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The Return of Jesus

Jesus had announced to his Apostles, several times, that He will return, in the end of times, to set order in his Household. The Apostles, and the first Christians, called the day of the Return of Jesus “The Day of the Lord” or “The Advent of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 2,1-2).
How does this Return happen? And why does Jesus return? Here are two questions that need to be clarified.
In summary: How does this Return happen? This Return will not be in a body, physically visible and perceptible. Jesus returns with His Resurrected Body, immaterial, imperceptible by men. He will be perceptible through the heart.
And why does He come back? To put order in His Household. He returns to unmask the Antichrist and evict its allies during “The trial of the end of times”, which precedes His apparition. With those who have stood firm against this universal trial, Jesus leads a “Universal Restoration”, and renews God’s Household on earth. A new spiritual era is thus established in the world for all mankind.
We are going to follow this Return of Jesus in four steps:

  1. The announcement of the Return of Jesus
  2. How does this Return of Jesus happen?
  3. The motivations behind the Return of Jesus
  4. The date of the Return of Jesus

The Announcement of the Return of Jesus

Jesus repeated many times, and under different forms, that He would return on earth for a judgment:

“… When the Son of man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” (Luke 18,8)
“…When the Son of man comes in his own glory…” (Luke 9,26)
“Be like people waiting for their Master to return from the wedding feast…” (Luke 12,36)
“… what will be the sign of your Coming and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24,3)
“… they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of Heaven…” (Matthew 24,30)
“As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of man comes.” (Matthew 24,37)
“Happy that servant if his Master’s arrival finds him at this employment” (Matthew 24,46)
“…you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of Heaven.” (Matthew 26,64)
“If I want him (John) to stay behind till my return, what does it matter to you?” (John 21,22)
“… Grace and peace to you from Him who is, who was, and who is to come… It is He who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see Him…” (Revelation 1,4-7)
“But hold firmly on to what you already have until my Return.” (Revelation 2,25)
“… If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a thief, without telling you at what hour to expect me… Soon, I shall be with you…” (Revelation 3,3 / 3,11)
“Look I am standing at the door (of the heart) knocking…” (Revelation 3,20)

The Apostles, and the first Christians after them, expected an imminent Return of Jesus, believing that this will take place in their time. It is why Paul put them on guard about this, explaining to them that the “wicked one” (the Antichrist) must first appear:

“… to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ… please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction… claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived… It (the Return) cannot happen until the Great Revolt has taken place and the Rebel, the Wicked One, has appeared. This is the Enemy (Christ’s enemy: the Antichrist) … The Lord will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will annihilate him with the glory of his Coming…” (2 Thessalonians 2,1-8)

These inspired verses clearly indicate that Jesus will return, that the Antichrist will precede Him, only to be destroyed forever by Christ’s glorious Return.

How will the Return of Jesus occur?

Saint Paul enlightens us in his letter to the Hebrews. After having confirmed the second apparition of Jesus, he explains how this will occur:

“So Christ, too, offers Himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for Him.” (Hebrews 9,28).

This prophecy is clear: It is “after” having offered Himself on the cross a first time, that the Christ will appear “a second time”. But this second manifestation of Christ will be:

  1. “Away from sin”
  2. Exclusively “to those who are waiting for Him…”
  3. “In order to bring them salvation”

Let us examine each of these 3 points more closely:

“Away from sin”

For Paul, “sin” here signifies the human body, because, through the flesh, man is exposed to sin. He could have said: “The Christ will appear a second time out of the body”. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 5,21, Paul writes: “For our sake God made the sinless one (Jesus) into sin…” It is to say that He made Him flesh in order to render him accessible to man. This means that Jesus assumed a body that, just as all human bodies, is subject to sin. Yet having never sinned, and having accomplished – up till the sacrifice of the Cross – the Father’s Will, He triumphed over sin in his body.
Paul explains his thought in this way: “God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body, God condemned (by the impeccability of Christ) sin” (Romans 8,3). To the Galatians, Paul also writes: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being cursed for our sake… so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans…” (Galatians 3,13-14). Jesus became “cursed” for us in taking on a human body, thus exposing Himself to physical dangers, the most obvious of which was that he could be caught, physically, and crucified. This fact is considered by the Jews a malediction: “… We thought of Him as someone punished, struck by God (accursed) …”, says Isaiah (53,4). Many contemporary Jews still believe that Jesus is accursed by God because He was seized and crucified.

Christ’s Return will not be like His incarnation. He will appear outside the flesh. It will be in one’s conscience, “away from sin”, without a human body, physically elusive to his enemies this time, that He will manifest Himself: “The Lord Jesus appears from Heaven with the angels of His Power (the Apostles of the end of times)”, says Paul (2 Thessalonians 1,7).

