Captain Scott O’Grady was shot down over Bosnia on June 2,
1995. He pulled the ejection lever and parachuted into enemy territory.
For six days he hid under bushes, ate bugs, and drank rainwater. To
make himself less visible, he covered his face with mud. Sometimes
enemy soldiers passed within a few feet of his hiding place, but they
never found him.
What O’Grady didn’t know was that from the moment his ordeal
began, intense preparations were made to rescue him. He was wondering, Do
they know I’m alive? Are they going to come for me? Do they care? And
all the while the United States military was mobilizing to come and get
him. They had 40 airplanes in the air looking for him. They were using
satellites. They were getting help from other nations. And O’Grady was
wondering, Will they come for me?
Our planet has been kidnapped. You and I are living in enemy
territory. Some people wonder whether God has forgotten us. Don’t you
believe it! God’s army is making preparations even now to rescue you and
me. He’s coming. He’s coming soon!
Certain questions about Christ’s return keep coming up from
interested and concerned Christians. In this article I’d like to
respond to nine of those questions.
Pay special attention to the italicized words in each Bible
text.1
1. What is the primary reason Jesus is coming
the second time?
Answer: Shortly before He left this earth, Jesus said to
His disciples, “ ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms,’ ” and “ ‘I am
going there to prepare a place for you.’ ”2
This is the language used to describe an ancient Hebrew wedding. In
Bible times, it was the custom for the man to build a honeymoon chamber
at his father’s house before he claimed his bride. So, in essence,
Jesus said to His disciples, “ ‘In my Father’s house are many honeymoon
chambers.’ ”
Do you think that after all this work Jesus is going to forget
His bride, His people? Of course not! That’s why He said, “ ‘I will
come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’ ” 3
A bridegroom comes to get his bride because He wants to be with
her. Jesus is coming back because He wants to be with you and me,
and He wants us to be with Him. There’s no better reason for His
second coming than that!
2. Will Jesus come back alone?
Answer: No. Jesus said, “ ‘When the Son of Man comes in
his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his
throne in heavenly glory.’ ”4 Do you
know how many angels there are? You’ve heard of guardian angels. More
than six billion people live on our planet, and if each one has a
guardian angel, that’s six billion angels. So a conservative estimate
would be that at least six billion angels will accompany Jesus when He
returns!
3. Will there be people alive on the earth when
Jesus comes?
Answer: Absolutely! Jesus said, “ ‘At that time the sign
of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of
the earth will mourn.’ ” And John the Revelator said, “Look,
he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.”5
4. What will happen to the wicked when Jesus
comes?
Answer: When Christ rose from the dead, an angel rolled
away the stone. The Bible says that the glory of this one angel made a
hundred of Rome’s bravest soldiers fall down in shock like dead men.6 Now think of the six billion angels
who’ll return with Jesus! The apostle Paul said that those who “do not
obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus . . . will be punished with
everlasting destruction.” And he added that they will be destroyed “with
the brightness of his coming.” 7
5. What will happen to the dead people at the
second coming of Jesus?
Answer: There are two kinds of dead people: the
righteous and the wicked. Jesus said that “ ‘a time is coming when all
who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have
done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to
be condemned.’ ” 8 So there will be
two resurrections. Revelation says, “Blessed and holy are those who
have part in the first resurrection.” That’s obviously the resurrection
of the righteous. And “the rest of the dead”—that would be the
wicked—“did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.” So
the wicked won’t be resurrected until the end of the thousand years.9
6. What will happen to the righteous when Jesus
comes?
Answer: Paul said that “we will all be changed.” And he
explained how: “For the perishable must clothe itself with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
10 In this life every human being who ever lived is doomed
to die. But when Jesus comes, He will give His people immortality so
they can never die!
In another place Paul said that at Christ’s coming, He will “transform
our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” 11 Jesus had a real physical body after His
resurrection,12 and so will we.
7. What will happen to the righteous after
they’ve been changed?
Answer: The apostle Paul said that the righteous will be
“caught up together . . . in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so [they] will be with the Lord forever.”13
Jesus told His disciples that He was going away to prepare a
place for them, and then He promised that He would “ ‘come back and take
you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’ ”
14 Where is Jesus today? In heaven, as our High Priest.15 And He’ll take us to be with Him in
those heavenly dwelling places He’s gone to prepare.
8. Can we know anything about the time of
Jesus’ return?
Answer: Yes and No. Jesus said, “ ‘No one knows
about that day or hour.’ ” 16 I
know of people who’ve tried to pinpoint the time of Christ’s return,
but so far every one of them has failed.
Nevertheless, Jesus did say we can know when His return is near:
“ ‘When you see all these things, you know that it is near, right
at the door.’ ”17
9. How can I prepare for the second coming of
Jesus?
Answer: When Jesus comes again, He will say to the
wicked, “ ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!’ ”18 So the key to
being ready when Jesus comes is to know Him as a Friend. And in
order to know Him then, we must become acquainted with Him now.
We must read about Him in His Word and talk to Him each day in prayer.
We need to repent of our sins and ask Him to forgive them. I also
suggest spending time with other Christians in church each week.
These are some of the ways we can prepare now to meet Jesus
when He comes!
Douglas Batchelor writes from Sacramento, California. He is the speaker and
director of the Amazing Facts radio and television ministry.
