Why Christ Is Coming
Text: Matthew 25:31-46
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- State three things Christ came to accomplish at the first advent and explain how "It is finished" (John 19:30) applies to each.
- Identify two things the second advent is NOT for and explain from what specific text each is established.
- State the New Testament teaching on the resurrection — simultaneous, of good and evil together, at the coming of Christ — and identify the two passages that establish it.
- Explain the relationship between resurrection, judgment, and the second advent — in what order they occur and what authority Christ exercises at judgment.
- State what happens to the two classes at the separation (Matt. 25:31-46) and explain from Matt. 25:46 why the duration of punishment and reward are the same.
Thesis
God has a purpose in all that he does. The first advent was purposeful: the prophets expressed it, Christ stated it, and he accomplished it completely — "It is finished" (John 19:30). The second advent is equally purposeful: not to establish a kingdom (already established), not to repeat finished work, but to complete the remaining unfinished business — raising the dead, judging all people, separating the two classes into their eternal states, and delivering the kingdom to the Father. The second coming is not a mystery to be speculated about; it is a certainty to be prepared for.
Burden
The burden is not speculation — the outline states it explicitly: "No speculation, no theories." The burden is to establish what the New Testament actually teaches about why Christ is coming, using the same specificity that the New Testament uses about why he came the first time. The clarity of the New Testament on the first coming is the standard for how clearly the New Testament speaks on the second.
Introduction
God has a purpose in everything he does. The first advent was not spontaneous or reactive; it was the fulfillment of a plan announced through prophets before it happened. The prophets clearly expressed the purpose; Christ himself stated it. He came to do the Father's will (John 6:38), to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), to build the church (Matt. 16:18). He accomplished each: at the cross, he said "It is finished" (John 19:30). What he came to do, he did.
The second advent is equally purposed. The same New Testament that is definite about the first coming is definite about the second. There is no warrant in the texts for treating the second coming as obscure where the first coming is clear. The purpose of the second coming is stated; the events it will set in motion are described; the outcome is specified. No speculation is required.
I. The Definite Purpose of the First Advent
Before examining why Christ is coming again, the pattern of the first coming must be established — because the second completes what the first began.
The prophets clearly expressed it. Isaiah: "He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities" (Isa. 53:5). Micah specified Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2). Daniel specified the timing (Dan. 9:24-27). The first coming was the fulfillment of a specific, long-announced plan.
Christ stated his own purpose in clear terms. To do the Father's will: "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). To seek and save the lost: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). To build the church: "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it" (Matt. 16:18).
His own disciples misunderstood him. They expected a political kingdom. They argued about who would be greatest. At the triumphal entry they spread cloaks and shouted hosanna, expecting an earthly coronation. When the cross came, they scattered. The misunderstanding was total — until the resurrection clarified everything.
He did what he came to do. "It is finished" (John 19:30). Not merely his physical suffering — the redemptive work was complete. The sacrifice had been offered, the atonement accomplished, the price paid. The church he promised to build was established fifty days later at Pentecost. The kingdom he came to establish was inaugurated: "He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col. 1:13).
II. The Purpose of the Second Advent Is Equally Clear
Two things the second advent is NOT for.
Not to set up a kingdom — he did that once. The kingdom is already established. Christ was raised and seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; Eph. 1:20-22). He is reigning now (I Cor. 15:25; I Tim. 6:15). The premillennial expectation of a future earthly kingdom with Christ ruling from Jerusalem confuses the kingdom that is already present with a kingdom yet to come. The New Testament does not describe Christ coming to establish a kingdom; it describes him coming to deliver a kingdom to the Father (I Cor. 15:24) — a kingdom that already exists and that will be consummated at his coming.
Not to repeat any work that he has done. The once-for-all character of the atonement is stated explicitly: "He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:12). "Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him" (Heb. 9:28). The second appearance is explicitly described as being "without reference to sin" — not another sacrifice, not a repeated atonement, not a fresh provision. What was accomplished once is eternally sufficient.
III. He Will Raise the Dead
The first event at the second coming is the resurrection.
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first" (I Thess. 4:16). The resurrection is triggered by the coming — not before it, not independently of it.
"Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29). Both the righteous and the unrighteous rise at the same hour — there is one resurrection, simultaneous for both classes. The New Testament does not describe two separate resurrections separated by a thousand years; it describes one resurrection in which all rise together at the voice of Christ.
Resurrection is not until Christ comes. The dead are in their graves; they wait for the voice. The end of the world coincides with the coming: "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matt. 24:3) — the disciples understood the coming and the end of the age as the same event.
IV. Judgment by Christ
After the resurrection, the judgment.
"It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27). The sequence is fixed: death, resurrection, judgment. The judgment comes after the second advent, not before it.
"Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts" (I Cor. 4:5). The judgment is the Lord's, not the preacher's and not the congregation's.
"Because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31). "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom" (II Tim. 4:1). God will judge through Christ — the same person who was judged, condemned, and executed by the human court at Jerusalem will be the judge before whom every human being stands.
V. Rewards and Punishments
The scene of judgment is Matthew 25:31-46.
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" (Matt. 25:31-32). The separation is universal — all nations. It is specific — sheep from goats. It is final — there is no reversal of the separation after it occurs.
The two classes are separated at the end, not at various points throughout history. The tares and wheat grow together until the harvest (Matt. 13:30); the net holds both kinds of fish until it is drawn in (Matt. 13:47-50). The sorting is not continuous; it is final.
