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The Return of Christ
“Why So Many Views?”
Carl Nichols

Matthew 24:36-51
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The confusion around the end times didn’t start in Scripture, it developed over time through different interpretations and systems.

1. What Christians Agree On
- Jesus will physically return
- His return will be visible and public
- The dead will be raised
- Final judgment will follow

Key Word:
Greek: parousia (παρουσία) — “coming” or “arrival of a king”

Matthew 24:27
(Jesus) “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming (parousia) of the Son of Man.”

Matthew 24:37
(Jesus) “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming (parousia) of the Son of Man.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15
(Paul) “…we who are still alive, who are left until the coming (parousia) of the Lord…”

1 Thessalonians 3:13
(Paul) “…when our Lord Jesus comes (parousia) with all his holy ones.”

2 Thessalonians 2:8
(Paul) “…whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming (parousia).”

Critical Insights…
- Parousia is never used to describe a secret event. It consistently points to a visible, royal arrival.
- When the Bible talks about the “coming” of Jesus, it uses a word that means the arrival of a King, not a quiet disappearance of people.

2. Where Disagreements Come From
- Literal vs Symbolic
- Israel and the Church
- Timeline Lens vs Fulfillment Lens

2 Peter 3:15-16
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Key Word:
Greek: dysnoētos (δυσνόητος) - “difficult to understand”

Two Ways People Handle “Hard to Understand”

  • Humble Approach
    Some of this is complex… I’m going to hold my view carefully.

  • Overconfident Approach
    I’ve figured out every detail… let me draw you a chart.

3. Two Main Views

Dispensational
God works through distinct eras, keeping Israel and the Church separate tracks, including a staged return of Christ.

Early Church
God works through one unified plan, bringing together Israel and the Church in Christ, culminating in one visible return of Christ.

Dispensational (Systematic Theology)
- Organizes doctrine into categories
- Seeks to explain everything 
- Builds systems
- Later development (1800s)

Early Church (Confessional Theology)
- Summarizes core beliefs      
- Holds to essentials          
- Preserves apostolic teaching 
- Early church foundation      

4. Where the Newer Beliefs Came From
- Margaret Macdonald (1830)
- John Darby (1830s)
- Scofield Reference Bible (1909)

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

The debate isn’t whether we’re caught up, it’s what happens next.

Key Words…
Greek: harpazō - to seize, snatch, take suddenly 

Harpazō tells us HOW it happens, not WHERE we stay.

Translated into Latin Vulgate by Jerome in late 4th century…
Latin: rapturo— to seize, carry off 

Greek: apantēsis - To go out and meet someone, then escort them back

harpazō→ we are caught up

apantēsis→ we meet him

Dispensationalist
“We are caught up and disappear."

Early Church
“We’re not caught up to disappear, we’re caught up to welcome a returning King.”

To hold in a Dispensational, pre-tribulation rapture view, you:
- Divide Christ’s return
- Separate Israel and the Church
- Reorder certain passages
- Read some texts as symbolic and others as strictly literal
- Build a timeline from multiple passages
- Reinterpret 1800 years of early church belief

To hold an Covenant/Historic view, you:
- See Christ’s return as one event
- Believe Gentiles are grafted into God’s covenant plan as the church
- Read key passages in a straightforward, continuous way
- Expect tribulation, not escape
- Interpret prophecy more thematically than sequentially
- Keep focus on fulfillment in Christ