“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Hebrews 9:27-28).
When Jesus appears a second time, it will be for the eternal salvation of the faithful in Christ. That day is described as the “revelation of Jesus Christ” when the saints will receive “the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:7, 9).
Various facets of premillennialism teach that Jesus will return to establish His kingdom, to reign on the throne of David, to restore Palestine to the Jews, and to reign for 1,000 years. Let us consider these.
Jesus will not come a second time in order to establish His kingdom. Instead, His kingdom was near when He began preaching (Mark 1:14-15), and it was promised by Jesus to come with power in the lifetime of some of His disciples (Mark 9:1). Power was promised to the apostles when the Holy Spirit would come upon them (Acts 1:8), and the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4. So the kingdom came then. The saved, beginning on the day of Pentecost, are in the kingdom wherein is redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).
Jesus will not come a second time to sit on the throne of David. An angel announced to Mary that the son Jesus whom she would bring forth would be called “the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:31-32). Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that the Christ was raised up to sit on David’s throne (Acts 2:30). This was not literal, but a fulfilment of the promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:11-16 that spoke concerning Christ being resurrected to be exalted and to sit at the right of God (Acts 2:30-36). Jesus is now reigning on His throne in heaven (Acts 2:33, 36; 1:11).
Jesus will not come a second time to restore Palestine to the Jews. The nation of Israel in the days of Joshua received the fulfilment of the promise of that land over 3,000 years ago, when the Bible says, “So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it” (Joshua 21:43).
And Jesus will not come a second time to reign 1,000 years on earth. Christ is now in heaven reigning as king and will reign until the end when He delivers His kingdom to the Father and destroys death, all of which are associated with the time of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:25, 24, 26, 22). The resurrection will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15).
When Jesus comes a second time, there will be a resurrection of all who are in the graves (John 5:28-29), the judgment of both the just and the unjust resulting in a separation to heaven or hell (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10), and the destruction of the heavens and the earth (2 Peter 3:7-13).
Let’s be ready for His second appearing.
-Larry Jones