More than 2000 years ago, Christ Jesus came to heal and rescue the world from sin. He is set to come again, and this time His coming will not be like the first. This time, Jesus will come as a resplendent king, as the world has never seen. He will come to judge the world and bring in a reign of justice, peace, and righteousness for a whole millennial.
There has been much debate about the nature of Christ Jesus’s second coming. Among these, we come across many references to both the Day of the Lord and the Day of Christ. Are these the same? As part of the Jesus Is Coming Campaign (JICC) series of articles, we took a look at what the Bible has to say about these significant upcoming days.
The Day of the Lord
The Bible mentions the Day of the Lord more than 50 times. It is described as a great (in the context of magnitude and not in the fun sense as we tend to use the word these days) and dreadful day (Malachi 4:5). The ‘Lord’ in this context means Adonai or Yahweh.
Isaiah 13:9-10 is another passage, even earlier than Malachi, that mentions this event, describing it here as cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, where the land would be laid desolate, and the sinners destroyed completely.
Zephaniah 1:14-15 states that even the mighty man shall cry bitterly. Verse 15 goes on to describe the day as one of wrath, trouble, and distress, where everything is laid to waste and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, of clouds and thick darkness.
In Amos 5:18-20, we read that the day is not one of light, but of darkness. It is as if where a man would flee from a lion and a bear would meet him, or if we went into a house and leaned against it in tiredness and a serpent bit him. Joel 1:15 describes it as a destruction from the Almighty.
As we can see, the Day of the Lord had already been mentioned in the Old Testament, within the context of the understanding Israel had of their relationship with God in those days. But Paul would also speak about it in the New Testament. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, he wrote that the Day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night and that it would come suddenly when it is least expected. Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:10 that the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and everything thereon would burn in that heat.
In Acts 2:20, during the birth of the church, the Day of the Lord is also mentioned. It is said that the sun shall turn into darkness and the moon into blood. Jesus Himself describes it in Matthew 24:29-30 where He told the disciples that in the days after the Tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon loses its light, the stars fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. All the tribes of the world will mourn.
Why is the Day of the Lord mentioned so many times in the Bible? It is an event that is going to come in the future. It is of such magnitude that it will be unlike anything that has occurred in our whole history, more dreadful than any upheaval, so much so that even the elements would burn. It is an event that no one would like to see happen in their lifetime. For this reason, the Bible gives us ample warning throughout Scripture.
As with any human being, we would lose hope if this event is all that we can expect from God. He is just and righteous and there is a reason and purpose for the Day of the Lord but it would not rest well with the peace of our minds. For we are all sinners in need of grace and mercy from God.
But there is also another day that is mentioned throughout the Bible and this is what gives every born-again Christian the blessed hope Paul described in 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9: for God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Blessed Hope
Today the whole world knows Jesus’s full name as Jesus Christ, but the word Christ is not a surname or family name. It is a title that describes Jesus’s position, and the word ‘Christ’ means the Anointed One. Jesus came as a man but unlike the rest of us, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is also described as the Second Adam in reference to the first Adam who was also directly created by God in His image. Where the first Adam fell and brought sin into the world, Jesus – the Second Adam – would restore our relationship with God and save us from our sins.
Every human being consists of three parts; spirit, soul, and body. Through Christ Jesus, we would be born again into a new creation in our spirits. However, our souls which are where our mind and emotions reside would also need to and will be, progressively restored to align once more with God’s. On the Day of Christ, even our bodies would be restored to the original glorious form, the same one that Adam had before the Fall.
Titus 2:11-13 reminds us that the grace of salvation has already appeared to all mankind; to whosoever believes in Jesus the Christ (John 3:16). The context here, in Titus, is that the grace of salvation is equated not to an object, but to the person of Christ Jesus. And this salvation is a complete thing, not just from destruction and hell, but also an active and vibrant element in our lives while we are on earth. For every moment of our lives.
