When Will Jesus Return? What the First Christians Believed

The early church believed that Jesus was going to come back in their generation.  When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he addressed their concern that some were dying before Jesus came back to set up His kingdom.  The people of Thessalonica feared that their dead friends would not be able to partake in the great hope and see Jesus reign with them.  So Paul wrote to them and told them not to worry because their friends would rise from the dead to meet Jesus in the air with us who are alive.  And then having been raised from the dead, God would set up His kingdom with us all - no Christian would be missing from this great event.

Meanwhile in Judah and in other parts of the world a rumor was going around that Jesus would come back before the Apostle John died.  The rumor, which began shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven, spread through different parts of the world because people read into something Jesus said to John after his resurrection and before his ascension.   After Jesus rose from the dead and after Peter had just been reconciled to him and called back into ministry, Jesus told Peter that one day something would carry him (referring to a cross).  Peter was crucified upside down years later.  Having been told of his future, Peter asked Jesus about John.  In effect, Jesus told Peter that it was none of his business, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me (John 21:22).” 

As I just said, Jesus was telling Peter to mind his own business; but it wasn't long before people began to read into Jesus' words.  They began reading into his words what they wanted to hear: "I will come back before John dies."  Because the early church was so excited about Jesus' return, and because they wanted to that to happen soon, they began seeing it in places they should not have.  This reading into events and words and scripture has never changed.  People still find Jesus' soon return in a myriad of places, events, and times.  People still find in scripture, interpret the world's tragedies, and read the signs of the times.  And in those Bible verses, tragedies, and signs; people find what they hunger for so much.  They find that Jesus is in fact coming very soon.  However, their zeal and their longing do not make it happen.

On the other hand there were those in the early church who had grown tired of waiting for the coming of Jesus and gave up their hope, saying, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3:4).”  In response, Peter told his readers that despite the fact that Jesus' return didn't take place as soon as was expected, Jesus will come when He is good and ready; and that Jesus was just wanting to get as many as possible into the Kingdom of God beforehand.  The conclusion I draw from 2 Peter is that Peter had very little respect for people who had lost their hope in Jesus coming back.

So how do we find a healthy and a godly balance?  How can we be excited and filled with hope and yet face the reality that Jesus may wait another 2,000 years?  This is every generation's challenge.

The Ascension

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

Daniel 7:13

Daniel 7 is a well studied chapter because it is considered to provide much of the context and meaning of the term "Son of Man" that Jesus used.  

In Chapter 7 Daniel unfolds the history of world domination before and up to his time using animals as metaphors of the world powers that affected Israel.  

1.  Babylon (which took Judah into captivity in the turn of the 6th Century B.C.) is represented by a lion, 

2.  The symbol of Persia (the rule that allowed Judah to rebuild in the 6th and 5th Century B.C.) is a bear, 

3.  Greece (which conquered the world in the 4th Century B.C.) is symbolized by a leopard, and 

4.  Rome is pictured as a dreadful beast. 
5.  Israel was "the son of man" who was to receive the power and the glory of the kingdoms after their rule is taken away from them.  This "son of man" interpretation is clearly spelled out in Daniel 7:15-18, but overshadowed by the Christian concept of Jesus who represents the fulfillment and representative of Israel's destiny in the new covenant.

The first four of these animals were the consecutive empires that claimed rule over Israel from the 6th Century B.C. until well into the early centuries A.D.   Ultimately, Daniel is interested most of all in the history of the events that led up to and the immediate after effects of the "abomination of desolation" when Antiochus Epiphanes offered a pig on the altar of God in the Holy of Holies in 167 B.C. (see Daniel 9:27).  The book of Daniel is mostly concerned about the events and histories leading up to this abomination and the setting up of God's kingdom after the fall of Antiochus.

One by one God strips the kingdoms of their power in Daniel 7 and gives power and dominion to one who is like the son of man who comes to God with the clouds.  Notice, in Daniel the son of man comes with the clouds and comes to the throne of God, not to the earth.  God is the ultimate judge over humanity and as the son of man comes to the throne of God for judgment, God gives him power and dominion to rule the earth.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

 Acts 1:9

When Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1, a cloud received him as he went up.  The imagery here is very interesting in that there is a cloud receiving Jesus and taking him into heaven.  Could this be a picture of the fulfillment of Daniel 7 when power and dominion is handed over to the son of man?

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

Matthew 28:19

No doubt, the early church saw and understood that Jesus received the power, the glory and the dominion that Daniel predicted would come to Israel.  When Daniel wrote, he expected the son of man (as the symbol of Israel) to be the people of God who would receive dominion.  And indeed, they received authority over their own nation for about 100 years shortly after the fall of Antiochus; but this was not dominion over the rest of the world.

As Jesus went into heaven with the clouds in Acts 1, he was receiving the dominion on behalf of the Israel of God.  But history teaches us that even though Jesus received all power in heaven and on earth; even though Jesus still has dominion over the nations, not all things are yet delivered up to God.  There is still war, violence, injustice, poverty, and immorality. 

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” 

Acts 1:11

As we piece together scripture, we discover the promise that Jesus will come back and establish the complete form of dominion of God over this world. Just how this will happen and the different views that Christians believe are the subjects of my next blog.

Introduction

In the late 1960s I was bound and determined to be a rock and roll musician burned out by experiencing every type of illegal substance the 60s had to offer.  In 1971 all that changed when a Born-Again Charismatic led me to a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." 

I sat on a sofa in the back yard of a Florida home at night while I put away every question and doubt and prayed to "receive Jesus into my heart."  I didn't feel any earthshaking emotion and didn't care if I did or not.  I just knew that I needed to make this decision. 

My Charismatic friend had taken me to a leader in the Jacksonville, FL Charismatic community named Jack, and it was in his back yard that we prayed.  After we prayed, Jack told me that the Book of Acts chapter 2 talks about a second experience Christians can pray to receive.  That experience is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  So with only that introduction, Jack and my friend prayed with me to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

As Jack began to pray, he interrupted his prayer to tell me that sometimes people get the gift of tongues when they are filled with the Holy Spirit.  I really didn't know what this was all about, but without thinking about it I began to pray in another language.  Once again, there were no great life changing feelings that I experienced, but my life had begun a different direction than I had just hours before.  To begin a new life, that night I threw away all my drugs and never returned to them.

Four years later I started Bible School with the Assemblies of God (AG).  The AG told me that everyone who receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit receives the gift of tongues, and in fact, tongues is the only clear evidence that one has been Baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Again four years later I entered Graduate school where I learned even more ways to interpret this experience with the Holy Spirit.  Discovering so many different ways to read the same Bible, I became somewhat obsessed with finding out on my own what the early church experienced and what I could say about it.  Even though a lot can be learned about the Holy Spirit from other books in the Bible, the Book of Acts seems to be the best place to start.

In this look at the Book of Acts, I would like to talk about some of the different teachings about and experiences with the Holy Spirit.  I will be looking at some of the history of modern teachings on the Holy Spirit and I will be looking at what some of the other Bible writers said about the Holy Spirit.

Finally, although much of this blog will focus on the Holy Spirit, not all of it will.