Redemption and the Parousia
At the heart of Christian hope is the future resurrection of the saints at Christ’s return and the arrival of the new heavens and the new earth.
Central
to the New Testament concept of salvation is redemption.
God will not abandon what He first created. Instead, He is recovering what was
enslaved by sin, decay, and death. But at the end of His redemptive acts, the
end state of all redeemed persons and things will be vastly superior to their
original state, and this is epitomized in the bodily resurrection - [Photo by Tim Peterson on Unsplash].
When Paul
discusses the church’s hope, invariably, he bases it on the death AND
resurrection of Jesus. Salvation was not achieved by his sacrificial death
alone, but also through his resurrection from the dead. And just as
consistently, he links the future resurrection of believers to the past
resurrection of Jesus - (1
Corinthians 15:3-4, 20-23).
The apostolic
tradition teaches redemption, not abandonment. Salvation
is actualized at the resurrection of the dead when all believers “meet”
Jesus as he descends from heaven. On that day, dead believers will be
resurrected and living ones transformed (“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality”).
And consistently,
the Apostle Paul locates the bodily resurrection of the righteous at the “arrival”
or ‘parousia’ of Jesus from heaven - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
In his first
letter to the Thessalonians, he reassured Christians concerning the fate of
their fellow believers who had died before the “arrival” of Jesus, and
that is why he stressed their bodily resurrection.
Not only so,
but any believers who remain alive on that day will be reunited with their
resurrected loved ones, and together, all of them will “meet the Lord in the
air” as he descends from heaven. Both living and dead Christians will be
changed forever when he appears.
When
interpreting this passage, the larger context must be kept in view. In the next
chapter, Paul warns that the unprepared will be overtaken by the events of that
day - just “like a thief in the night.” The “arrival” of Christ
is also the “Day of the Lord,” an event associated with God’s
judicial punishment of the wicked.
In his
second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul declared that when Jesus is “revealed
from heaven,” the righteous will be vindicated but the unrighteous will
receive “everlasting destruction.” Both events occur on the same day - (2
Thessalonians 1:5-10).
In the New
Testament, Jesus is always “coming” and never “going” when he “arrives”
from heaven. When any physical direction is provided, he is said to be coming from
heaven and descending to the earth. And at that time,
he will gather his saints to himself - (Matthew 16:27, 24:30, 25:31, 26:64,
Acts 1:11, 1 Corinthians 15:23, Revelation 1:7).
The most
comprehensive list of final events is found in Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians. He was writing to correct false teachings that denied the future
bodily resurrection.
Christ’s “arrival”
will result in the cessation
of death (the
“last enemy”), the resurrection of the dead, the
final subjugation of all hostile powers, the consummation
of the kingdom, and the transformation of the saints still alive
that day from mortality to immortality - (1
Corinthians 15:20-28, 50-57).
Thus, the bodily resurrection will mean nothing less than the termination of death itself, and believers still alive will be transformed and receive immortal bodies. Paul’s point was not the removal of Christians from the earth, but their resurrection and transformation.
The “arrival”
of Jesus will result in the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous.
It will be a day of joy and rewards for the prepared, but one of disaster and
everlasting punishment for the unprepared. And the old “heaven and earth”
will be dissolved, and the new heavens and the new earth will be
inaugurated - (Matthew 13:30. 25:13, 25:31-46, Luke 12:33-39, 2
Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2 Peter 3:10-11).
And that day
will be characterized by its finality. Death will
cease forever, the old creation will disappear, resurrected believers will
be with the Lord “forevermore,” and the unrighteous will receive
“everlasting” punishment - (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 2 Thessalonians
2:5-10).
Christian
hope is not found in escape from the spacetime continuum or the desertion of
God’s original creation, but instead, in the bodily resurrection
and the New Creation. The gospel proclaimed by Jesus is
about redemption, including the resurrection of the dead. Unfortunately,
over the centuries, this central hope of the apostolic faith has dimmed.
And
connected directly to the resurrection are the new heavens and the new earth.
Even now, the entire universe is “groaning,” not in
despair over its eventual annihilation, but in anticipation of the
resurrection of the “sons of God” and the “restoration of all things”
that will follow - (Romans 8:19-25, 2 Peter 3:10).
In the end,
the city of New Jerusalem DESCENDS from heaven to the
new earth. The saints do not ascend to it; it comes down to them. And in that
glorious city, the men and women redeemed by the “blood of the Lamb”
will live forever in his presence free from all sorrow, suffering, and death.
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