The Suddenness and Nearness of Christ’s Final Return
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon (that is, suddenly or quickly) take place…” (Revelation 1:1a; see 22:6,7,12,20)
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3; see 22:10)
Two beautiful thoughts, often misunderstood or ignored, are brought together in these two verses: the speedy manner in which the Lord will return and the ongoing nearness of the Lord’s return. Christ’s first coming started the long-awaited kingdom (God’s rule), and it is a kingdom which will continue to exist throughout the church age until Christ returns.
Unknown Yet Certain
The first century Christians would not have been surprised if Christ had come during their lifetime. This observation does not mean that they knew when he was going to return or that they knew that most certainly he was going to return during their lifetime (see Matt. 24:36-25:46; John 21:20ff.; I Thess. 5:1ff.; II Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; 16:15). They lived with the strong and eager sense of expectancy that he indeed would return. But such an outlook did not mean they knew he was going to return during their lifetime. In fact, they knew full well that Jesus and Paul, to name just two individuals, taught that no one knew when Christ was going to return. Yet they would not have been surprised if he indeed did come during their lifetime because they had accepted the certainty of Christ’s final return.
On the other hand, that they would not have been surprised if Christ did not come during their lifetime because they had been clearly taught that they could not know or did not know when he would come. His coming would be like a thief in the night. The power of the metaphor is obvious: you do not know when a thief is going to come so you always live in a state of preparation. The earliest Christians knew that Christ was coming a final time, they just did not know when. This perspective has been held by many Christians throughout the centuries up to today and will be held for a thousand years more, should the Lord delay the final coming.
Why was Christ’s final coming ever-present? One possible answer is that the earliest Christians often talked and wrote about it. Every book of the New Testament, except for Philemon and III John, contains information about Christ’s final coming. Furthermore, every time where the final return is the subject, it is always presented in the context of either comforting or challenging Christians.
The two verses teach truths that must be held together. First, according to Revelation 1:1a, when Christ comes a final time, the event will take place suddenly or quickly. His coming is possible any day, impossible no day. Even though I do not believe there are as many signs concerning the end as many believe, what few signs may be hinted at in the New Testament do not permit us to predict his coming whatsoever (for example, the coming of the Antichrist or the Man of Lawlessness or, perhaps, a time of severe persecution). The fact that no one knows when Christ will come challenges the very notion that certain signs will clearly tell us that the end is near.
Second, Revelation 1:3 teaches that we are challenged to live with the sense that the time of his final coming is always near (Rom. 13:11-12; Phil. 4:5; Heb. 10:23-25; James 5:8; I Pet. 4:7). Obviously, with each passing minute, hour, day, week, month, year, century, the time is nearer than what it has been. Hence, John writes about the time of Christ’s final coming—it is near—and the manner of Christ’s coming—it will be a sudden appearing. At any point in history since John wrote, these declarations—the event of his coming will take place suddenly or quickly and is always near—are true and will remain true until he does indeed come a second time (Heb. 9:27-28). For all his image as a vendor of only despair and doom, a correct reading of Revelation reveals John is ultimately a vendor of hope!
Timely and Timeless Language
In order to emphasize both the ongoing nearness of the end and the suddenness in which it will take place, John uses language, specifically symbols, to depict the final judgment of all powers who have opposed God and his people as well as the blessings that await the faithful. The symbols show both how timely the book was for John’s readers and how timeless it has been for Christians throughout the centuries. Ultimately, we must look beyond the immediate relevancy for John’s audience and see the ultimate meaning: the total destruction that John sees coming upon Rome foreshadows the total destruction coming upon any and all godless cultures and empires, all of which lead up to the final judgment.
Specifically, John used language that described the end of the Roman Empire to describe the end of any and all godless cultures and countries through the centuries right up to the end. It is our task to interpret those symbols in light of what John and his readers would have understood and see how those same symbols have continued to communicate God’s revelation and continue to communicate the truths about the judgments that are leading up to the Final Judgment.
The language of nearness and certainty is linked with symbols that would have made sense to the original recipients.** To keep the senses of immediacy or imminence and suddenness, John was given a revelation of the end of the world in language that the first century Christians could understand without tying himself down to appear to be predicting that he knew that Christ would come in his lifetime. The language, then, becomes a template or pattern for describing what has happened throughout the centuries, while always keeping in mind the certainty of the final coming. In other words, the language used to convey the certainty of the coming of Christ and the language used to describe the end of the world in terms of the Roman Empire are a part of a strategy that makes the book both timely for John and his audience and for all audiences through the centuries. Because he used images that would have been understood by the first recipients, we must translate that language into today’s idiom so that people will continue to have the sense of imminence and confident that the Lord will indeed come and judge, and that coming will be sudden.
God would certainly have not used language that could not have been understood, otherwise the book would not have been a “revelation” but it would have been a mystery to the first recipients. We must keep in mind that Revelation. 1:3 called upon the original recipients to obey what was revealed. That challenge was given to the first century disciples and it continues to be given to disciples up to today.
Do not other parts of the Bible use the same strategy? For example, language that was used to describe the judgment of God of Israel or of pagan nations (compare Matt. 24:29ff. with Isa. 13:10; 34:4; Ezek. 32:7; Dan. 8:10; Joel 2:10; Hag. 2:21) was used in the New Testament of God’s ongoing judgments as well as the final judgment (Matt. 24:36ff. and Gen. 6:9-12). Such passages have immediate, repeated, and ultimate application.
The Significance for Christians Today
How, then, does this perspective combining suddenness and nearness impact us today? We should (must!) live with a sense of urgent expectation alongside confident expectation. The declarations “the time is near” and Christ will come suddenly convey the attitude we are to have, a sense of confident expectation and acknowledging that we do not know when Christ will come. We are both certain and ignorant! The language was not “clock” or “calendar” time or language. In other words, the declarations convey an outlook of hope not a time or clock or calendar mentality. The tension remains that Christians know that Christ will come but they do not know when he will come. In the meantime, we must not be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. We are called upon to live obedient lives until we die or until he comes (Revelation 1:3; 22:7). Truly, we acknowledge this suddenness and nearness in our baptism, at the Lord’s table, when we gather together for worship, and in the way that we live our lives.
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**The language John used would have been understood by the first century disciples and can be understood by us today. It is a language that teaches that God will judge any and all godless cultures throughout the centuries and that he will bless the faithful. The language is transferred from the Old Testament to describe the judgment against Rome and other enemies of God and his people and continues to be transferred to each generation. Hence, the Old Testament language is timeless and carries not only over to the New Testament times but is to be carried on through the centuries to communicate the fundamental truth that God will have the last word against evil. All the judgments throughout history are leading up to the Final Judgment. It is up to the interpreter, the preacher, and the teacher to make the language understandable to people today. The starting point, then, is to understand what it meant to the original recipients (be they living in Old Testament times or at the end of the first century) and then see how the symbols are timeless and continue to communicate God’s truths.
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