The Two Events Of Parousia

By Janet Thomas


The Christian Bible has so many references as to how the world will end and be reborn anew following the return of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for coming is known as the Parousia and this is the term often used to signify the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now, there are two possible events that this would refer to and both are found in the Bible.

What is interesting about this event is that it may pertain to two events in the Bible that involve the return of the Messiah. These two events are known as the rapture and the second coming. In order to understand more, it is important to look deeper into the verses that these events pertain to.

The first event is the rapture which is the event that happens right before the dread Great Tribulation which is mentioned in the book of Thessalonians chapter four. According to this chapter, the believer who were able to keep their faith will ascend to Heaven with Jesus. The non believers though, will be left on earth to experience the seven year tribulation.

If one would read the verse word per word, one will know that the Lord will literally go down to the earth with an archangel. While Jesus will not do much on earth, he will still carry the believers into Heaven. Upon his return to the heavens, the tribulation will begin with the antichrist taking control of the world with wars, pestilence, and famine.

It is important to take note that Satan is not mentioned in this seven year period. However, his influences will be felt through the actions of the antichrist and the false prophet brought to earth. The antichrist will completely try to sway the people away from the influence of Christ but will ultimately fail after the seven year tribulation.

The second time Christ will return would be after the seven year tribulation when the end of the world is already about to happen. As per the book of Revelations, the Messiah will once again ascend from Heaven and will smite all the enemies that oppose God. Of course, this would result in a big war that will wipe out the planet.

Of course, there are many references to Satan if one will read about this return of Christ which can be found in Revelations. In the final battle, the Devil will have gathered an army to oppose God but heaven will still end up victorious. From this final battle, the Devil will finally be cast back into hell and bound again for all all eternity while earth experiences peace.

So as one can see, the coming does not necessarily refer to just one event in the Bible. There are two separate times when Jesus will come back to earth in order to save his people. While most Christian researchers would justify that the coming refers to the second event since that is the event where Jesus really comes to earth to defend it, others would state that the first event is also technically a coming of Christ and may be considered depending on the context.




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