Christ comes to this world, visibly as God-made-man, three times.
1. The first time began with his Incarnation and continued throughout his human life on earth, through his Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.
2. The second time will be at the end of the reign of the Antichrist, in the year 2437 A.D., when he descends to Earth from Heaven. At that time, he will teach, lead the Church, and punish the unrepentant wicked. He will establish his kingdom on earth, and then ascend a second time to Heaven. And then the Church will reign over all the Earth during a long time of true peace and true holiness, called the Millennium.
3. The third time will be after the end of the Millennium and after a brief time of rebellion. Then he returns for the general Resurrection and the Last Judgment. At that time, God takes away Heaven and Earth and Purgatory and Hell. This event is called the end of time, yet God then makes a new Heaven, and a new Earth, and a new Hell. (So time resumes.) But Purgatory is no more, because death is no more.
The First Return of Jesus Christ is his Second Coming, in 2437 A.D.
The Second Return of Christ is his Third Coming, after the Millennium (more than a thousand years after 2437 A.D.)
The First Return
[2 Thessalonians 2]
{2:1} And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him:
{2:2} That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.
{2:3} Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
{2:4} Who opposes and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God.
{2:5} Remember you not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
{2:6} And now you know what withholds, that he may be revealed in his time.
{2:7} For the mystery of iniquity already works: only that he who now holds do hold, until he be taken out of the way.
{2:8} And then that wicked one shall be revealed: whom the Lord Jesus shall execute with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: him
{2:9} Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders:
According to the above Scripture passage, Christ returns at the end of the Antichrist’s reign. The Antichrist is ‘the man of sin,’ also called ‘the son of perdition’; he sits in the temple of God as if he were God; he is also called the ‘wicked one’ (or in some translations ‘the lawless one’). The Antichrist is a close associate of Satan, and hence he has additional power that he would not otherwise have, and he can work lying signs and wonders (false miracles).
And how is the Antichrist destroyed? by the Return of Christ, for Christ “will destroy [him] with the brightness of his coming.” This passage from 2 Thessalonians clearly teaches that Jesus Christ will return at the end of the Antichrist’s reign.
The Book of Revelation teaches similarly:
{19:11} And I saw heaven opened: and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true: and with justice does he judge and fight.
{19:12} And his eyes were as a flame of fire: and on his head were many diadems. And he had a name written, which no man knows but himself.
{19:13} And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood. And his name is called: THE WORD OF GOD.
{19:14} And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
{19:15} And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he may strike the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty.
{19:16} And he has on his garment and on his thigh written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
{19:17} And I saw an angel standing in the sun: and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that did fly through the midst of heaven: Come, gather yourselves together to the great supper of God:
{19:18} That you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of tribunes and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them: and the flesh of all freemen and bondmen and of little and of great.
{19:19} And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse and with his army.
{19:20} And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who wrought signs before him, wherewith he seduced them who received the character of the beast and who adored his image. These two were cast alive into the pool of fire burning with brimstone.
{19:21} And the rest were slain by the sword of him that sits upon the horse, which proceeds out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
The beast in the Book of Revelation is, in one sense, the kingdom of the Antichrist. But, in another sense, the beast is the leader of that kingdom, the Antichrist himself. The false prophet is a woman who falsely claims to be the pope of the Roman Catholic Church; she is an antipope who assists the Antichrist in convincing the world to worship him and his image (in a perverse imitation of Catholic iconography).
Here again, Scripture clearly places the Return of Jesus Christ at the end of the Antichrist’s reign.
Jesus the true Christ sits upon the white horse with the two-edged sword of truth. At the end of the Antichrist’s reign, Jesus destroys the Antichrist, not by killing him, but by casting him and his false prophet into the fires of Hell, while they are still alive: “These two were cast alive into the pool of fire burning with brimstone.” Just as Jesus and Mary are the only two persons with both human bodies and souls in Heaven; so also are the Antichrist and the false prophet (a woman) the only two persons with both human bodies and souls in Hell.
Are the First and Second Returns one event?
Now, most Catholics and most Christians believe that when Christ returns he brings an end to the world, taking away Heaven and earth at the time of the general Resurrection and Judgment. In this very common view, Christ returns only once, so that His Return at the end of the Antichrist’s reign is the same as His Return for the general Resurrection and Judgment. There are several problems with this erroneous idea.
First, notice that Jesus Christ, upon His Return, casts the Antichrist and false prophet, alive, into the fires of Hell. If Christ returned only once, both to end the Antichrist’s reign, and to effect the general Resurrection, then the Antichrist and the false prophet would be thrown alive into Hell, only to be immediately resurrected. For the Resurrection is of both the just souls in Heaven and Purgatory, and the unjust souls in Hell. And all of the unrepentant followers of the Antichrist and the false prophet also are thrown into Hell, after they are killed. If Christ returned only once, then they too would be sent to Hell only to be immediately resurrected.
