Are you looking for the return of Jesus?

After the resurrection, Jesus ascended into Heaven, but the Bible tells us about the return of Jesus.

What will it be like on that day? Are you looking forward to it? If not, then you may need a different Vantage Point.

Vantage Point 3: The Return of Jesus – Redemption Church Plano Tx from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

“That’s My King” bumper video –
Welcome to those here, watching online, or on Facebook live.
Welcome back to our Vantage Point series
So far we have looked at Good Friday, Easter, the ascension and Pentecost ç Go watch it
This week we are going to be looking at the second coming of Jesus

The Return of Christ

Jesus is coming back. We worship the one who was, who is, and who is to come.
Last week we talked about it when it was mentioned in Acts 1:9-11
ACTS 1:9 (NIV) After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
ACTS 1:10 (NIV) They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
ACTS 1:11 (NIV) “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

The Return of Christ

This week is different in two ways:

Takes place in the future – described in the Bible but hasn’t happened yet
If it happens in the future, how do we know who sees it?
Lots of people – All people see it
And yet, only one vantage point

Vantage Point – a place or position affording a good view of something
Everyone sees it and everyone has a front row seat.
REVELATION 1:7 (NIV) Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all peoples on earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
Everyone sees it. I don’t even know how that works!?
Discussing the Jesus’ return and stuff in Revelation can get weird, confusing, contentious
I want to focus on the moment of his return, give you a vantage point
The Bible makes it clear that the Lord Jesus will return in glory
I want to focus on that single beautiful moment when our King returns to us.
Wait, beautiful? Rev 1:7 says everyone will mourn.?
I believe this will be a good and beautiful moment.
I hope by the end of this message you will be looking forward to it.
We will mourn, because we are the ones who pierced Him with our sin.
We will mourn because we will see how far short we have fallen from His perfect image.
But I believe we will also worship and rejoice
“THAT’S OUR KING!!!” “HE’S BACK!!!” “HALLELUJAH!!!”
PHILIPPIANS 2:9 (NIV) Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name,
PHILIPPIANS 2:10 (NIV) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
PHILIPPIANS 2:11 (NIV) and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
When John the Revelator first sees Jesus he falls at His feet
Palm Sunday
Creation groans to be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
It’s hard to call it a happy or a sad moment. It will be like nothing you have ever experienced.
At that moment everything changes.
And we will see Jesus, and He will be the most beautiful thing we ever see, nothing else compares
And everyone will have the same vantage point.

Job

Job will be there. “Every eye will see Him”
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NIV) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
oldest book in the Bible
dangerous to quote from Job
JOB 19:25 (NIV) I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth.
Pause. He’s talking about Jesus. We sing “I know that my redeemer lives;” that’s from the oldest book in the Old Testament. Old Testament points to Jesus.
But it gets better.
JOB 19:26 (NIV) And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
JOB 19:27 (NIV) I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
Yet in my flesh I will see God! How did he know? How did this man, who lived thousands of years before Jesus, figure this out?
So many since, so many today, so many Christians don’t understand this truth.
How did Job know? In my flesh I will see God.
Or to put it another way, in the words of the great psalmist Johnny Cash:
“Ain’t no grave can hold my body down.
When I hear that trumpet sound, I’m gonna climb right out of the ground.
Ain’t no grave can hold my body down.”
But the approach in these statements is a little off.
They need a slightly different vantage point.
When Jesus arrives we won’t be focused on ourselves.
…in MY flesh I will see God. …Ain’t no grave can hold MY body down.
When He returns, we will not be focused on anything but Him.

It Won’t Matter

In that moment nothing else will matter.
“Jesus is coming. Look busy.”
We get hung up on silly things sometimes.
It won’t matter what you’re wearing.
It won’t matter what you’re doing.
It won’t matter where you are.
It won’t matter who you are with.
It won’t be a time for score-boarding.
No matter what is going on in your life, it will be less important than this moment.
Not a mind control thing. It won’t occur to us to do anything else. Like…

LAZARUS

John 11 tells the story
Jesus arrives and talks to Martha.
John 11:25 (NIV) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
Pause here. Jesus is LIFE. The way, the truth, and the LIFE
John 11:26 (NIV) and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
This sounds weird and contradictory; the only way it could be true is if spoken by someone who is life.
Then Jesus goes to the tomb where Lazarus is buried.
Let’s look at this from Lazarus’ vantage point.
Last thing he remembers, he was in his bed very sick.
Now he’s not sick, but he’s not in his bed.
He’s all bound up. It’s hard to move.
He has a cloth wrapped around his head. He can’t see.
Then he hears a voice. It’s a familiar voice. It’s a voice he loves, and it is calling his name.
So he starts to move toward that voice. It wouldn’t occur to him to do anything else.
And when we see the King of Glory coming down out of heaven our natural reaction will be to focus on Him and worship Him.
Lazarus will be there.
It still might seem strange that everyone will see it at the same time, but there are lots of things that are strange about Jesus’ return. It is an unusual event. It is SUPER natural.
Dead will be raised.
Every eye will see.
Jesus returning in glory will be the first thing that some people EVER see.

SATAN

Does Satan have eyes?
Does Satan have knees?
We know he can talk, does he have a tongue?
He is the Father of Lies, but “Jesus Christ is Lord” could be one of the first true things he ever says.
Demons proclaimed Jesus when they were cast out
What will their vantage point look like? Will they know they have finally lost?
As I’m drawing to a close. ***MUSICIAN***
There’s one final vantage point I want to look at… yours.

YOU

The second coming of Jesus might seem scary to you. It shouldn’t be.
You will be there. It’s something to be excited about. We should look forward to it.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NIV) For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 (NIV) After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NIV) Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Encourage one another with these words. You should feel encouraged.
What does Job say?
JOB 19:27 (NIV) I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
He longs to see Jesus. We should too.
2 Timothy 4:8 (NIV) Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Do you long for His appearing?
Maranatha – Aramaic – It means “come, O Lord.”
This gets repeated in the book of Revelation, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Let that be our prayer. Maranatha. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come back to us.
It will be beautiful, the most beautiful moment you ever experience. Because He is beautiful. And He loves you.
It will be a glorious day, a glorious moment. And you can practice for it now.
Jesus appears in our lives now. Do you long for His appearing? Do you celebrate when He shows up? When He does, call attention to it. Declare “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
Worship Him.
You have an opportunity right now. Where 2 or 3 are gathered He is there.
He is here. Are you excited? Worship Him. Talk to Him. Come and pray.
Maranatha!

Return of Jesus