Letters to the Church

Salvation includes the bodily resurrection of the saints and life in the New Creation, which will occur when Jesus arrives . Central to the doctrine of salvation is the promise of  redemption . God will not abandon what He first created, and both the term and the concept mean the  recovery of what was lost . The universe is enslaved by sin and condemned to decay and death. In God’s redemptive plans, the end state of redeemed things and persons is vastly superior to their original state, and this principle is epitomized in the promises of bodily Resurrection and New Creation.

The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. Certain members of the congregation in Corinth denied the future resurrection of the righteous. Paul responded by stressing how necessary our resurrection is and by appealing to the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection was and remains the precedent for our future resurrection and life in the coming age. We will be raised bodily when he “ arrives ,” and his appearance will mean nothing less than the end of Death itself.

The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10. The “ Revelation ” of Jesus “ from Heaven ” will mean vindication and reward for his faithful followers but a great loss to all men and women who reject the Gospel, especially those who persecute the Church. The return of the Lord will generate “ just judgment ” for the righteous and the wicked.

The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected for judgment and cast from his presence . On the Last Day, the righteous and the unrighteous will be “ gathered ” before Jesus, the former for vindication and salvation, and the latter for judgment and condemnation. This event is linked in the New Testament to Christ’s “ arrival ” at the end of the age when he will resurrect the dead, judge the dead and living, terminate the “ Last Enemy, Death ,” and consummate the Kingdom of God.

Jesus will arrive and gather his people on the Day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ . In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul refutes claims that the “ Day of the Lord ” is imminent. That day will not arrive until the “ Apostasy ” and the “ revelation of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction .” Jesus will destroy this Master Deceiver at his “ Arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’, an event the Apostle links to this final great day.

In explaining the resurrection, Paul lists key events that will precede or coincide with the arrival of Jesus at the close of the present age . Paul outlined the events that will occur at or shortly before the “ arrival ” of Jesus in  1 Corinthians . The Greek noun ‘ Parousia ’ or “ arrival ” is one of several terms Paul applies to the future coming of the Lord in his letters. Regardless of which term is used, the Apostle always refers to one “ coming ,” one “ appearance ,” one “ revelation ” and one “ appearance ” of the Son of God, not two or more.

Rumors about the Day of the Lord caused alarm and confusion in the Thessalonian congregation – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. The Apostle Paul addressed rumors and false claims about the “ Day of the Lord " in his second letter to the Thessalonians. Incorrect information concerning Christ’s return had disrupted the congregation. The disinformation was attributed either to a “ spirit ,” word ( logos ), or a letter “ as if from ” Paul and his coworkers.

In the New Testament, the return of Jesus at the “ end of the age ” is portrayed as a singular event of great finality. His “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ will be accompanied by celestial and terrestrial upheaval, the appearance of the New Creation, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the judgment and punishment of the ungodly, the “ gathering of his elect ,” and the cessation of Death itself. Decay and mortality will be replaced by immortality, and nothing will ever be the same again!

The arrival of Jesus will mean the resurrection of the dead, the commencement of the New Creation, and the final judgment . Several Greek terms are applied by the New Testament to the return of Jesus, including ‘ Parousia ’ (“arrival”), ‘ erchomai ’ (“coming”), ‘ apokalupsis ’ (“revelation”), and ‘ epiphaneia ’ (“appearance”). Regardless of which one is used, it is always singular in number, it always refers to only one future “arrival,” “appearance,” “revelation,” or “coming.”

Jesus will arrive on the Day of the Lord at which time the dead will be raised, the wicked judged, and death will cease . Paul discusses aspects of Christ’s future arrival in his letters to the Corinthians, including the “ Day of the Lord ,” the consummation of God’s Kingdom, the resurrection of the dead, the bodily transformation of saints still alive when Jesus comes, the judgment of the wicked, and the end of death itself .