📖 Biblical Definition
The second coming of Christ is the certain, visible, bodily, glorious return of Jesus to judge the living and the dead, consummate His kingdom, and make all things new. The angels declared at His ascension, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). He will come "with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30), "every eye will see him" (Revelation 1:7), and He will raise the dead, execute final judgment, destroy death, and establish the new heavens and new earth. The second coming is the hope of the church — the day when faith becomes sight and the groaning of creation gives way to glory.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
COMING: Approach; the act of drawing near; advent; arrival.
expand to see more
COM'ING, n. 1. The act of coming; approach; arrival; advent. Note: Webster's America was deeply shaped by expectation of Christ's return. The second coming was not a fringe doctrine but the central hope of the Christian faith — confessed in every creed and anticipated in every generation.
📖 Key Scripture
• Acts 1:11 — "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go."
• Matthew 24:30 — "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
• Revelation 1:7 — "Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him."
• 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 — "The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The second coming is either denied by liberalism, sensationalized by prophecy hype, or rendered irrelevant by cultural Christianity.
expand to see more
Liberal theology denies the literal second coming, treating it as a metaphor for the progressive triumph of Christian ideals in society. Full preterism claims it already happened in AD 70. On the opposite extreme, pop-prophecy culture reduces the second coming to sensationalist speculation — date-setting, newspaper exegesis, Left Behind fiction, and an obsessive focus on signs and timelines that replaces faithful obedience with anxious calculation. Meanwhile, practical Christianity in the West has so domesticated the faith that most churchgoers live as if Christ is never coming back — their hope is in retirement, not resurrection. The biblical posture is watchful, sober expectation: "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming" (Matthew 24:42).
Usage
• "The second coming is not a metaphor for social progress — it is the literal, visible, bodily return of the King to judge the living and the dead."
• "A church that does not eagerly await the second coming has lost the heartbeat of the apostolic faith."