Jesus returns without making any noise, “like a thief”. Only those who look out for His Return will see Him. He had warned us: “I return like a thief” (Revelation 3,3). The Apostles had indeed this and have warned us (1 Thessalonians 5,2 / 2 Peter 3,10 / Revelation 16,15). This blessed return is unearthly; it will take place in the consciousness.

Thus, Jesus will no longer be subject to vicissitudes and bodily dangers. This spiritual dimension of Christ’s Return was already revealed by Daniel who saw the Son of Man coming “on the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7,13), then by Jesus Himself (Matthew 26,64). The clouds well-express the immaterial dimension of this Return. It is here, in the soul and consciousness, that the Christ “comes down from heaven” to manifest Himself to his chosen: “At the trumpet (Apocalyptic) of God, the voice of the Archangel will call out the command and the Lord Himself will come down from heaven…” (1 Thessalonians 4,16). It is by his spiritual invulnerable body that God sends again Jesus, his Messiah, to complete, in our days, through the Book of Revelation, the Restoration initiated by the Gospel 2000 years ago.

“To those who are waiting for Him”

The Christ first returns to “those who are waiting for Him”, the “sensible bridesmaids” (Matthew 25,5-7). He makes of them his Apostles of the end of times. Who are they?

They are people thirsty for Love, Truth and Justice; they wait for Him… often without their knowledge. They may be some poor sinners, as were some of the first Apostles (Luke 5,8), but who regain life with the opening of the Book of Revelation, this “Book” qualified as the Book of Life (Revelation 20,12). It restores spiritual life to those who are capable of identifying the Beast and who resist it. No one could have identified this “Beast” if Jesus Himself had not revealed its identity, the 13th of May 1970 (refer to our text the “The Key of the Apocalypse”).

In these Apocalyptic times, Jesus carries “a new name” (Revelation 3,12). Those who discover this new name, as well as the name of the beast (Revelation 13,18) and fight it, are those who await Jesus. It is to them alone that He begins, already, to manifest himself; to save them from the Antichrist’s seduction, who is none other than “the Beast” of the Apocalypse…
Already as in the past, the Christ did not reveal Himself save to an elite (Acts 10,40-41). At the Transfiguration, He only manifested Himself to Peter, James and John (Matthew 17), and, resurrected, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, followed by the Apostles. He then appeared to Paul to make him his Apostle. Yet He never manifested to the members of the Sanhedrin for example, nor separately to Caiaphas to convince him. Did he not say: “… the world will no longer see me; but you will see me… anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show Myself to him” (John 14,19-21). “Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.” (Matthew 5,8).

Also today, Jesus will only manifest Himself again to those who love him and “wait for him”. However, the Book of Revelation says: “Everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him” (Revelation 1,7). His enemies will therefore see Him too. In turn, they will finally understand – confound and ashamed – that the One they rejected, fought, and crucified, was none other than the only true Messiah. After His resurrection and spreading of His Gospel, the Sanhedrin and all the Jews who opposed Him will see Jesus, deep down in their hearts of hearts, and judges them by His triumph (Matthew 26,64). In our days, the Antichrist and his allies will see Him, they too, after their defeat; condemning them in their conscience: “All the races of the earth will mourn over Him.” (Revelation 1,7) This lamentation is the share of all those who, consciously or unconsciously, had fought Jesus in allying themselves with the Antichrist.

It is often without their knowledge, deep in the subconscious, that Christ’s friends and enemies, act for or against Him. This great lesson is given to us by Jesus in the parable of Matthew 25,31-36 concerning the judgment: Neither the good nor the bad knew that their behavior towards their fellow man, was in fact towards the Christ Himself.
Jesus’ true friends are those who will have proven their love to Him during the Apocalyptical trial, that has already befallen “every living man on the face of the earth” (Luke 21,34-36 / Revelation 3,10).

“To bring them Salvation”

What does this salvation entail?

It consists of succeeding in the universal trial under the Antichrist’s reign. In fact, God permits this enemy of Christ to appear with power, in this end of times, to test the believers and reveal the hearts. Paul explains this by saying: “But when the Rebel comes (the Antichrist, the ‘Beast’), Satan will set to work: there will be all kinds of miracles and deceptive show of signs and portents, and everything evil that can deceive those who are bound for destruction because they would not grasp the love of the truth which could have saved them. The reason why God is sending a power to delude them and make them believe what is untrue is to condemn all who refused to believe in the truth and chose wickedness instead.” (2 Thessalonians 2,9-12).
Salvation is the result of Christ’s support during this final trial: “Because you have kept my commandment to persevere, I will keep you safe in the time of trial which is coming for the whole world, to put the people of the world to the test. I am coming soon: hold firmly to what you already have and let no one take your crown from you” (Revelation 3,10-11). This trial is raging on in the world today by the appearance of the Zionist state.

Our crown is preserved by keeping our unwavering “testimony to Jesus” (Revelation 19,10). This testimony is “No to Israel”, because recognizing this State, which refuses Jesus and awaits another Messiah, is denying that Jesus is the unique Messiah.

