Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (May 2015)
When Christ returns as King of kings He will fully reveal God’s kingdom on earth and rule over it from the restored throne of David. On the dramatic day when He sets foot on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, He will utterly destroy Satan’s renegade kingdom which will have been revealed during the preceding tribulation period under the control of the devil, the Antichrist and the false prophet. Christ, the true King of the universe, will condemn the Antichrist and false prophet to the lake of fire and have the devil incarcerated in a pit so that he should deceive the nations no more (Rev. 19:19–20:3).
At His second coming, Christ will be revealed in power and glory as Bridegroom, Judge and King. This time His appearance will be in sharp contrast with His first coming when He came in the guise of a humble servant to lay down His life as an atonement for the sins of lost humanity. It is critically important that we understand the great significance of Christ’s atoning death, by which He opened a door of reconciliation between the kingdom of God and a world which has become alienated from God through the Fall. The substitutionary death of Christ made it possible for sinners to be forgiven and reconciled with God: “For as by one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience many were made sinners, so by one Man’s [Christ’s] obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). To the sons and daughters of disobedience there is no other way of re-entry into the kingdom of heaven than to enter in through the door of salvation which Christ offers to them.
Because Christ was obedient to death – even the death of the cross – God has highly exalted Him and gave Him a name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow (Phil. 2:7-10). He was obedient when He was sent by God to be the sacrificial Lamb who was to be slaughtered to atone for the sins of lost humanity. Because of Christ’s obedience, and particularly by virtue of what He accomplished when giving Himself up as a sacrifice for our sins, He was exalted to a position of unequalled eminence and supremacy:
· As Bridegroom, He has a high calling for all people to be saved and to become members of His bridal congregation. He will glorify those who were redeemed and sanctified by His blood and walked in the Spirit in anticipation of His second coming. Their betrothal to Him will be consummated in marriage and celebrated at the marriage feast of Lamb, when they will share in all His glory.
· As Judge, all people of all time will be summoned to appear before Christ on different occasions to be judged. After the first resurrection, all believers will appear before His judgement seat where their works will be judged and crowns awarded for faithful service. Directly following the second resurrection, a thousand years after the first resurrection, all unbelievers will appear before the great white throne where Christ will condemn them to hell because of their evil works and for not being reconciled to God by becoming believers who accepted His offer of the remission of sins.
· As King, He will rule over the revealed kingdom of heaven for a thousand years following His second coming, and subsequently for ever in the New Jerusalem which will descend upon the new earth.
The fulfilment of the wonderful promises on Christ’s second coming will all be the direct consequence of His atoning death. He is the One who reconciled heaven and earth by removing people’s guilt, regenerating them spiritually, enabling them to walk in the light through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and commissioned them to be His witnesses all over the world. We are called upon to proclaim the message of the cross, and that is why Paul emphatically preached “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
It is highly fitting that when Christ appears in glory, all people will still be reminded of His crucifixion as the Lamb of God. The remnant of Israel who survived the great tribulation will see Jesus coming on the Mount of Olives. They will immediately notice the marks in His hands and ask Him, “What are these wounds in Your hands?” Then He will answer them, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends” (Zech. 13:6). It is obvious that there are no enemies or adversaries of the Messiah in heaven, and hence no hostile environment in which these wounds could have been inflicted. “The house of His friends” clearly refers to Israel, the brethren of Christ according to the flesh, to whom He offered Himself as Messiah during His first coming. The marks in His hand and feet remained in His resurrected body, and will serve as a reminder of the time when He was nailed to a cross by unbelieving Jews who acted in association with pagan rulers of the Roman Empire.
After the great tribulation, the Holy Spirit will work mightily among the remnant in Israel to convict them of their sins, of the divine nature of Jesus as Messiah, and of the part which their ancestors played in rejecting and crucifying Him. A Messianic prophecy in Zechariah clearly states this awesome truth: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo” (Zech. 12:10-11).
Not only will the remnant of Israel grieve for their sins, but also members of the nations who survived the tribulation period: “Immediately after the tribulation of those 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 heavens will be shaken. 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” (Matt. 24:29-30).
In John’s book on end-time prophecies we are often reminded that the identity of Jesus as Lamb is foundational to the fulfilment of His future is offices as Bridegroom, Judge and King: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12). In the book on Revelation, Jesus is 28 times described as the “Lamb” and this primary identity is related to all His future offices:
The Lamb as Bridegroom: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. And his wife has made herself ready. … Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:7-9).
The Lamb as Judge: On the great and terrible day of the Lord, people will cry out to the mountains and rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17).
The Lamb as King: The apostate kings of the earth, under the leadership of the Antichrist, “will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is the Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14).
The very first of the Lamb’s end-time revelations will be as the heavenly Bridegroom who will suddenly appear in the midst of his resurrected and glorified bride to take her away to her heavenly home (John 14:2-3; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). Subsequently, He will sit on the throne and start breaking the seals of God’s wrath upon a rebellious and evil world, while still offering a final opportunity to sinners to repent. After the tribulation of seven years, He will return to the earth to judge those who will still be at war with Him, and then He will restore the throne of David to rule over the entire world for a thousand years. The second resurrection and final judgement will take place at the end of Christ’s millennial rule, followed by the creation of a new heaven and earth.