Similarities

• John 6:38; 1 Thessalonians 4:16 … Both involve a journey down from Heaven. Heaven is a real place. Once He came down and went back up. He is going to come back down again.

• John 1:14; Acts 1:9-11 … Both comings are literal bodily comings of Christ. Some people suggest the second won’t be bodily, but the Bible makes it pretty clear that it will be a physical return. 

• Luke 2:8-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:7 … Both involve the appearance of angels. Angels heralded His first coming, appearing to Zacheriah, Mary, Joseph, and shepherds. There will be another flurry of angelic activity when Jesus returns. 

• Matthew 2:9; Revelation 6:13-14 … Both affect the stars, the heavens. His appearance causes disruption of the normal patterns of the stars. The Magi followed a star that appeared to them and led them to baby Jesus. The stars will also be different when He comes again. 

Differences

• Matthew 2:13; Revelation 19:11-16 … In the first coming, God came as a vulnerable baby. But in His return, He will come as a full grown man, but not just any man; He will come as a warrior king. 

• Luke 2:15-17; Revelation 1:7 … Only a few saw Him in His first coming. The only witnesses besides Mary and Joseph were the animals and some shepherds. However, in His second coming, everyone will see Him. 

• John 1:10-11; Philippians 2:10-11 … At His first coming, He was largely rejected. The second coming will see Him universally acknowledged as Lord and all will bow to Him. 

• John 1:29; Revelation 5:5 … He was compared to a lamb in His first coming. He fulfilled that role perfectly. He was innocent and without blemish. He was sacrificed on the cross for all of our sins once and for all. However, His second coming will see Him be more like a lion. He is the king, the royal one. He will triumph. But that doesn’t mean He isn’t still the lamb too. He’s always been both, just each coming exemplifies one over the other. 

• John 5:22-26; 28-29 … In the first coming He came to raise the spiritually dead. He brought real, eternal life to all who accept Him. His second coming will see Him raise the physically dead. He’s already redeemed our souls and will also redeem our bodies.

• Matthew 13:36-38; 38-43 … He came to plant disciples in the first coming. His second coming will be to harvest and weed. The weeds will be pulled up and burned, but the righteous will be harvested and will shine like stars. 

• John 10:9; Revelation 3:8; Luke 13:22-25 … His first coming opened the door to Heaven. Jesus is the only door to Heaven; He is the way. But on His second coming, He will close that door. That door is open right now and anyone may enter. There is coming a time when it will close. 

The passages we look at today use a different word from “coming”. They use to term “appearing”. This term emphasizes that He has shown Himself and will show Himself again. In between the two “appearings” we don’t get to see Him or walk with Him, but we can still catch some of the joy from the first appearing and the revelation of salvation that is coming in the second appearing. 

Hebrews

2 Timothy

1 John

The mystery of God’s plan has now been revealed: There is an overlap of the current age and the age to come.… The current age began with the fall of man and will end with the final judgment. It is full of sin and evil. The coming age will be void of evil and will last forever. The original understanding was that the old age would end and the new age would begin with a single event. There woulds 

There are two comings of Christ rather than one. Why?

The purpose of the overlap is to extend God’s salvation to the gentiles (Ephesians 3:4-6; Acts 1:6-11). … Prior to the first coming, only the Israelites had received God’s word and salvation. But with the Gospel, the word and salvation of God was sent to all nations. Those who read this are likely gentiles (if you aren’t a Jew, you’re a gentile). This overlap is for us. 

We are living in the last days of the current age (Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:1-5). … The last days of the current age are characterised by some bad stuff. We experience all the evil of the last days as we live through it. We have all experienced pain, loss, and heartache. It seems a common thing this time of the year. 

We are experiencing the first fruits of the age to come (1 Corinthians 15:20; Romans 8:23; James 1:18). … Fortunately though, we also experience the first fruits of the coming age. We get to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit. Not only do we experience the first fruits though, we are part of the first fruits. This part of the year is when we celebrate the source of that hope that we have, the birth and life of Jesus. It’s a time of joy.

Understanding this overlap can help with views of the end times. Postmillennialists believe we’ll experience a thousand years of peace before Jesus returns. They are primarily looking at the verses about the first fruits of the coming age. Pre-millennials say that Jesus will come before the thousand years of peace because there is no way to have a millennium of peace with all the evil in the world. They are primarily looking at verses about the last days of the current age. Whether or not you agree with either view, you can see where they come from. 

Living in the overlap means life will be a mixture of good and evil. We neither wallow in despair nor pretend that everything is perfect. We live with heartache and hope. … Even though we experience things like loss and heartache, we also have a joy and peace that comes from our understanding of the two comings of Christ. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is one of the most well-known American poets ever and he also wrote hymns and carols. One of his famous carols is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and the story behind it is pretty incredible. Three years prior to penning the words, his wife died after a tragic fire in July 1861. That left him to raise their children alone. Longfellow struggled through the next couple of Christmases without his wife. Then before Christmas of 1863, he received word that his oldest son had been severely injured. Longfellow traveled to D.C. where his son was in a hospital. On Christmas day, he heard the bells from the church and wrote “Christmas Bells” which was later put to music by John Baptiste Calkin. The poem is a journey of emotions; it expresses what it is like to live in this overlap of the two ages. There are struggles, and sometimes evil drowns out the good. But we always have hope because “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; / The Wrong shall fail; / The Right prevail, / With peace on Earth, good-will to men.”

Jesus was at the side of God. Then the time came for Him to leave God’s side and come down to Earth. He was born, carried out His ministry, was crucified, buried, rose, and ascended to Heaven. He sits in Heaven now and there will come a time where he returns to Earth. 

Isaiah 9

Isaiah 11

Isaiah 61

Zephaniah 9

Do you believe Jesus is coming again? Let’s look at the first column. Those prophecies were all fulfilled. God has a pretty good track record. Why should we doubt that what He has revealed to us won’t come true?