How do the Old Testament’s promises of a coming King fit with what happened when Jesus came? And what happens to a Christian who dies before he returns? The New Testament answers both.
One Coming in Two Parts
The fulfilment began when Christ came and set up the long-expected kingdom on earth. By his blood he sealed the new covenant, and at Pentecost he poured out the Spirit to lead his church into all truth.
But what the prophets saw as one picture was fulfilled piece by piece. The one coming they foresaw splits into two: he was to come for redemption and for judgment, and each needs its own coming.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), to give his life as a ransom (Matt. 20:28), not to condemn the world but to save it.1John 3:17; 12:47; and 1 John 4:14. Yet his light also brings judgment (John 3:19 and 9:39), and he will return to judge the living and the dead (John 5:22 and 27-29). He must die, rise and ascend (Matt. 16:21 and John 6:62), then come again to reward each person for what they have done.2Matt. 16:27; 24:30; 25:32 and elsewhere.
From Cross to Crown
The first time, Christ came in weakness, as a servant, to die for his people’s sins (Phil. 2:6-8). The second time he will appear in power and glory, as a conquering King.3Matt. 24:30; Rev. 6:2; and 19:11.
Yet they belong together: in God’s kingdom only suffering leads to glory, the cross to the crown (Luke 24:26). At his first coming Christ laid the foundation; at his second he completes the building. As a perfect Saviour, he will not rest until his people are brought to where he is, to share his glory (John 14:3 and 17:24). He must give them eternal life (John 6:39 and 10:28), present his church spotless (Eph. 5:27), and hand over the completed kingdom (1 Cor. 15:23-28).
Only the passion can lead to the glory, only the cross to the crown.
The Time Between
Because the two comings are so tightly linked, Scripture says little about the time between them, and often describes it as very short. Believers live at the end of the ages (1 Cor. 10:11), in the last times (1 Peter 1:20 and 1 John 2:18). They suffer only a little while (1 Peter 1:6 and 5:10); the day approaches (Heb. 10:25 and 37) and is near (James 5:8); the time is at hand (Rev. 1:3 and 22:10), the judge stands at the door (James 5:9), and Christ is coming quickly (Rev. 3:11 and 22:7 and 20). Paul thought he might live to see it (1 Thess. 4:15 and 1 Cor. 15:51).
Yet Scripture gives no timetable. The day and hour are hidden from men and angels and set by the Father alone (Matt. 24:36 and Acts 1:7). Calculating it is fruitless, for the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.4Matt. 24:42-44; 1 Thess. 5:2, 4; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 3:3; and 16:15. It can’t come until the gospel has been preached to all nations (Matt. 24:14), the kingdom has leavened everything (Matt. 13:33), and the man of sin has appeared (2 Thess. 2:3.). To God a day is like a thousand years; his apparent delay is patience, wanting all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9).
Christ Keeps on Coming
The point is that the two comings are one work, begun in eternity and ending in eternity. What Christ achieved by his death he now applies through his Word and Spirit, and will complete at his return. He ascended to be nearer his people. So the time between, the time now, is really a continuous coming of Christ. It brings judgment and division through his Word and Spirit. Remaining on the dark side are those who reject Jesus’ saving work. On the other, believers. Believers see the Son of Man coming on the clouds (Matt. 26:64), in the preaching of the Word and the work of the Spirit (John 14:18-20 and 16:16, 19 ff.). He is the one who is coming (Heb. 10:37 and Rev. 1:4 and 8).
That’s why the early Christians longed for his return and said little about their own deaths. Their sense that his coming was near expressed how certain they were of it; their strong faith was the root of their hope. The cross had crushed the disciples’ hopes for a while, but the resurrection gave them new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3 and 21). Christ himself became their hope (1 Tim. 1:1), and they waited for his glorious appearing (Titus 2:13), with a groaning creation longing for freedom (Rom. 8:21).
What About Purgatory?
The Roman Church teaches that only a few saints and martyrs go straight to heaven. Most believers must spend time in Purgatory, punished by fire until the temporal penalties for their sins are paid, helped by the prayers, good works and masses of the living. Others argue that believers must keep being purified after death, or apply evolution to the afterlife, treating death as a mere change, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
No Second Chances, No Terror
Scripture knows nothing of these comfortless teachings. This life is the only place for repentance. There is no preaching of the gospel after death, not in Matthew 12:32, nor 1 Peter 3:18-22, nor 1 Peter 4:6. Judgment concerns what was done in the body (2 Cor. 5:10).
But for those who believe in Christ, death and judgment lose their terror. God is the God of the living (Matt. 22:32). Whoever believes in Christ will live, even though he dies (John 11:25-26), and has already passed from death to life (John 5:24).
If salvation depended on our own effort, a Purgatory would make sense. But Christ has done everything. He bore the penalty, won full forgiveness and fulfilled the law in our place. The believer is ready for heaven the moment he believes. If he stays on earth, it is for others and the good works God has prepared (Phil. 1:24 and Eph. 2:10); his suffering is a Father’s discipline (Heb. 12:5-11), sharing Christ’s afflictions for the church (Col. 1:24).
With Christ at Once
So heaven opens to believers the moment they die. Lazarus is carried straight to Abraham’s side (Luke 16). Jesus promises the thief Paradise that day (Luke 23:43 and 46). Stephen asks Jesus to receive his spirit (Acts 7:59). For Paul, to leave the body is to be with Christ (2 Cor. 5:8 and Phil. 1:23). The saved stand before God’s throne in white robes (Rev. 6:9-11 and 7:9). Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; they rest from their labours (Rev. 14:13 and Heb. 4:9), and they live and reign with Christ until he returns (Rev. 20:4 and 6).