Necessity of the Second Coming of Christ, and of the Resurrection
By George W. Rine
THERE is no Christian doctrine whose roots ramify more widely throughout the broad reaches of the Holy Scriptures than do those of the second coming of Christ. It is impossible to read the Scriptures with an unbiased mind and not be convinced of the fact that the second advent of our Lord is one of the fundamentals of the Gospel. If the Bible teaches one thing more insistently than another, it is that our Lord's coming in glory is absolutely essential to complete human salvation. If, as so many hold, the righteous entered into endless life and glory at death, and retributive judgment were visited upon the unrighteous at death, then surely there could be no place in the Gospel scheme for a second coming of Christ or for a resurrection from death. And if the second advent is non-essential, why should that doctrine be given so conspicuous a place in the teachings of Holy Writ? If, however, as we have seen, "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom," where the dead are, and if the "dead know not anything," then a resurrection is an absolute prerequisite to eternal life. But the uniform teaching of the Scriptures makes the resurrection of the righteous dead an event incident to the second advent of Jesus. This being true, the second coming of Christ is an event essential to complete human salvation. While on earth, Jesus, on a certain occasion, accepted an invitation to a supper at the home of one who was professedly a spiritual leader in Israel. Always alert to give needed counsel, He said to the host: "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not . . . thy rich neighbors; . . . and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: . . . they can not recompense thee: for thou SHALT BE RECOMPENSED AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST." Luke 14:12-14. NEVER does the Master even intimate that those who live for God and humanity in this life will receive any reward at death; but always at His second coming or at the resurrection of the just—two simultaneous events. Read Matt. 16:27 and Rev. 22:12, and observe that it is at His coming in glory, with all the holy angels, that Christ will reward "every man according as his work shall be." Assuredly, then, our Lord must come again, if we, His children, shall ever receive the crowning and eternal reward so often and so emphatically set forth in the Scriptures. Not until He comes again will He sit upon the throne of His glory. Matt. 25:31. Hence His coming and the setting up of His kingdom are synchronous events. (See also 2 Tim. 4:1.) It indisputably follows, therefore, that it will be at His coming that He will summon His "innumerable company" of redeemed children with the supernally precious words, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34. Are you seeking the kingdom of God, dear reader? Are you hoping to enter that kingdom? Do you hope to realize the Saviour's assurance that "it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom"? Assuredly you do. Then should you not hope in, work for, and look for the glorious advent of the Redeemer? Every Christian must cherish a supreme longing to dwell in the visible, personal presence of Christ. The object of his longing must sometime be realized. But when? and how? At death? Not if the Scriptures are true. If the Redeemer's children went into His presence at death, He would not need to "come again" in order to receive them to Himself, that where He is, there they might be also. You will remember that when our Lord told His disciples that He was about to leave them in person and return to His Father, their hearts were wrung with sorrow. They could not endure the thought of being separated from their beloved Master's visible presence. How did He proceed to reassure and console them? Ah, He assured them that He was going away to prepare a place (a kingdom) for them, and that He would "come again" to receive them to Himself, and thus they should dwell with Him eternally in His coming kingdom. John 14:1-3. Of the same import is the inspired apostle's declaration, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, THEN shall ye also appear WITH HIM IN GLORY." Col. 3:4. We see, then, that the Spirit of inspiration has, in the clearest possible language, set forth the fact that the saints will not enter into their eternal inheritance, into the ageless kingdom which the Father has prepared for them, until the Redeemer shall come again in the plenitude of heavenly glory. Through the apostle Paul, the Spirit of God utters this sublime prophetic truth: "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep [the sleep of death], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. . . . Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor. 15:51-54. In 1 Thess. 4:16-18 we are expressly told that the "trumpet shall sound" as an incident of the second coming of the Lord, and that "the dead in Christ shall rise" then. We now see that the CHANGE from MORTALITY TO IMMORTALITY will be effected when the "dead shall be raised incorruptible," at the glorious appearing of our Lord. Does man now possess immortality? If he did, how could he put it on "at the last trump"? "This mortal" is the designation given to man in his present state, by the divine Spirit. Read Job 19:25, 26, and note the certainty with which he knew that his Redeemer should stand in the latter day upon the earth; and tho he knew that his body would be dissolved in the grave, "yet," he affirms, "in my flesh shall I see God." Not as a disembodied spirit, at his death, did Job hope to see God; but in his flesh, that is, in his risen and glorified body, would he see God, and enter into life eternal. For it is when our Lord shall come again that our vile bodies shall be changed, and "fashioned like unto His glorious body," as expressly declared in Phil. 3:20, 21. King David, the sweet singer of Israel, prophesied regarding his own future hope in this poetic fashion: "As for me, I will behold Thy [God's] face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Ps. 17:15. Unquestionably David refers to his awakening from death, which is so often referred to in the Scriptures as a "sleep." To awake from death is to be raised from death. It was, then, in a resurrection that the psalmist hoped for the satisfaction and the joy which entrance into everlasting life would confer. He did not hope for the realization of eternal life at death, but at the glad time when death should be "swallowed up in victory"—at the resurrection of the "dead in Christ." More than a thousand years later, Peter, under Pentecostal inspiration, testified that David was dead and buried,9and had not yet—in Peter's day—"ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:29, 34. Reverting to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, given through the apostle Paul, we learn, first, that "if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." 1 Cor. 15:16, 17. In this inspired argument the premise is the proposition, "If the dead rise not." If the dead do not rise, what inevitably follows? Answer: Christ is not raised, and the faith of His followers is vain. But there is a second conclusion drawn from the apostle's premise, "If the dead rise not;" namely, that "they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." Paul here leaves no room for debate or for difference of opinion. He unmistakably declares that not only the unrighteous dead, but even the dead in Christ "are perished," if there is no resurrection from the dead. Paul's conclusion could not possibly be true if the dead are not actually dead, but live as disembodied, rational spirits in purgatory or in Paradise or in heaven. But scores of times the inspired writers of the Bible affirm that the dead WILL rise; and hence "the dead in Christ" will not perish. As recorded in Phil. 3:8-11, Paul was willing, in order to realize a certain end, to suffer the loss of all things temporal. Why? Here is his own answer: "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Why was Paul willing to suffer the loss of anything conceivable which would insure his being raised from the dead? Simply because he knew that there is no other possible avenue to eternal life except by a resurrection from death. In view of what we have learned, it is not in the least surprising to find that the Spirit of inspiration should characterize the glorious appearing of our Saviour as "that BLESSED HOPE" to all who at the time of His appearing shall be found LOOKING for Him. Titus 2:11-13. Every one of the exceeding great and precious promises of God is for the Christian a distinct hope; but the promise that Jesus will come again, God Himself marks off as the distinctively "blessed hope." How appropriate! For upon the realization of "that blessed hope" is contingent the realization of every other possible hope. Are you and I, dear reader, "by patient continuance in well-doing," seeking "for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life"? If so, all this shall be ours at His "glorious appearing." Shall we not watch, and work, and pray for His coming? If Jesus is the joy and rejoicing of our hearts, will we not, with the beloved apostle, yearningly pray, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus"?