-21).

The return of Jesus will coincide with the final judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the gathering of the elect, the perfection of the Kingdom of God, the termination of death, and the arrival of the New Creation. Thus, the Day of the Lord will be an event of great finality.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Last Enemy - (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)

• The Age of Salvation - (With the Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation of Jesus, the Gospel arrived for all men and every nation to hear and believe)

• Le Grand Jour - (L'arrivée de Jésus marquera la fin de l'ordre mondial actuel, accomplira la résurrection des morts et inaugurera la Nouvelle Création)

• Le Dernier Ennemi - (L'arrivée de Jésus à la fin de l'âge signifiera notre résurrection et la fin du dernier ennemi, la mort - 1 Corinthiens 15: 24-28)