Bible Truth FAQs
WILL JESUS RETURN TO EARTH?
There are many versions of the Lord's return. The Bible assures that He will return (Acts 1:11, I Thess. 4:16). We do not know when (Matt. 24:36, 42). The millennium theory has Jesus returning to earth to set up a literal earthly kingdom. at Jerusalem, to reign a literal thousand years. This is an erroneous assumption gathered from highly symbolic prophecies in the Revelation.
Jesus told Pontius Pilate in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world." His is a spiritual kingdom and it is already in existence (Col. 1:13, Heb. 12:28, Rev. 1:9). At Christ's return He is not going to SET UP a kingdom but will DELIVER UP the kingdom to God the Father (I Cor. 15:24). These passages are plain and simple, unclothed with figurative and symbolic language.
What about his RETURN TO EARTH? The Bible does not reveal that he will actually set foot upon the earth again. The closest the scriptures bring Him is within eyesight (Rev. 1:7). The Apostle Paul revealed in I Thess. 4:16-17, "..the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we EVER BE with the Lord. We will be 1ooking for new heavens and a new earth, for at His second coming the present earth and the works therein shall be burned up (II Pet. 3:1-13).
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