Eternal rewards and eternal punishment are fixed at the same moment, by the same judgment, using the same word. "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46). The word aiōnios — eternal — modifies both punishment and life. The duration of the one is the duration of the other. A person cannot accept eternal life on the right while dismissing eternal punishment on the left; the same word governs both.
The kingdom is then delivered to God. "Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet" (I Cor. 15:24-25). The second coming ends the current reign — not because the reign failed but because it succeeded completely. Christ hands the completed kingdom to the Father: mission accomplished.
Application
The second coming is not a curiosity for prophetic enthusiasts; it is a certainty that shapes present-tense decisions.
The person who knows that Christ is coming to judge the living and the dead (II Tim. 4:1) lives differently than the person who has not reckoned with that fact. The judgment will be individual — "each one of us will give an account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). It will be complete — "things hidden in the darkness" disclosed, "motives of men's hearts" revealed (I Cor. 4:5). It will be final — the separation at Matt. 25:31-46 is not a preliminary sorting that can be appealed.
The question Matt. 25:31-46 puts to the present-tense hearer is the question of which class they will be in. The separation in the text is between those who served the Lord in the least of his brothers and those who did not. The service that determines the class is practiced now, not assigned at the judgment. The preparation for the second coming is the life lived before it.
Conclusion
The second coming is the complement of the first — the other hemisphere of the same purpose. What the first advent set in motion, the second advent completes. The risen Christ who is now reigning will come to raise the dead, judge all people, separate the two classes into their eternal states, and deliver the completed kingdom to the Father. This is not speculation; it is the plain teaching of the texts. The proper response to the teaching is the response of prepared servants: "Be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming" (Matt. 24:42).
Invitation
The judgment is coming; the preparation for it is available now. The person who obeys the gospel — who believes, repents, confesses, and is baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) — has entered the class whose eternal destination is life. The person who delays has less time to prepare than they did yesterday. "Now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2).
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eternal (aiōnios) | aiōnios | Of or relating to the age to come — permanent, everlasting, without end. | Used in Matt. 25:46 for both eternal life and eternal punishment. | The word is identical and applied to both outcomes. The argument that eternal punishment is temporary while eternal life is permanent cannot be sustained from the Greek: if aiōnios means temporary when applied to punishment, it means temporary when applied to life as well. The duration of both is established by the same word. | Matt. 25:46 |
| Resurrection | anastasis | A standing up again — the rising of the dead body to life. | Used in John 5:29 for the simultaneous resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous at the same hour. | The New Testament describes one resurrection: all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth — both classes, at the same hour. The teaching of two separate resurrections separated by a millennium imposes a structure the NT text does not provide. | John 5:28-29; I Thess. 4:16 |
| Judgment | krisis | Judgment, decision, verdict — the process of discernment and the rendering of a verdict. | Used in John 5:29 and throughout the NT for the event following the resurrection. | The judgment is Christ's (Acts 17:31; II Tim. 4:1) — given to the one who himself was judged unjustly by human courts. The irony is exact: the court that condemned him will stand before him. | John 5:29; Heb. 9:27 |
| Kingdom | basileia | Reign, rule, the realm over which a king exercises authority. | Used in I Cor. 15:24 for what Christ delivers to the Father after the second coming. | The kingdom is ALREADY present (Col. 1:13; I Tim. 6:15) — the reign of Christ that began at his resurrection and exaltation. The second coming does not establish the kingdom; it culminates it, completing the reign that has been underway since Pentecost. | I Cor. 15:24-25; Col. 1:13 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose of first advent: do Father's will | I | John 6:38 |
| Purpose of first advent: seek and save the lost | I | Luke 19:10 |
| Purpose of first advent: build the church | I | Matt. 16:18 |
| "It is finished" — first advent complete | I | John 19:30 |
| Second advent NOT to set up kingdom — already present | II | Col. 1:13; I Tim. 6:15 |
| Second coming "without reference to sin" — not repeated atonement | II | Heb. 9:28 |
| Resurrection at the coming — dead in Christ rise | III | I Thess. 4:16 |
| All in the tombs rise simultaneously | III | John 5:28-29 |
| Judgment after death — fixed sequence | IV | Heb. 9:27 |
| God judges through Christ | IV | Acts 17:31; II Tim. 4:1 |
| Separation of sheep and goats — all nations | V | Matt. 25:31-32 |
| Eternal punishment / eternal life — same word | V | Matt. 25:46 |
| Kingdom delivered to the Father | V | I Cor. 15:24-25 |
| Baptism for remission — entering the right class now | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 184. Primary text: Matt. 25:31-46 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: "M·att." → "Matt."; "lll." → "III."; "lNTRODUCT ION" → "INTRODUCTION"; "Matt. 35:46" → "Matt. 25:46". Doctrinal audit: the kingdom is treated as present now (Col. 1:13; I Tim. 6:15; I Cor. 15:25) — not a future millennial kingdom; the second coming is NOT to establish a kingdom but to culminate and deliver the existing one to the Father (I Cor. 15:24); resurrection treated as simultaneous for righteous and unrighteous from John 5:28-29, not two resurrections; aiōnios applied equally to life and punishment in Matt. 25:46 — the text does not permit eternal life while dismissing eternal punishment; no Calvinizing, no denominationalizing; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
