End Time Insights

The coming of Jesus is not a major topic in Paul's letters to the Corinthians though it is in his Thessalonian correspondence. However, he does touch on several aspects of the event, including its identification as the “ Day of the Lord ,” the consummation of God’s kingdom, the resurrection of the righteous, the judgment of the wicked, and the cessation of death.

Several Greek terms are used in the New Testament for the return of Jesus at the end of the present age. These include  Parousia  (“ arrival ”),  erchomai  (“ coming ”), and  epiphaneia  (“ appearance ”). Regardless of which one is used, in each case, it is always singular in number, referring to only one future “ coming .” The term  Parousia  is applied to his return most often in the letters of Paul, though not exclusively so. It denotes an “arrival” rather than the process of someone or something “coming.”

The return of Jesus at the end of the age will be an event of great glory, victory, and finality .  In the New Testament, the return of Jesus at the “ end of the age ” is an event of great finality. His “ arrival ” in glory will be accompanied by celestial and terrestrial upheaval, the New Creation, the resurrection of the righteous, the judgment of the ungodly, the “ gathering of his elect ,” and the cessation of death. Nothing will ever be the same again!

Paul responded to concerns about the dead in Christ by pointing to the resurrection that will occur when Jesus arrives from Heaven .  In his first Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul reassured the congregation concerning the participation of saints who die before the ‘ Parousia ’ in the glories of that day. According to him,  BOTH  dead and living saints will assemble and “ meet ” the Lord as he descends from Heaven. Thereafter, they will be with Jesus “ forevermore .” He wrote these words in response to believers who were sorrowing over the deaths of fellow saints.

In the first chapter of  First Thessalonians , Paul anticipates the Letter’s main subjects, including the tribulation of believers, Christian hope, and the “ arrival ” of Jesus when, as God did for the three Jewish exiles in the  Book of Daniel , he will rescue his people from “ wrath .” Moreover, he will resurrect the righteous dead, and “ meet ” his assembled saints as he descends from Heaven. On that day, his disciples, both the living and the dead, will “ obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ .”