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That our Lord would return to earth was believed universally in the early
Church
and made an article of the Creed:
He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead.
He appears, according to the usual interpretation,
to have foretold His second coming
(Mark 14.62;
Matt.24.30; John 5.28).
In
Acts 1.11 the two angels to the apostles foretell His coming again.
St. Paul expected our Lord's coming again in his own lifetime
(I Thess.3.17,
4.16-17, 5.2; II Thess.1.7, 2.1; I Cor.4.5, 11.26, 15.23-26;
Phil.3.20, 4.5; I Tim.6.14: cf. Acts 17.31).
This coming again is expressed in the language of APOCALYPTIC.
The Jewish "apocalypses" were books about the Last Things,
of which books there were many in the first century,
and of which Daniel and Revelation are the best-known examples.
Apocalyptic language may appear strange to us,
but it conveys a truth that is a necessary part of the Christian faith.
The Second Coming of our Lord is certain,
but it lies outside the order of the world, as we know it.
Our Lord said that He did not know when it would be,
and it is useless to speculate on what form it will take.
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The Second Coming of Christ is to be at the end of this world.
We are not to expect it to be followed by a golden age on earth.
This is the MILLENARIAN heresy, which the Church
has always condemned.
Whatever may be the meaning of Rev.20.2-3, it either does not mean this or,
if it does, we are not to regard it as revealed truth;
for it was because
of this passage that the Church long hesitated to place the Revelation in
the Canon of Scripture.
The idea, common in the nineteenth century, that we are to expect "the
kingdom of heaven" as a golden age at some future time on this earth
is contrary alike to Scripture, tradition, and reason.
Christian tradition bids us expect not a golden age
but the supreme persecution in the days of the Antichrist.
This tradition is based on
II Thess.2.3, I John 2.18, 4.7, which probably
refer to the compulsory worship of the Roman Emperor with which the Church
was then threatened.
But we certainly have no evidence for the optimistic view that the rule of
Christ is destined to prevail over the whole earth.
All our experience shows that progress can only be made by constant effort,
that relaxation of effort leads at once to the loss of all that has been
gained,
and that the majority of men is not willing,
and is never likely to be willing,
to make the sacrifice of self which the service of our Lord requires.
We expect the complete coming of His kingdom,
not in this world, but in another (see also pp. 252-3).
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The Second Coming of Christ, then, is to be outside of space and time.
We do not know whether this earth is to become colder until life on it is
impossible as the scientists tell us, or whether it will be destroyed by
fire as is prophesied in II Peter 3.10 (which is quite possible astronomically,
for heavenly bodies are known to have been destroyed in this way).
The Second Coming of Christ is to be accompanied by the resurrection of the
dead and the General Judgment.
We are warned by our Lord Himself to be always ready for it.
It may take place at any time.
God may decide to bring His material creation to an end or refashion it in
some other way.
We do not know.
All that we do know is that we are to be constantly ready for judgment.
The bodies of the dead will rise again as our Lord Himself taught (Mark
12.25; Luke 20.37).
St. Paul placed this doctrine in the centre of his teaching (I Thess.4.16;
I Cor.15.13 ff.; Rom.1.4; Acts 23.6, 26.23).
He argued that
if the dead are not raised,
neither hath Christ been raised,
and if Christ hath not been raised,
your faith is vain. (I Cor.15.13).
One of the chief topics of the Fourth Gospel is the eternal life,
which our Lord promised to His disciples.
But eternal life implies the possession of a body.
To be without one's body is to be dead.
The body which is to be given back to us at the general resurrection will
not be the same as our present body;
for St. Paul tells us
it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;
it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory;
it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power,
it is sown a PSYCHIC body, it is raised a SPIRITUAL body
(I Cor.15.42-44).
[The word translated "natural" is the adjective
of ψυχή,
and means "belonging to the animal life".]
But it will have some connection with our present body of what kind we do
not know.
We shall be able to recognize one another.
It is for this reason that Christians treat even the dead body with reverence.
Christian sentiment is opposed to cremation, but not Christian principle.
We do not believe, as the ancient Egyptians did, that the fate of the spirit
depends on what happens to the body or that a body, which is burned, or eaten
by wild beasts, will not rise again.
But such pagan practices as "scattering the ashes",
are entirely contrary to the Christian spirit of reverence for that which
has been,
and in some way unknown to us will be again,
the temple of the Holy Ghost (I Cor.6.19). (See English Hymnal,
352).
The resurrection body will be incorruptible, immortal, glorious, full of
power (I Cor.15.43).
When we are clothed with it (II Cor.5.4), we shall be fit to stand before
God.
The General Judgment will follow the General Resurrection.
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The Judgment is presented to us in the form of a picture.
Such an event can only be described in symbolic terms and those of the most
general kind.
Our Lord Himself is to be the Judge (Matt.16.27, 25.32; Acts 17.31).
He is especially suited for this office because He is both God and Man (John
5.27).
As God He knows everything and is absolutely just
(which no one who did not know everything could be).
As Man He knows from His own experience what those who come before Him have
had to face and can therefore be merciful.
The New Testament tells us, that all men are to be judged, and also angels
(Matt.25.41; I Cor.6.3; Rev.20.10; Jude 6; II Peter 2.4).
Even if it had not been revealed that all men would be judged,
we should still believe it on rational grounds.
It is a necessary consequence of belief in the justice of God.
It was believed by many heathen nations and was expressly taught by Plato.
The General Judgment differs from the Particular Judgment because it will
be public and will be passed on all men, those outside the covenant as well
as those inside.
All will be judged according to what they have done,
what they have omitted to do, and what opportunity they have had of doing
otherwise.
Those who knew the revelation of God will be judged by that revelation.
Those who did not will be judged by what they did know (Matt.25.34-46).
The judgment will be absolutely just, and it will be final.
Our Lord is God as well as Man and will give judgment as God.
These shall go away into eternal punishment;
but the righteous into eternal life:
(Matt.25.46).