Precursors to Christ’s Return

Even though we can’t know when Jesus will arrive, Scripture does mention several circumstances that are precursors to his return. Generally speaking, these precursors aren’t absolute. Just as a potter can recast clay into a different vessel, God has freedom in how he fulfills prophecies about the future. Nevertheless, the circumstances that Scripture says will precede Christ’s return still guide us. They create legitimate expectations for how the future may unfold. And they warn and encourage us as we prepare for Christ’s arrival.

We’ll mention just three of the most prominent precursors to Christ’s return, beginning with demonic opposition to God’s kingdom.

Scripture teaches that Satan and his demonic forces have opposed the spread of God’s kingdom throughout history. But Scripture also teaches that a particularly terrible period of demonic opposition will precede Jesus’ return. Revelation 7:14 calls this “the Great Tribulation” — a time when demons will empower false prophets to perform misleading signs and wonders. Jesus also spoke of the great tribulation in Matthew 24, associating it with the events surrounding the end of the world.

False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible (Matthew 24:24).

Clearly, God’s demonic opponents will use every trick and power they have to hinder his plans for his kingdom.

A second precursor to Christ’s return is human opposition to God’s kingdom. Scripture describes many human beings that will cooperate with the demonic opposition to God. For instance, Revelation 13 indicates that Satan will use two beasts: one from the land and one from the sea. It doesn’t indicate whether these beasts represent individuals, groups of people, or even institutions. But they do appear to be human. For one thing, they influence humanity in a way that implies control over societies and governments. For another, the beast from the land is identified by what Revelation 13:18 calls “man’s number,” or “humanity’s number,” or perhaps, “the number of a person.”

Human opposition to God’s kingdom also appears in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, which mentions a rebellion and “the man of lawlessness.” The man of lawlessness will be satanically empowered to perform false miracles, and will eventually proclaim himself to be God.

A third precursor to the second coming is successful worldwide evangelism. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus gave this prophecy:

This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Despite the various forms of serious opposition God’s kingdom faces, the kingdom will successfully present its gospel message to the nations. Jesus spoke similarly in the last moments before his ascension. In Acts 1:8, he told his faithful apostles that they would use the power of the Holy Spirit to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. And Scripture indicates that this worldwide evangelism will gain many converts. As a result, by the time Jesus returns, the church will include members from every tribe, language, people and nation.