The Final Day
Jesus will return from Heaven to the Earth at the “end” of the present age accompanied by great power and glory. His “arrival” or Parousia will result in the consummation of the Kingdom of God, the judgment and punishment of the ungodly, the resurrection and vindication of the righteous, the unveiling of the New Creation, and the termination of Death itself. Thus, it will be an event of GREAT FINALITY.
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For example, in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, humanity is divided before him into two groups, the just and the unjust. The “wheat” is gathered in the “barn,” while the “tares” are tied into bundles and burned. The wheat represents the “sons of the Kingdom.” The tares symbolize the “sons of the evil one,” Satan, who sowed the “tares.” The “harvest” is at the “end of the age” - (Matthew 13:24-30).
The parable of the Sheep and Goats
pictures all nations gathered before Jesus for judgment upon his arrival -
“Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.” The “sheep” inherit
the “Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” but the
“goats” are cast into "everlasting fire prepared for the Devil
and his angels” - (Matthew 25:31-46).
In both parables, one group receives
everlasting life and the other “everlasting punishment.” There is no
third group, no in-between or neutral state - (Matthew 25:31-46).
In his ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus declares
that when the “Son of Man comes” he will be accompanied by his
angels. All nations will mourn at his arrival, and he will send his angels to “gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”
- (Matthew 24:29-31).
ACCORDING TO PAUL
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul
writes that at the “arrival” of Jesus, the righteous dead will be raised,
and together with those saints who remain alive, the entire Assembly will “meet
him in the air” as he descends from Heaven.
His presence will be heralded by “the
voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.” From that point, his
followers will be with him “forevermore.” Instead of “wrath,” God
appointed them to obtain salvation through Jesus.
In contrast, the “Day of the Lord will
arrive with sudden destruction” upon the unprepared, and “they shall in
no way escape.” That same day will bring salvation to the faithful but destruction
to the wicked - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-7).
In his second letter, the Apostle writes
that the righteous will be vindicated when Jesus is “revealed from heaven
with his angels,” but their persecutors and all “who do not obey the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ” will pay the ultimate penalty, “everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord.”
On that day, Jesus will be “glorified in his saints” for all to see. Once again, the Scriptures state that the righteous will be vindicated and the wicked condemned at the “arrival” of Jesus - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Paul labels it the “arrival”
or Parousia of Jesus, the “Day of the Lord,” and the “Revelation
of Jesus from Heaven.” Regardless of which term is applied, Jesus gathers
his saints and judges the persecutors of his Assembly, including the “Man of
Lawlessness” - (2 Thessalonians 2:1-9).
To the Corinthians, Paul writes that on
that day the righteous dead will be resurrected, the Kingdom of God will be consummated,
and the “last enemy, Death” will cease. All this he assigns to the “end”
and “arrival” and the Parousia (“then comes the end”). Moreover, the saints will
inherit the Kingdom and receive “immortality” - (1 Corinthians
15:20-57).
PETER AND JOHN
The Apostle Peter links the judgment of the
wicked, the dissolution of the existing creation order, and the arrival of the New
Creation to the “arrival” or Parousia of Jesus, events that will
occur on the “Day of God” - (2 Peter 3:3-13).
The Book of Revelation also
connects the judgment of the wicked to the coming of Jesus. On that day,
“every eye will see him” and “all the tribes of the earth will wail
because of him” – (Revelation 1:7).
The “Day of the Lord” will be the
day of His “wrath” against the wicked. It will be characterized by great
celestial and terrestrial upheavals. The victory of the “Lamb” will
culminate in the New Heavens and New Earth when “New Jerusalem” descends
from Heaven to the Earth – (Revelation 1:7, 6:12-17, 11:15-19, 16:12-21,
19:17-21).
The New Testament tells a consistent story.
The “arrival” of Jesus will mean nothing less than the final judgment,
the resurrection of the dead, the gathering of all his saints, terrestrial and
celestial chaos, the consummation of God’s Kingdom, the cessation of death, the
final overthrow of all his enemies, and the New Creation wherein righteousness
prevails forevermore. Thus, that day
will end on a grand note of GREAT finality.