"Jesus is coming
again!" We have all heard this statement many times. In recent years someone added
the postscript, "Look busy!" When Paul taught the idea of the resurrection of
the body to gentile converts, they became confused and wanted to know what would happen to
those who died before hearing Jesus’ message. What would become of them when he came
again? In response, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "For the Lord himself will
descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the
sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are
alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with
these words (1 Thess 4:16-18)." He could not have imagined what effect these words on
the Second Coming (also called the parouasia from the Greek meaning
"presence" or "arrival") would have.
Some were discouraged.
"If Jesus comes again in the near future," they wondered, "how can we
possibly grow worthy in time?" Others were more pragmatic. They gave up work and
other ordinary activities and depended on others in the Christian community to support
them while they leisurely awaited the Lord who would carry them to heaven. When Paul heard
this, probably by letter, he was quick to respond. "Let no one deceive you in any
way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and ... the lawless one
will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and
destroy him by his appearing and his coming (2 Thess 2:3-8)."
In spite of Paul’s
conviction at the time that Jesus’ Second Coming was imminent, it did not occur, nor
has it occurred since that time--though many Christians believe to this day that it will.
Apparently Paul’s belief was to change which he revealed in later writings. A few
years after his words to the Thessalonians, he progressed in his thinking to the idea of
an indwelling Christ. To the Colossians he taught the "mystery hidden for ages and
generations but now made manifest... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (1:26,
27)." I don’t think Paul is different from any of the rest of us when we think
of Christ as a separate and unique being.
Charles Fillmore said,
"Let us cease expecting Christ to come in bodily form . . . In Matthew 24:23-27 Jesus
gave the strongest warning against the idea of the personal appearance of the Christ. This
passage concludes with these words: ‘For as the lightning cometh forth from the east,
and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.’ These are
Jesus’ own words, and they should have greater weight than Paul’s theory that
Jesus will appear with a great shout in the clouds of heaven, which has been interpreted
literally as the personal appearance of Jesus in the sky (Atom Smashing Power p.
171)." Let us be sure to give Paul credit; he grew in understanding and began looking
in the right direction–inside instead of outside.
When was the "first
coming" of the Christ? Some might answer, "When Jesus was born." However
when did Jesus tell us the Christ came into the world? He said, "...before Abraham
was, I am (John 8:58)" and even "...before the world was made (John 17:5)."
When God created the heavens and the earth, when he made man in his image and after his
likeness, the Christ was born. It came into this world when you did as your real or
spiritual self. The second coming occurs when we say, "I have found the messiah and I
am he." The second coming is in consciousness. The trumpet call to which Paul
referred is the wake up call. Even the parts of us that appeared dead–buried feelings
and inert faculties–awaken.
What does it take to
declare, "I have found the messiah?" Jesus warned us of the false prophets of
error thinking when he said, "So, if they say to you, ‘Lo, he is in the
wilderness,’ do not go out; if they say, ‘Lo, he is in the inner rooms,’ do
not believe it (Matthew 24:26.)" The first thing for us to do is look in the right