Which Coming?
Dearly beloved of God, according to Ephesians 3 we live in the Administration of the Grace of God, the Administration of the Mystery.
This administration of God’s dealing with man began on the Feast of Pentecost when Jesus Christ sent the promise of the Father, the gift of holy spirit, and it will continue until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to redeem those for whom he died; he will gather us together up to meet him in the air.
When anyone confesses Jesus as Lord and believes that God raised him from the dead he is saved. From that moment forward we are in Christ, and members of the Church, which is the body of Christ.
We are living in the Administration of the Grace of God. We have been judged in Christ as righteous. We have been justified. There is no more condemnation coming to those in Christ Jesus. We have been delivered from the wrath to come. By the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ gives us the victory over sin and death.
Jesus Christ paid for the sin of Adam and the reign of sin and death that it brought upon mankind. He paid for this sin with his life as the Lamb of God. Those who confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead will be saved!
In Christ we were justified from the sin of Adam, and forgiven by the riches of His grace, which He has abounded to us. We are sealed with the holy spirit for redemption on the Day of Redemption.
The hope of our calling is described in the books of I Thessalonians and I Corinthians.
I Thessalonians 1:1 is addressed, “unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I Thessalonians 4: 15-18 reveals the Lord Jesus Christ’s coming for the Church of the Grace of God. He does not come to the earth; he gathers the Church up to meet him in the air.
I Corinthians is addressed “unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I Corinthians 15:51-57 concerns a mystery that was not previously known. Some of the Church will be alive and some will be dead, but all of them will be changed. The corruptible (the dead in Christ) will be raised incorruptible, and the mortal must put on immortality.
Philippians 3:20 and 21 also describes this change. The Lord Jesus Christ will transform these vile bodies to be transformed to be like his glorious body.
God our Father considers every member of the body of Christ to be “in Christ,” and in Christ we are today sanctified, and called saints. We are justified, forgiven, sanctified, saved, and redeemed, and we have the hope of receiving the glory of God; we will obtain (acquire) the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. Rejoice forevermore.
The period of time following the gathering together of the Church of the Grace of God in the air is called the Day of the Lord, or Lord's Day in the Word of God. The book of Revelation concerns this future time of the Lord’s Day.
The Lord’s Day and the events in the book of Revelation do not concern the Church of the Grace of God; it concerns the people of Israel and the Gentile nations that will be on earth at that future time. The Lord’s Day cannot begin until the Church of the Grace of God is removed from the earth.
After the Lord Jesus Christ gathers the Church of the Grace of God up to meet him in the air the events concerning the Lord’s Day will begin to unfold on the earth.
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the Lord’s Day, he will come to the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. He spoke of the times surrounding his coming to the earth in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.
The Lord Jesus Christ will reign on the earth. He subdue every enemy. He will carry out all judgment. He will carry out the resurrections. He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. After he has fulfilled all things he will himself be subject unto God.
We will not be on the earth when the events of the Lord’s Day begin to unfold on earth; we will have been gathered together up to meet the Lord in the air prior to this.
The Lord's Day does not concern the Church of the Grace of God. It concerns the time of the Gentiles, the nation of Israel, the rise of the beast, the great tribulation, the wrath of the Gentiles, and the wrath of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ's coming to the earth to subdue every enemy.
Be at peace; the Lord is coming to save and redeem his dearly beloved brethren. We will meet him in the air. Rejoice, and comfort yourself with these words!