The Great Final Day

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

Jesus will return from Heaven on a day punctuated by power and glory. Christ’s “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ will mean the consummation of God’s Kingdom, the judgment of the ungodly, the vindication and resurrection of the faithful, the unveiling of the New Creation, and the termination of death - The reversal of Death’s sentence on humanity. The coming of the “Son of Man on the Clouds” will be a glorious event of absolute finality.

[Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash]

In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus divided humanity into two groups. Both will be judged by the “Son of Man” when he arrives, the just and the unjust. The ears of “wheat” will be gathered in his “barn,” while the “tares” will be tied into bundles and burned. The wheat represents the “sons of the Kingdom,” and the tares symbolize the “sons of the evil one.” The “harvest” will occur at the “end of the age” when the Son of Man appears - (Matthew 13:24-30).

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats pictures all nations gathered for judgment after Christ’s arrival - “Then will he sit upon the throne of his glory.” The “sheep” will inherit the “Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world,” while the “goats” will be cast into "everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.” In both parables, one group receives life and glory, and the second group, “everlasting punishment.” There is no third group or option - (Matthew 25:31-46).

In his ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus declared that when the “Son of Man comes” he will be accompanied by his angels whom he will send to “gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” All men and women who belong to Christ will be carried into his presence, whether dead or still alive. “Jesus will be made all-glorious in his saints, and he will be marveled at by all who believe, on that day” - (Matthew 24:29-31, 2 Thessalonians 1:10).

Paul wrote that at the “arrival” of Jesus, the righteous dead will be raised, and together with those believers who remain alive, the entire company of the saints will “meet him in the air” as Jesus descends from Heaven - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The arrival of the Son of Man will be heralded by “the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.” It will be the long-awaited “Day of the Lord.” From that moment, Christ’s disciples will be with him “forevermore.” Instead of “wrath,” God appointed His children to obtain salvation through Jesus. This glorious promise is for both living and dead saints, and it is intended to comfort all of us in troubling times:

• “Because the Lord himself with a word of command, with an archangel’s voice, and with a trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we, the living who remain, together with them will be caught away in clouds for a meeting with the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Be comforting one another with these words” – (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

• “The Day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night<…> But we, being of the day, let us be sober, putting on a breastplate of faith and love, and for our helmet, the hope of salvation. because God did not appoint us for wrath, but for the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that, whether we are watching or sleeping, we should live together with him. Therefore, be comforting one another, and edifying each the other” – (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 5:8-11).

In contrast, that same day will come “with sudden destruction” upon the unprepared and the wicked, and “they will certainly not escape.” But judgment and punishment will not be the end of the story. The “Day of the Lord” will bring salvation, resurrection, and life to those men and women who “obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-7, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8).

GLORY OR CONDEMNATION

Thus, the same day will mean rescue, vindication, and everlasting glory for a great many individuals who have suffered in this present life, but also condemnation and loss to those who have rejected God’s gracious offer.

For the saints, the sentence of death will be reversed when Jesus arrives and gives his people immortality and glorious resurrected bodies like his. All his saints will rejoice and shout:

• “Death is devoured victoriously! O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? Death’s sting is sin, and sin’s power is the Law<…> Thanks be to God who is giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, then, my beloved brothers, become steadfast, immovable, superabounding in the Lord’s work, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” – (1 Corinthians 15:54-58).

Paul calls this glorious event the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus (παρουσια), the “Day of the Lord,” his “coming,” the Lord’s “manifestation,” and the “Revelation of Jesus from Heaven.” Regardless of which term is used, it will be a day of finality and judgment, but a judgment that will result in the vindication and glorification of the saints – (1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, 2:8, Revelation 11:18 – “The time of the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to the saints, those who fear your name”).

The Lord will gather his “elect,” a vast innumerable multitude of men and women purchased from every nation “by the blood of the Lamb.” They will stand before the Throne of God and the Lamb in celebration, and “the Lamb will lead them to life’s fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” - (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, Revelation 5:9-10, 7:9-17).

The Holy City, “New Jerusalem,” despite its massive dimensions and our limited expectations, will be fully populated and inhabited by this multitude of the Redeemed:

• “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more<…> The kings of the Earth will bring their glory into the City, and its gates will certainly not be closed by day, for there will be no night, and they will bring the glory and the honour of the nations into her, and there will certainly not enter into the City anything unclean, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb<…> And there will be no more curse<…>” – (Revelation 21:4, 21:24-22:3).

The New Testament tells a consistent story. The “arrival” of Jesus will produce the resurrection of the dead, the gathering of Christ’s saints, the consummation of God’s Kingdom, the end of death, the final overthrow of all God’s enemies, and the New Creation where righteousness will dwell forever.

Thus, the “curse” of death from Adam’s transgression will be broken forever, and the return of Jesus will be a glorious day of great finality and total victory.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Day of the Lord - (Jesus will arrive to gather his people on the Day of the Lord. In the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ)

• Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Then Comes the End - (The arrival of Jesus “on the clouds” will be an event of great victory and finality that will result in the resurrection and the New Creation)