Furthermore, Titus also reminds us in this passage that it is the grace of God that teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and in a godly manner. We cannot do this on our own – it will only lead to burnout, frustration, and despair. We need the grace of God every day and that grace is sufficient for us. It is the demonstration of the power of God and the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Knowing this, we look with blessed hope to the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Day of Christ and the Day of the Lord
Jesus’s coming on earth and His appearance is two different events. Christ Jesus will first appear in the clouds and every born-again Christian will be caught up to meet Him in the air and given new bodies. (We have this hope because Jesus had already resurrected from the dead). This event is known as the Rapture, the Day of Christ, and the glorious appearing. It will take place before the rise of the AntiChrist.
The AntiChrist will subsequently rule the world for a time before Jesus comes again (The Second Coming), set His foot in Jerusalem, and usher in His Millennial Reign. This Second Coming is also known as the Day of the Lord where Christ Jesus will come in power and it will be a dreadful one for the AntiChrist, those who are aligned with him, and all who are caught unprepared.
The Day of Christ: The Appearing of Our Saviour Jesus Christ
Paul writes about the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where he describes it as a bright, glorious, and joyous event (while the exact term ‘Rapture’ does not exist in the Bible it is the closest in the English language to describe what is happening here). And then in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, he writes about the dreadful Day of the Lord. This very passage is also where he gave the encouragement that God had not appointed us to suffer His wrath but to be saved through Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Paul was writing to the Thessalonian Christians about the Day of Christ and juxtaposing it with the Day of the Lord.
When Will The Day of Christ Take Place?
In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he writes again about the Day of Christ. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, he gave an indication of when the Day of Christ will happen – at the moment the AntiChrist is revealed. We are living in a time that is very ripe for this moment. The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017 is an extremely significant milestone in eschatological chronology, setting the path for momentous events to happen there.
Paul also stated that there will sadly be a great falling away before the Day of Christ. Even many Christians will fall away from their faith, some giving up their blessed hope, others completely turning their backs on their faith and relationship with Christ (in other words no longer identifying themselves as Christians, or becoming merely cultural Christians with no substance to the profession of their faith).
This is why the word of God and of our abiding in Christ must continuously be preached. We need to learn to be intimate with Christ Jesus and not lean on our own strength and standards. Christianity is a relationship with God (not religion) and we are saved, brought into a new life, and transformed through the grace of God that was given unto us through Christ Jesus.
Our Response
Paul gives much encouragement to us Christians about keeping an eye on the Day of Christ. In Philippians 1:6 he writes about the confidence we have that the good work God is doing in us He will bring to completion on the day of Jesus Christ. We are to hold firmly to the word of life so that on the Day of Christ we will be able to boast that we did not run or labour in vain (Philippians 2:16).
In 1 Corinthians 1:8, we receive the encouragement that the grace of God will help keep us firm to the end so that we will be blameless on the Day of Christ. Here, Paul also writes to the Corinthian Christians about the Day of Christ:
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
What should our response be? Firstly, to hold firmly to the word of life and the grace of God. Secondly and decisively, we need to share the gospel with our loved ones. Jesus’s Great Commission was not an ego programme. There is purpose in it. We do not want our loved ones to go through the Day of the Lord. Neither does God want anyone to perish but all to come to salvation through repentance and renewal of relationship with Him (2 Peter 3:9). For Christ did not come into the world and walked among men more than 2000 years ago to judge the world but to save it (John 12:47).
The Marriage of the Lamb
In Revelation 19: 1,7-9 there is a picture of the Marriage of the Lamb. The ‘Lamb’/bridegroom here refers to Jesus who was the sacrificial lamb of God. Christ Jesus took our sins upon Himself and saved us from sin and death. It is a glorious scene (the bride/church has made herself ready, clothed in righteousness, soul and body perfect) but more than that, the feast will take place in the literal sense. It was an actual vision that God gave to the apostle John.
Apostle John also saw the Second Coming of the Lord after he saw the Marriage of the Lamb and it is a very different scene:
Revelation 19: 11-16
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
King of kings and Lord of lords.
Both scenes are glorious in their own way, both will happen. The difference is one describes a day of celebration, the other a dreaded day of judgement.
1 John 3:2
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
|Share The Good News|
Leave a Reply