Christ our Coming King

There have been seasons in ministry when fatigue and discouragement threatened to dull my sense of purpose. The hope of Christ’s return has helped steady me. The promise that he will wipe away tears, overcome death, and bring creation to its promised future gives me a reason to keep loving and serving.

Within the Christian and Missionary Alliance, we call Jesus our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. That last description points toward the completion of the work we already know in part. The Jesus who rescues and changes us will return.

For me, this belief has consequences for ordinary life. It affects how I see suffering, what I build, and how I treat the people I meet today.

What Christians mean by the Second Coming

The Second Coming is the Christian expectation that Jesus will return personally and openly. Christians connect his return with resurrection, judgment, and the fulfillment of God’s kingdom.

Resurrection means being raised from death into embodied life. Kingdom refers to God’s reign, the setting right of what sin and evil have damaged. The hope concerns God’s future for people and creation.

Acts 1:6–11 and Revelation 1:7 give this expectation a public character. Jesus’ return is more than a private feeling or a symbol for the gradual improvement of society.

Christians differ about the sequence of events surrounding that return. The shared confession of a future coming should not be confused with agreement on every proposed timetable.

Why I hold a premillennial hope

The Alliance affirms a premillennial understanding, and I share it. The term means that Jesus returns before the millennium, the thousand-year reign described in Revelation 20. I expect his return to inaugurate a reign of righteousness and peace on earth.

I read this in connection with the biblical expectation of God’s king receiving enduring dominion. Daniel 7:13–14 describes one like a son of man receiving a kingdom that will not pass away. Zechariah 14:9 looks toward the Lord’s kingship over all the earth.

My confidence is in God’s ability to bring about what he promises. I do not believe human progress, political power, or a sufficiently capable institution can accomplish the fullness of that restoration.

There are several forms of premillennialism. They differ about Israel, the church, prophecy, and the sequence of future events. I have found myself more drawn toward a thematic premillennial approach than a highly detailed system. My reflection on Models of Premillennialism explains something of that journey.

How other Christians read the millennium

Amillennial Christians generally understand Revelation’s thousand years as Christ’s present reign, rather than a future earthly period following his return. They still affirm his future coming, resurrection, and judgment.

Postmillennial Christians expect a period of widespread gospel influence and flourishing before Jesus returns. Their confidence is in God’s action through the gospel, rather than simply in unaided human progress.

I disagree with these interpretations of the millennium, but I want to understand them accurately. They are held by Christians who take Scripture seriously. The disagreements include how to read Revelation’s symbols, the relationship between its visions, and the passages describing resurrection.

Compare the fuller biblical arguments about the millennium → For related questions, explore approaches to Revelation and the debate about prophecy and Israel.

Readiness without date-setting

Christians use the word imminence when speaking about the nearness and expectancy of Jesus’ return. They differ about whether particular events must occur first. What is clear in Matthew 24:36 is that the day and hour are not ours to announce.

I understand readiness as a call to faithful living. I do not want to spend my life trying to turn headlines into a secret calendar. Jesus’ warnings about watchfulness ask something of my conduct now.

In Matthew 24:14, Jesus connects the proclamation of the kingdom among the nations with the coming end. That connection has been important to the Alliance’s commitment to mission.

Gospel means good news, the message about Jesus and what God has done through him. The Great Commission is Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 28:18–20 to make disciples among the nations. A disciple is someone learning to follow him.

I take that calling seriously. It gives urgency to sharing faith and helping people grow. It does not put the timing of Jesus’ return under our control. Acts 1:7–8 joins a limit on knowing God’s timetable with a calling to bear witness through the Spirit’s power.

What Jesus is doing now

Waiting for Christ’s return does not mean believing he is inactive in the meantime. Ephesians 1:20–23 describes him as exalted above every authority and as head of the church.

Hebrews 7:25 says he intercedes for his people. Intercession means speaking and acting on another’s behalf. I understand Jesus as sustaining and representing his people now, even as we await the fullness of his visible reign.

In John 14:1–3, Jesus reassures his followers with the promise that he will bring them to be with him. Ephesians 1:13–14 describes the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the inheritance to come. These promises help hold together present relationship and future hope.

That gives prayer, forgiveness, service, and witness their place in the present. We live under the authority of the risen Christ while looking toward what he will complete.

Reading difficult times with care

Jesus warns about conflict, suffering, deception, and love growing cold. Second Timothy 3 also describes self-centered and destructive conduct. These passages ask Christians to remain faithful when circumstances are hard.

I believe they speak truthfully about the world’s brokenness. But recurring wars and moral failures do not provide a reliable way to calculate how close we are to the end. People in many generations have lived through terrible events and believed their own time must be the last.

I want these warnings to deepen faithfulness and compassion. Other people’s suffering must not become material for an exciting prediction.

The hope of new creation means God’s promised setting right of the world, where righteousness dwells and death is overcome. Second Peter 3:8–13 and Revelation 21:1–5 help direct my attention toward that promise. Christians differ about how renewal relates to the present creation; compare the arguments about renewal and replacement.

Hope at church, in the community, and in the surf shop

This conviction reaches into the different places where I have served: church life, community programs through Youth for Christ, and conversations in my surf shop. I want to remember that an ordinary encounter with a person matters.

A conversation, a wave surfed with someone, an act of kindness, or the decision to listen can become part of living faithfully before God. Expecting Christ’s return helps me pay attention to the life and relationships already in front of me.

It also reminds me that leadership is stewardship: responsibility for something entrusted to me. The people I serve and the work I build are not possessions I get to keep. They belong ultimately to Christ.

When I am tired or discouraged, the promise of his coming gives me courage. I do not have to pretend that loss is small or that every difficulty will be resolved in my lifetime. I can grieve and still expect God to finish what he has begun.

My response is to keep loving, serving, and speaking of Jesus with the time I have. The King is coming. I want that hope to make me more faithful today.