The Necessity of Christ’s Return

Many Christians in privileged parts of the world don’t worry very much about Christ’s return. They are largely content to enjoy the blessings of this life, and look forward to life in heaven during the intermediate state. Like the rich young ruler in Mark 10:21-25, their wealth makes it hard for them to place sufficient value on the kingdom that Jesus will consummate when he returns. But in other parts of the world, Christians suffer for their faith. They have no trouble at all recognizing the necessity of Christ’s second coming.

There are numerous reasons for the necessity of Jesus’ return. But for our purposes, we’ll focus on his role as Abraham’s heir, and his role as David’s heir. In Genesis 15, 17, God’s covenant with Abraham includes promises of land for Abraham and his descendants. And in both these chapters, the land is specifically identified as Canaan. In Genesis 22:17-18, the Lord said to Abraham:

Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.

First, the word translated “descendants” and “offspring” is zerah, which means “seed.” Now, in its singular form, zerah can still refer to a large number of seeds. But in this case, it takes a singular form of the verb yarash, here translated “take possession,” and a singular form of the possessive pronoun, here translated “their.” So, a more literal rendering of this passage would be:

Your descendant will take possession of the cities of his enemies, and through your descendant all nations on earth will be blessed.

In other words, Abraham’s covenant promises would be realized through his special descendant Isaac.

And the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus is the descendant through whom those promises will be realized. But in order to seize his enemies’ territory, and in order to live in the world he’s conquered, Jesus has to be here — on earth. He has to come back personally, so that the promises to Abraham and Isaac can be fulfilled.

Isaiah 9:7 tells us God’s promise that one of David’s descendants would rule over Israel forever. But Jesus didn’t restore David’s throne during his earthly ministry, let alone establish a permanent, worldwide, earthly kingdom. And he certainly isn’t worshiped by everyone on earth yet.

Similarly, in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus himself specified that when he sits on his throne rendering royal verdicts on the wicked and the righteous, that throne will be on earth. Listen to Matthew 25:31-32 where Jesus said this:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

The picture is of Jesus coming down from heaven, glowing in radiant splendor — or “heavenly glory” — and attended by armies of conquering angels. And to where is he coming? To earth, where the nations that he plans to judge are located. All Christians should look forward to the future earthly reign of Christ that will begin when he returns.

Jesus is coming back. He told us in the Bible that he is coming back. We could look at his words in the upper room; we could look at the teaching of the apostles, Paul, Peter, John in the letters, and particularly in the Revelation. So, it is a fact of Scripture that Jesus Christ will return at the end of the age. And that’s a great hope for us because, as believers, we long to see our Savior, and when he returns, then that’s when death will be removed utterly from our experience, we will be made perfectly holy in soul and body, and we will be in the company of all the saints and the holy angels in the presence of Jesus forever. [Dr. Guy Waters]