Week 10 - Day 1
THE STORY
Return
RETURNING KING
For two weeks, we considered Jesus’ First Coming (from His Birth to His Ascension). There is one more major chapter in The Story called Jesus’ Second Coming or His Return. Let’s compare and contrast Jesus’ First Coming and His Second Coming.
Luke 17:22-25 (NLT)
Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man [a title for Jesus] returns, but you won’t see it. People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.
If Jesus’ First Coming was hidden with only a few people knowing about it, what will His Second Coming be like?
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NLT)
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
What will happen when Jesus returns?
Why is all this so encouraging?
Revelation 19:11-16 (NLT)
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
How is the returning Jesus different from the “earthly” Jesus?
What titles and names are given to Jesus in Revelation 19?
Revelation 5:1-6 (NLT)
Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.
Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders.
Here are two other titles for Jesus—The Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb. The title the Lion of Judah refers to Jacob’s blessing over his son Judah way back at the beginning of The Story.
Genesis 49:8-10 (NLT)
“Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will grasp your enemies by the neck.
All your relatives will bow before you.
Judah, my son, is a young lion
that has finished eating its prey.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down;
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,
the one whom all nations will honor.”
Why is the title the Lion of Judah a good description of Jesus’ Mission in His Second Coming?
Why is the title the Lamb of God a good description for Jesus’ Mission in His First Coming?
Why does the depiction of Jesus in Revelation 5 above hold these two titles together?
In light of what you have discovered through the Bible readings and your personal reflections, how will you respond? Finish this sentence: I will …