What Is the Second Coming of Jesus? The Bible's Promise of Christ's Return

The angels at the ascension of Jesus said it plainly: "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). The earliest Christians prayed for it with the Aramaic word Maranatha — "Come, Lord!" (1 Corinthians 16:22). The New Testament ends with it: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

The second coming of Jesus is not a peripheral hope or an optional add-on to Christian faith. It is the direction in which all of history is moving.

What the Second Coming Is

The second coming (parousia in Greek — the technical term for the arrival of a king) is the bodily, visible, glorious return of Jesus Christ to earth at the end of history to:

• Raise the dead
• Judge the living and the dead
• Defeat all evil finally and completely
• Establish the eternal kingdom of God
• Make all things new

It is the completion of what the first coming began. At his first coming, Jesus came as a servant — born in a manger, dying on a cross. At his second coming, he returns as King — "with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30), "every eye will see him" (Revelation 1:7).

What Jesus Himself Taught

Jesus spoke more about his return than any other subject, particularly in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21).

Key teachings:

• The return will be visible and universal: "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:27). No one will miss it.
• The return will be preceded by signs: wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution, the preaching of the gospel to all nations, the great tribulation, the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:4–28).
• The time is unknown: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:36). This is the great equalizer — all date-setting is ruled out.
• The return demands readiness: "So you also must be ready" (Matthew 24:44). The parables of the ten virgins and the talents both underline preparation over prediction.

At his trial, Jesus told the high priest: "You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:62) — language drawn from Daniel 7:13, the Son of Man receiving eternal dominion.

The Nature of the Return: Seven Characteristics

1. Bodily: The same Jesus who ascended will return (Acts 1:11). Not a spiritual vision or an invisible presence — a real, physical appearing of the risen, glorified Christ.

2. Visible: "Every eye will see him" (Revelation 1:7). No one will be left wondering whether something happened.

3. Glorious: "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). Not in humility this time but in the full manifestation of his divine kingship.

4. Sudden and unexpected: "The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Luke 12:40). Like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2) — surprising, even to those watching.

5. Universal: Every person, living and dead, will be brought before him for judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11–15).

6. Triumphant: He returns to reign, not to be tried. "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).

7. Final: There will be no third coming. The second coming is the decisive, unrepeatable event that closes history as we know it and opens the eternal state.

The Second Coming and the Resurrection

The return of Christ is inseparable from the resurrection of the dead. Paul's most extended treatment (1 Corinthians 15) makes clear that at Christ's return, the dead in Christ rise first, then the living are transformed, and all together participate in the general resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

The resurrection is not the immortality of the soul (the Greek idea) but the redemption of the body (the biblical idea). Human beings are embodied creatures; the final state is embodied existence in a transformed, glorious resurrection body — like Christ's own resurrection body (Philippians 3:20–21).

The Second Coming and Judgment

The return of Christ brings universal judgment. Paul declared it on Mars Hill: God "has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

The judgment at Christ's return includes:

• Believers: Judged for their works, not their salvation (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10–12). This is the "bema" judgment — not to determine eternal destiny (already settled by faith in Christ) but to assess faithfulness and distribute rewards.
• Unbelievers: Judged for their rejection of God and their deeds (Revelation 20:11–15). "The dead were judged according to what they had done."

The second coming is the final answer to the age-old question: why does evil seem to triumph? Christ's return is the guarantee that it doesn't — not ultimately.

Different Views on What Happens at the Second Coming

The debate about what happens when Jesus returns is the heart of eschatological controversy. The three major millennial views:

Premillennialism: Christ returns before (pre) a literal 1,000-year reign on earth (the millennium, Revelation 20:1–6). He establishes his earthly kingdom, rules in Jerusalem, and at the end of the millennium comes the general resurrection and final judgment.

Amillennialism: The "millennium" of Revelation 20 is the current age — Christ reigns from heaven now; Satan is restrained in a limited sense; the church age is the millennium. At Christ's return comes the general resurrection and final judgment simultaneously.

Postmillennialism: Christ returns after (post) the millennium — a golden age of Christianity that the gospel will bring about through the church's faithful witness before Christ returns.

Whatever position one holds on the millennium, all three agree: Christ returns, the dead rise, judgment occurs, and God's kingdom is established eternally.

Signs of the Second Coming

Jesus and the apostles identify signs that will precede the return:

• The gospel preached to all nations (Matthew 24:14)
• The great tribulation (Matthew 24:21)
• False christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:24)
• Cosmic signs (Matthew 24:29–30)
• The abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15)
• The full number of the Gentiles coming in, and the salvation of Israel (Romans 11:25–26)

The challenge: some signs seem already fulfilled (the gospel has gone to all nations); others seem ongoing (persecution); others seem future (cosmic signs). Wise eschatology holds the signs with humility rather than treating them as a current-events checklist.

Living in Light of Christ's Return

Urgency in mission. "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). If the spread of the gospel is the last sign, mission is the most eschatological thing we do.

Sobriety about evil. Christ's return means evil is not the last word. Every act of injustice, every life of cruelty, every system of oppression will be addressed by the returning King. This gives Christians both patience (he hasn't returned yet, meaning more time for grace) and confidence (he will return, meaning justice will ultimately prevail).

Comfort in grief. For the bereaved Christian, the second coming is not an abstract doctrine — it is the promise that those who died in Christ will rise and that reunion is coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

Holiness of life. "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God" (2 Peter 3:11–12).

A Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus. Come with your justice, your mercy, your glory. I live between your first coming and your second, trusting that what you began in your first, you will complete in your second. Until then, keep me watchful — not anxious, not obsessed with timelines, but genuinely ready. Let me live each day as if it might be the day you return. Maranatha. Amen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Has Christ's second coming already happened? No orthodox Christian tradition holds this view. The preterist position holds that many of the prophecies of Matthew 24 were fulfilled in 70 AD (the destruction of Jerusalem), but even preterists believe in a future bodily return of Christ for judgment and new creation.

What does "every eye will see him" mean? Revelation 1:7 teaches that Christ's return will be universally visible — not a secret event, not something experienced only by believers, but a cosmic, unmissable appearing of the risen, glorified Christ.

What should I do to prepare for the second coming? The New Testament's consistent answer: be found faithful in ordinary things — love your neighbor, share the gospel, live honestly, grow in holiness, serve the church. The readiness God wants is not stockpiling resources or calculating dates but faithful daily discipleship.

Will Christ's second coming happen in our generation? No one knows. Jesus explicitly ruled out all date-setting (Matthew 24:36). Every generation since the apostles has believed it might happen in their time, and that ongoing expectation is itself one of the intended effects of the doctrine.

What happens to the earth when Jesus returns? Peter describes the current heaven and earth passing away and being replaced by "a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:10–13). Whether the current creation is renovated or recreated is debated, but the outcome is the same: a new creation fit for the eternal kingdom.