A very “great number”, held no account whatsoever, to the recommendations of vigilance: “take care that no one deceives you… and with the increase of lawlessness, love in a great number of people will grow cold but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved”, Jesus had warned (Matthew 24,4-13). In spite of this, the majority of Jesus’ “disciples”, at the helm, have rallied to the Antichrist’s cause: The signing of the accord between the Vatican and Israel, the 30th of December 1993, perfectly illustrates this “Love growing cold in a great number of people”, foreseen by Jesus (Matthew 24,12), and “Himself” repeating in the Apocalypse (Revelation 2,4): “I have this complaint to make; you have lost your formal love”. This is why, Jesus, not without bitterness, had asked: “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” (Luke 18,8). The so-called disciples of Christ become accomplices of the Antichrist! They will lament together after Jesus’ triumph, realizing their shameful “finale” (Matthew 12,43-45). It is to these renegades that Jesus addresses Himself to in the Apocalypse: “… You are reputed to be alive and yet are dead… I found your life empty… I shall come to you like a thief, without telling you at what hour to expect me.”

The motivations for Jesus’ Return

The Christ comes back for two reasons:

  1. To unmask the Antichrist, the Beast of Revelation.
  2. To establish the Universal Restoration announced by Peter.

To unmask the Antichrist, the Beast of the Apocalypse

We have seen that Paul had announced the apparition of the Antichrist, whom he named “the Lost One”, “enemy”, etc… (2 Thessalonians 2,3-12). From his side, John, him too, warned of the Antichrist (see 1 John 2,22 / 2 John 1,7-11). He speaks more of it in the Apocalypse, where it is symbolized by “the Beast” (Revelation 13 & 17).
The Christ appeared on May 13 1970 to a priest, to reveal to him the identity of this Beast. This apparition is a form of the Return of Christ. It inaugurates this Return by unmasking the Antichrist (refer to our text: “The Key of the Apocalypse”).

The Universal Restoration

In the past, addressing himself to the Jews, Peter says:

“Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then He will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the time of the Universal Restoration…” (Act 3,19-21)

Two points are important in this text:
God “will then send the Christ”: the wording is in the future. He will therefore send him again. He is talking of the Return of Jesus.
Heaven must guard the Messiah for a time; He must return for a well-defined purpose: after having unmasked and annihilated the Antichrist, He will fulfill the Universal Restoration on earth.
For more information, refer to the text: “The Universal Restoration”.

The date of the Return of Jesus

This date, Jesus says, is unknown. It will be preceded, therefore, by warning signs: “the Signs of the Times”. Jesus invites us to recognize these signs:
The date is unknown. Jesus in fact says:

“But as for that day and hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father only.” (Matthew 24,36)

The Warning Signs:

“When you see all these things (these events): know that He (the Son of Man, Jesus) is near, at the very gates.” (Matthew 24,33)

See the text “The Signs of the Return of Jesus”.
The Apostles believed that this Return was imminent because Jesus had said:

“Before this generation has passed away, all these things will have taken place.” (Matthew 24,34)

Yet Jesus was referring to the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, of which He had already predicted:

“… His disciples came up to draw His attention to the Temple buildings. He said to them in reply: ‘You see all these? I tell you solemnly, not a single stone here will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.’” (Matthew 24,1-2)

This Temple was indeed destroyed in 70 A.D. by Titus, about 35 years after the prophecy.
Saint Paul himself awaited Christ’s Return in his time:

“We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming…” (1 Thessalonians 4,15)

This “Lord’s own teaching” to which Paul is referring to is:

“before this generation has passed away, all these things will have taken place.” (Matthew 24,34)

The Believers were impatient to see the Christ already in return amongst them during their time. Saint Peter reprimands them:

“The Lord is not being slow to carry out His promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but He is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief…” (2 Peter 3,9-10)

For his part, Paul corrects himself and nuances his words in telling the Believers that before the Return of Christ, His Enemy must appear, the Unholy one whom John calls the Antichrist:

“… to the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ… please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumor or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived… It cannot happen until the Great Revolt has taken place and the Rebel, the Lost One has appeared. This is the Enemy (the Antichrist)…” (2 Thessalonians 2,1-4)

The Book of Revelation is consecrated to the Return of Christ and the apparition of the Antichrist. Its mystery, as the “Day of the Lord”, is known but to God alone:

“There was no one, in Heaven or on earth or under the earth, who was able to open the Book and read it”, to unravel its mystery (Revelation 5,3).

The first sign of the Return of Christ was the 13th day of May 1970, in which He appeared to reveal the identity of the Beast, the Antichrist. (See the text “The Key of the Apocalypse”).
The “Day of the Lord” is already here. His Return is underway. He is recognizable by the opening of the Book of Revelation and by the events prophesied, and which are actually unfolding in the World. Happy are those who stay up to receive Him.

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