Christian Relaunch

The Second Advent of Christ

You turned from idols to serve a living and true God and to await his son.

(Paul of Tarsus, First Thessalonians 1:9-10.)

Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin, to set their captives free,

that the earth may be fill'd with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

(Arthur Ainger, God is Working his Purpose out (1894).)

He must reign until he has put all his foes under his feet.

(Paul of Tarsus, First Corinthians 15:25.) His foes are the foes of humanity's ripening.

Come, Lord Yeshuah!

The Revelation to John 22:20.

When humanity is ripe, Christ will reappear and finish healing all the ill effects of man's defection.

Humanity will then enter union with God, and the age of fulfillment begin.

Fulfillment will begin with all welldoers experiencing a resurrection like Christ's. For the deceased this will be a rising from death, while for survivors it will be a rising from the spoiled life.

(Premillennialism and some forms of Amillennialism) "Expecting Humanity to ripen is over-optimistic, as if the First Advent would enable us to begin building the Kingdom of God in this age. Instead, the New Covenant Book tells us that evil will continue to dominate world affairs until the Second Advent. God's friends can only maintain their testimony, invite others to join them in hope, and meanwhile do what little they can to combat evil."

As far as I know such a view would only arise from rejection (or shaky grasp) of our developmental task, and so is really an expression of objections addressed under that item. But I will add a few words here.

It is true that until Advent 2 there will be distorted developments. But it is not true that the New Covenant Book is pessimistic about what can be achieved in this age. The New Covenant Book pictures the ekklesia following Advent 1 not as saved souls huddling together but as a city on a hill, a separate nation.

God's friends cannot tell, and need not know, how much or little they will achieve in this age. They only need to know that Christ has established the work and that their task is to participate in it.