Come, Lord Jesus!
A Biblical Theology Of The Second Coming Of Christ
Come, Lord Jesus!
A Biblical Theology Of The Second Coming Of Christ
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Paperback / softback
£19.99
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
ISBN: 9781783594146
Number of Pages: 352
Published: 21/04/2016
Width: 15.6 cm
Height: 23.4 cm
'The second coming of Jesus Christ is the core of the biblical worldview, the climax of the biblical message, the cornerstone of biblical theology, and the centrepiece of authentic biblical faith for the twenty-first century.'
At the heart of this bold opening statement by Stephen Motyer is the conviction that Jesus Christ is the 'centre' of the Scriptures, even though he only appears at the end. For the New Testament writers, Jesus Christ revolutionized their understanding of the Scriptures and gave them a new centre around which to interpret the work of God in the world - and the climax of that work is the 'second coming' of that same Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself used the language of the Scriptures to promise his 'coming again', the 'coming of the Son of Man'. Hence we need the whole of Scripture to understand what the second coming means for us today. The fact that the Bible ends with the prayer 'Come, Lord Jesus!' (Revelation 22:20) is deeply appropriate. The second coming is the 'end' of the biblical message, its 'omega point', its grand finale, the denouement when all the players in the drama of earth history, both human and angelic, are gathered in the drawing room to hear the Master unpack the plot and give the verdict.
Motyer's comprehensive, stimulating study is divided into two parts. Part One, 'The biblical frame', examines three Old Testament passages and lays the foundation for Part Two, 'New Testament hopes and visions', which explores a series of key texts. He focuses on the second coming, rather than on millennialism or the 'end times', in order to provide the fundamental biblical theology that must underlie our whole sense of God's future for his world.
PART 1: THE BIBLICAL FRAME 27
1. History and time (Psalms 89-90) 29
1. An overview of both psalms 30
2. Psalm 89 32
3. Psalm 90 35
4. Onward to biblical theology! 39
2. Presence in power (Psalm 18) 47
1. Introduction 47
2. Structure and language 49
3. Introduction and conclusion (vv. 1-3, 46-50) 50
4. The headline testimony: The outer story (vv. 4-19) 52
5. The testimony unpacked: The inner story (vv. 20-45) 56
6. Conclusions (vv. 46-50) 61
3. The coming of 'one like a Son of Man' (Daniel 7) 63
1. Introduction 63
2. Structure 68
3. The four beasts and the thrones of God: Colliding kingdoms (vv. 2-14) 69
4. Daniel's terror and the interpreting of the vision (vv. 15-28) 76
En route to the New... 82
1. Time has a very distinct quality in the Bible 82
2. God's kairos-plan is the establishment of his universal kingdom 86
3. God intervenes now to save his people 87
4. The same language can be used for both present
and future kingdom 88
PART 2: NEW TESTAMENT HOPES AND VISIONS 91
4. The coming of the Son of Man (Mark 13:1-37) 93
1. Structure 94
2. Interpreting Mark 13 95
3. The bolt from the blue and the disciples' reaction (vv. 1-4) 106
4. Watch out (1) - don't be deceived! (vv. 5-8) 107
5. Watch out (2) - first things first (vv. 9-13) 109
6. Seeing (1) - the 'desolating sacrilege' and its aftermath (vv. 14-23) 112
7. Seeing (2) - the coming Son of Man (vv. 24-27) 116
8. Seeing (3) and watch out (3) - the foreseeable nearness
and the unforeseeable coming (vv. 28-32, 33-37) 121
5. 'Will he find faith on the earth?' (Luke 17:20 - 18:8) 124
1. Stocktake 124
2. The present and the future 127
3. Structure 128
4. The presence of the kingdom (17:20-21; 18:-8) 129
5. The future of the kingdom(17:22-35) 132
6. The disciples' puzzled response and Jesus's puzzling
reply (17:37) 142
6. At home with the Lord ( John 14:1-31) 144
1. Introduction: the same Jesus? 144
2. Is John 14 about the second coming? 145
3. Structure 147
4. 'I will come again and take you to myself.' 148
5. Jesus, the Way! - because he is the Truth, and the Life 151
6. Living in fellowship with the Lord (vv. 8-11, 15-21) 153
7. Active in the world (vv. 12-14, 22-26) 157
8. 'Rise, let us go from here!' (v. 31) 161
7. Refreshments to follow (Acts 1:6-11; 3:11-26) 165
1. Acts and the second coming 165
2. The kingdom and Israel 167
3. Going and coming and not looking (1:6-11) 170
4. The restoration of all things (3:11-26) 171
5. Christians, Jews and the Messiah 179
8. The deliverer from Zion (Romans 11:25-36) 183
1. Introduction 183
2. The question of Israel 185
3. The second coming and the salvation of Israel 190
4. The theology of the second coming in Romans 11 198
9. 'He must reign until...' (1 Corinthians 15:20-28) 206
1. Introduction 206
2. Background: Corinthian confusion 207
3. Structure: An unfolding argument for an unfolding process 210
4. Scope: In Christ shall all be made alive (vv. 20-22) 212
5. Timing: But each in his own order... (vv. 23-24a) 214
6. Impact: He must reign until... (vv. 24b-27a) 216
7. Goal: so that God may be all in all (vv. 27b-28) 223
10. The coming of the Lord - part 1 (1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:11) 226
1. Setting the scene 226
2. Structure and purpose 232
3. The dead in Christ shall rise first! (4:13-18) 234
4. Be ready! Don't sleep! (5:1-11) 242
11. The coming of the Lord - part 2 (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) 251
1. Introduction 251
2. Structure and overview 253
3. The 'rebellion' and the man of lawlessness (vv. -4a, 9) 256
4. The temple as the scene of both the rebellion and
the judgment (vv. 4, 8) 258
5. The 'restrainer' and the 'mystery of lawlessness' (vv. 6-7) 262
6. The revelation of the Lord Jesus (v. 8) 265
7. Conclusions 268
12. The High Priest reappears (Hebrews 9:15-28) 270
1. Introduction 270
2. Structure and message 272
3. Our great High Priest 276
4. He offered up... 278
5. Only the high priest, just once a year... 280
6. The object of the sacrifice: Cleansing the heavenly sanctuary (vv. 23-24) 283
7. The time of the sacrifice: The end of the ages (vv. 25-26) 286
8. The climax of the sacrifice: The high priest appears for a second time (vv. 27-28) 289
13. Be prepared! (2 Peter 3:1-18) 293
1. Introduction 293
2. Structure 294
3. What not to be: Sceptical and scoffing about the parousia (vv. 3-4) 295
4. What the scoffers willingly forget: God's judgment (vv. 5-7) 297
5. What we mustn't forget: God's patience (vv. 8-10) 298
6. What we must willingly prepare for: God's promise (vv. 11-13) 301
7. What to be (rather than scoffing): Spotless, relying on God's patience (vv. 14-18) 303
14. 'See, I am coming soon!' (Revelation 19:11-16) 305
1. A quick Revelation overview: 'I am coming soon!' 306
2. The structure of Revelation: The missing 'appearance' 311
3. The rider rides forth from heaven 317
4. In conclusion . . . 330
Index of authors 333
Dr. Motyer rightly urges in his Preface the vital importance of this too often neglected subject. He has produced a very readable, clear, vivid, non-technical response to this need. He handles Mark 13, Mark 9:1, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians with competence and common sense. I commend this book for study. * Anthony C. Thiselton, FBA, Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology, University of Nottingham *
