Christ's Return: Your Questions Answered

Introduction

Christ's return is a topic that stirs things up. It gives rise to as much hope as apprehension. During a time of open questions, Jason, Joe, and Romuald took time to answer what you might be silently wondering: what are the major evangelical positions on eschatology? Is it normal to be afraid of Jesus's return? Must the Gospel be preached everywhere before he returns? Here is a faithful summary of their answers, to help you think about what the Bible really says about the end.

Sermon Outline

1. Three evangelical positions on Christ's return

• The evangelical debate centers on a single passage: Revelation 20:1-6, which speaks of the devil bound for a thousand years and a first resurrection.
• Premillennialism: a literal reading of the thousand years. Christ returns before the millennium, reigns visibly on earth for a thousand years, and then the final judgment comes.
• Postmillennialism: the thousand years are symbolic. The world will be increasingly transformed by the Gospel until it becomes a recognized, universal kingdom of Christ. Then Christ will return.
• Amillennialism: the thousand years symbolize Christ's current reign. He reigns today in a real way, and he will return whenever God alone wills it. At his return, the final judgment arrives.
• These questions are secondary, even tertiary. You can be a brother or sister in Christ with someone who holds a different position than yours, without it being a problem.

2. Connexion Church's position

• Officially, Connexion has no position on this question.
• In practice, the current elder council generally holds to the amillennial position.
• Two reasons given: Revelation is a book where almost everything is imagery; it would be strange to isolate the thousand years as the one literal element. And if Jesus were really returning for an intermediate thousand-year reign before the new creation, why did he never speak of it himself?
• The stakes of each position are real. Premillennialism can lead to an excessive fixation on current events, decoding signs, and watching for the rebuilding of the temple.
• Postmillennialism can encourage unfounded optimism, and push toward political activism, it's the position that fuels part of the Christian nationalism seen in the United States.
• Amillennialism allows us to say: Christ reigns today. Satan was bound at the cross (John, Colossians 2). We move forward with a realistic, confident optimism, without denying the difficult things.

3. Is it normal to be afraid of Jesus's return?

• Some things in the news are objectively frightening. But fear of Jesus's return is often tied to something else: doubt about your salvation.
• Objective answer: the Word tells us of the effectiveness of Jesus's sacrifice. Christ truly died and truly rose again, that secures your salvation.
• Subjective answer: you must pray, because this conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. Some biblical texts were written exactly for this, the first letter of John, for example, was written to Christians who doubted and needed reassurance.
• Justification by faith means something radical: the verdict of the last day has already been pronounced over you. It is a verdict of acquittal. If you believe in Jesus, you already have the verdict.
• There are three recurring fears around Jesus's return: fear of judgment (lifted by justification), fear that paradise will be boring, and fear of losing what we love today.

4. Paradise will not be boring, and you will lose nothing good

• We don't always know why paradise will be glorious. The Bible says much more about it than we imagine, it's a subject worth digging into.
• We're afraid of losing what we love. But God said clearly in this message: the good things we risk losing will not be lost, they will be fully realized.
• Jason recounts a conversation with his mother-in-law, very hostile to faith, who said she didn't want to go to paradise because there's no conflict there, and a story without conflict isn't interesting.
• The pastoral response: in real life, conflict isn't what makes a story interesting. A parent who spends sleepless nights with their baby doesn't rejoice in the conflict, they rejoice in the sleeping baby who isn't doing anything in particular, just being cute.
• A world without sin, without conflict, will be a world in which you can finally discover God's creation without a veil. There's no reason to fear it, there's reason to look forward to it.

5. Must the Gospel reach every nation before Jesus returns?

• Yes and no. Yes, Jesus sends us to all nations with the Gospel, it's our mandate, the work the Master left for us to do.
• No, if you think it means counting nations and that Jesus is passively waiting for us to finish before he allows himself to return.
• When Jesus says in Mark 13:10 that the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations, he's probably speaking of what would happen before the destruction of the temple in AD 70 · the Gospel being proclaimed to the non-Jews, the Gentiles. That's exactly what we see in the book of Acts.
• Then, what is a "nation"? It's not entirely clear. There are nations today that didn't exist in Jesus's time, and vice versa.
• The conclusion: be full of ambition and boldness to proclaim the Gospel to all nations, but without conditioning Jesus's return on a box to be checked on a list. Christ can return at any moment. Be ready.

6. Are evangelicals too obsessed with Jesus's return?

• Honest answer: not enough. You should be more so.
• If the question means "should we fall into paranoid apocalyptic reading," then no. But if it means "should Christ's return occupy your horizon," then yes.
• The last words of the Bible, apart from the closing greeting, are: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.'" That should be at the forefront of your mind at all times.
• Connexion's approach: follow the Bible passage by passage, speak of Jesus's return as much as God speaks of it in the Bible, no more, no less. Give God the last word.

Key Takeaways

• The three eschatological positions (premillennialism, postmillennialism, amillennialism) are secondary questions: you can be a brother or sister in Christ with someone who doesn't think as you do.
• Satan was bound at the cross. Christ reigns today. That doesn't mean nothing bad happens, but you can move forward with realistic optimism.
• If you doubt your salvation, remember: the verdict of the last day has already been pronounced for you if you are in Christ. It's a verdict of acquittal.
• What is good today will not be lost in the new creation, it will be fully realized. Paradise isn't a loss, it's a fulfillment.
• Be full of boldness to proclaim the Gospel to the nations, without conditioning Jesus's return on a counter. Christ can return at any moment.

Personal Application

1. What is your position on Christ's return? And more importantly: have you ever opened Revelation 20 to understand why?
2. Does fear of Jesus's return ever grip you? If so, is it fear of judgment, fear of a boring paradise, or fear of losing what you love today?
3. If you doubt your salvation, what biblical text could you open this week to let God reassure you?
4. Are you more tempted by paralyzing pessimism or by triumphant political activism? What does the amillennial position invite you to correct in your outlook?
5. Does Christ's return truly occupy your daily horizon? How would your week be different if you lived with the conviction that he could return at any moment?

Verses Cited

• Revelation 20:1-6
• Mark 13:10
• Colossians 2
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• Revelation 22:20

Further reading

• What Is Christian Discipleship?
• What Is Christian Service?
• What Is Biblical Hermeneutics?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism?

Premillennialism reads the thousand years in Revelation 20 literally: Christ will return before a visible thousand-year reign on earth. Postmillennialism sees the thousand years as symbolic and believes the world will gradually become Christian, then Christ will return. Amillennialism sees the thousand years as symbolic of Christ's current reign: he already reigns, he will return whenever God wills it, and the final judgment will follow his return.

Is it wrong to be afraid of Jesus's return?

No, but it's an important thing to recognize. Often, this fear conceals a doubt about your salvation. The Bible answers you on two levels: objectively, Christ's sacrifice is effective; subjectively, books like 1 John were written to reassure Christians who doubt. If you believe in Jesus, the verdict of acquittal for the last day has already been pronounced over you.

Must the Gospel reach every nation before Jesus returns?

In Mark 13:10, Jesus is probably speaking of the period before the destruction of the temple in AD 70 · the Gospel proclaimed to the non-Jews. The missionary mandate is real: go to all nations. But don't condition Christ's return on a counter of nations reached. He can return at any moment.