The Day of Christ
Dearly beloved of God, you can be confident that He Who began a good work in you will continue to perform it until the Day of Christ Jesus.
What is the Day of Christ Jesus? This is the day that Christ Jesus will return to gather together the members of the Church, which is the body of Christ. See also, Philippians 1:10; 2:16; 3:12-14, 20 21.
I Thessalonians 4:15-18, and I Corinthians 15:51-54 describes what will occur when Christ, the head of the Church, returns for the members of his body, and gathers it up to meet him in the air. I Corinthians 1:8, 3:13; II Corinthians 1:14; 2 Timothy 1:18, and 4:8 also refer to this coming. It will be the inaugural event of eternity for the Church.
The coming of Christ for the Church is our glorious hope, and we are exhorted to live in light of his coming for us. We are to eagerly anticipate his coming because we were called to acquire the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ [II Thessalonians 2:14]. This is the hope of His calling of which Ephesians 1:18, and 4:4 speaks.
The things we suffer today are not comparable with the glory that is to be revealed to us when Christ Jesus the Lord gathers us up to meet him in the air. When Christ comes for us we will receive a far more exceeding and eternal heavy weight of glory.
That day will be the day of redemption and salvation for the Church; a day of rest, of fullness of joy, and of glory. It will take the coming ages for God our Father to display the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
The Day of Christ is the day that we will physically enter the kingdom of God, and return with Christ into the heavenly realm as the citizens of heaven, fellowcitizens with the saints, and members of God’s household.
At his coming Christ Jesus the Lord will transform our vile bodies so that they are fashioned like his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself! We will be glorified with Christ Jesus as joint heirs.
Christ Jesus will raise the dead in Christ to life. He will transform their corruptible bodies to incorruptible ones. He will transform the living ones from mortal to immortal ones, and we will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Christ’s coming for the Church will be the last event that will occur in this Administration of the Grace of God, which is also called the Administration of the Mystery. The Day of Christ is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It is peculiar to this administration.
After the Church is gathered up to meet the Lord in the air, the Day of the Lord will begin to unfold. The references to the Day of the Lord were known in Old Testament times, and when Jesus the Christ was on earth.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s coming in the Day of the Lord, or Lord’s Day will be a time characterized by tribulation, trouble, and wrath, war, and judgment. It will concern Israel and the Gentiles, not the Church which is the body of Christ. It will be a time that the Lord will do the judging.
The Lord Jesus Christ will come to the earth in that day, and he will rule until he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Revelation 20 reveals that he will reign for over 1,000 years. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. God has put all things under the Lord Jesus Christ's feet.
He will carry out all the judgment that God has committed to him, and every grave will come forth at his command; some to life, and some to destruction. He will separate the just from the unjust. After the Lord has subdued all things, he will turn over the kingdom to God [See I Corinthians 15:24-28;Revelation 19:11-20:15].
The Church has already been judged in Christ as righteous; we have been saved by Jesus Christ and his accomplishments, and by the grace of God toward us in Christ. There is no more condemnation coming to those in Christ; we will never again come unto condemnation.
We have been saved from the wrath of God, and the coming judgment of the world. Rejoice, and thank God for His wonderful grace to us in Christ.
Dearly beloved of God, may the God of the hope fill you with all joy and peace in the right way of believing so that you may abound in the hope through the power from the Holy Spirit.
Be confident that He Who began a good work in you - the new birth - will continue to perform it until the Day of Christ. Don't be troubled by the things of this world; live with peace and joy and thanksgiving in your heart, dearly beloved; set your affection on things above. He is coming!