Lesson: THE NATURE OF CHRIST’S REAPPEARANCE ON EARTH
TEXT: 2Thess. 1:3-10
MEMORY VERSE: 1Cor. 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. (NKJV)
OBJECTIVE: At the end of the lesson, the audience should be able to appreciate why Jesus ascended into heaven with the resurrected body; evidence of His unfailing return and the nature of the subjects of His Kingdom.
INTRODUCTION: When someone says, ‘it is not in my nature to kill’, he is simply telling why it is not possible for him to do so because of what with which he is made – his kind, character and quality he is made of originally. In other words, his chemical, biology and physical states cannot support a killing ambition. All such characteristics are called innate tendencies. That is so true because nature never lies. To reappear is to appear again. The way Christ will appear again on earth will influence everything on earth – the momentum will be felt by everything and everybody – those who admire or hate Him. His nature will both attract people to Himself and repel others away from Him.
PRESENTATION:
Step I: WITH THE SAME MEANS OF MOBILITY AS AT FIRST APPEARANCE
(a) He will reappear with the corruption-free body with which He ascended into heaven. (cf. Acts 1:9-11)
(b) All eyes will see Him reappear and all will be influenced accordingly – to attract to Himself or repel away from Him. (cf. Eph. 3:9)
i. All eyes (of the heart – illumination – 2Cor. 4:6) of His believers who had seen Him before through faith in His life-transforming teachings will be attracted to Him. (cf. 1Thess. 4:17)
Step II: HE WILL REAPPEAR WITH ‘FLESH AND BONE’
(a) Flesh and blood cannot be a part of Christ’s Kingdom. (Our Memory Verse)
(b) The trace of humanity or human identity is by the blood.
i. The weakness of every human leading to spiritual corruption is by the blood.
ii. Every spiritual (unseen) power in the heavenly places can be sure everything is vulnerable for them to enslave and destroy if there is blood in it.
(c) Resurrected bodies are termed incorruptible because of lack of blood in them. (cf. Our Memory Verse)
i. Resurrected bodies are made up of ‘flesh and bones’ like those of angels and other celestial beings.
(d) Even technological advancements and occultism thrive when blood is involved.
Step III: HIS SUBJECTS ARE EXPECTED TO LIVE ABOVE THE DICTATES OF FLESH AND BLOOD
(a) Christ’s subjects (believers in Him) in Scripture are called ‘Church’ and/or ‘body’ and the only one of its kind. (See Col. 1:24; 4:4)
(b) Metaphorically, they are so called for human understanding because it is built with spiritual materials and located in the unseen realm. (See Eph. 2:6,20-22; 3:8-10)
i. The nature of the Church that will be attracted to Christ’s glorious reappearance is expected to be like that of Christ Himself. (See 1John 3:2)
(b) They have a renewed consciousness different from that of the present world system:
i. That Christ didn’t call them to give them material inheritance primarily. (See 1Cor. 15:19; 1Tim. 6:6-10)
ii. They cannot leave the Church, their life support system, at any point in time because Jesus as the Head cannot be severed from the body just as in the physical body. (ibid)
iii. They only can attend Church edification services and return to their homes.
– They are constantly in the Church which is not built with hands and money but by Christ’s teachings. (cf. Jam. 1:18; Luke 8:11)
iv. Witches and evildoers can neither enter nor be a part of the Christian Church since Christ, the Owner of the spiritual private enterprise, cannot be accessed physically. (See 2Cor. 5:16,17) And Christ cannot add them to His fold. (cf. Acts 2:47)
v. Any place Church is seen as a physical entity risks the domineering influence of demons as such is reckoned as a shrine in the heavenly (spirit’s) places from where Jesus, the Head, operates. (cf. Acts 17:16,24,25; 1Cor. 10:19,20)
CONCLUSION:
Have you seen an individual or a people who believe they can come into the presence of God and depart from same? Mark them as worshippers of idols without knowing. The unbeatable reason is the fact that any god that is localized is automatically idolized. Amidst such people, you hear talks about worship limited to emotionalism without a clear-cut separation between corporate and individual worship. In rightly dividing the truth according to Christ’s expectation, (2Tim. 2:15) it should be clearly shown that it is on the basis of individual worship that God accepts corporate worship the same way corporate services are rewarded individually. You hear them say, ‘let’s be in the mode of worship.’ In their understanding, worship didn’t take place until now. In essence, they are saying, ‘whatsoever you said and did before now is not rewardable by God.’ But such is a demonstration of the highest ignorance possible because God cannot positively reward anything we do that didn’t worship Him. (cf. Matt. 15:9) We have a rewardable duty to glorify God through Christ in doing all things – whether corporately and individually – cf. Col. 3:17.
EVALUATION:
1. If without money to build a meeting hall, we share the love and teachings of Christ by any other means available, Christ will accept us during His reappearance on earth. (True or False) Why?
2. Why is the Christian Church built in the invisible place and with what material?
3. Can a Christian go to Church and come back from same? (Yes or No) Why?
4. What is the difference between ‘Church’ and ‘Church Cathedral’?
5. What did Jesus call us to receive from Him that is in the world?
PRAYER:
Give God thanks for the lesson and pray for a corresponding understanding of the nature of Christ’s Church that will catalyze the true running of her as a model living example for all those yet to come to the knowledge of the truth Christ teaches. Amen!
To donate towards our Bible-based Mental Engineering/Bible Reading Culture Promoter efforts, Click here.