Second, chapter 20 of Revelation is placed after the events at the end of chapter 19. The common view that Revelation 20 refers to the time between Christ’s Ascension and His First (and only) Return is not tenable. It does not make sense that such a reference would be placed between chapter 19 (about the Antichrist) and chapter 21, about the new Heaven and new Earth after the general Resurrection. Furthermore, the general Resurrection itself is found at the end of chapter 20, so chapter 20 is clearly in the correct chronological sequence.
Third, after the Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into Hell, over a thousand years passes, then there is the rebellion of God and Magog.
{20:9} And there came down fire from God out of heaven and devoured them: and the devil, who seduced them, was cast into the pool of fire and brimstone, where both the beast
{20:10} And the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
When the devil is thrown into the Hell, how can the beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet already be there? The Antichrist and false prophet are described as already in Hell, being tormented unceasingly. Yet if the general Resurrection occurred at the time of Christ’s first Return, then the Antichrist and false prophet would not yet be in Hell in verses 20:9-10, because the general Resurrection occurs in verses 20:11-13.
Instead, the truth is that Christ returns twice: first, at the end of the Antichrist’s reign, when he is thrown into Hell, and, second, at the time of the general Resurrection, well over a thousand years later, after the rebellion of Gog and Magog and after the devil is thrown into Hell, so as to join the Antichrist and the false prophet, who will have been in Hell already for a long time.
Fourth, the usual interpretation of Revelation 20 (that it refers to the present time) completely ignores the actual text of this chapter of Scripture. For example:
{20:4} And I saw seats. And they sat upon them: and judgment was given unto them. And the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and who had not adored the beast nor his image nor received his character on their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
{20:5} The rest of the dead lived not, till the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
The dead, who are killed because they did not adore the Antichrist, are given a first resurrection. The rest of the dead are not given this first resurrection; they must wait for the general Resurrection. There is no reasonable and faithful interpretation of this passage which could possibly apply to the time before the Antichrist. And again, it is clear that the events of Revelation 20 follow after the events of Revelation 19. Chapter 19 has the end of the reign of the Antichrist, and chapter 20 has those killed during that reign being brought back to life. No other order of events would make any sense whatsoever.
Fifth, we all say the Our Father prayer, which says: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as in Heaven.”
Is this prayer, said by nearly all Christians, said in vain? Does Christ’s kingdom fail to become fully established on earth? Does the current reign of sin persist until all is destroyed, so that Christianity never fully reigns over all the earth? Is it even possible that the will of God will never be done on Earth just as in Heaven?
If Christ returns only once, at the end of the Antichrist’s reign, at the end of the most sinful and wicked time in the history of mankind, then Christ’s kingdom fails to be established on earth and God’s will is never done on earth as in Heaven.
But if Christ returns twice, with a long reign of peace and holiness in-between, then God’s kingdom does come and God’s will is done, on Earth as in Heaven. Therefore, we must conclude, from the very words of the Our Father prayer, that Christ will return twice, with a long reign of His Kingdom in-between, when God’s will is done on Earth as in Heaven.
Fifth, most people imagine that when Christ returns, He just destroys everything and then we are all resurrected and judged. Is this the Christ that you know? It is not the Christ that I know. He does not show up merely to destroy. He did not destroy even those who crucified Him.
Christ tends to do things rather slowly and methodically. First he was incarnated in the womb of Mary, but then he waited 9 months in the womb. When he was born as the king of Israel, he did not reign or act, but remained as an infant. Then a long time passed in his childhood and teenage years and early adulthood. Then he began His Ministry, but he still took a considerable time to walk around, and talk to people, and wait for them to repent. Numerous events occurred during His Ministry. And when finally he died for our salvation, he then waited until the third day to rise. And then he waited until the 40th day to Ascend. And then he waited until the 50th day to send the Spirit. And then the Church began to unfold, slowly growing and changing over many centuries.
So then, do you really think that when this same Christ Returns, He will just immediately destroy everything and judge everyone?
No, instead He returns, but then He teaches and leads; the Church continues to teach, preach, and dispense the Sacraments. The lowliest members of the faithful are called upon to seek the repentance and conversion of their neighbors. Christ then continues to teach and to establish His kingdom on Earth and to build up His Church. Time is allotted for repentance.
Finally, the unrepentant wicked are destroyed, in a series of events over the course of many months, with the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath.
Then Christ resurrects the martyrs and Saints, especially those killed under the Antichrist, in the First Resurrection.
Next He ascends for His Second Ascension.
And since Mary had returned with Christ, she is then brought up to heaven with Him, in her Second Assumption.
Some time later, the Holy Spirit is sent out in a Second Pentecost, this time over the whole world.
Then the Millennium of peace and holiness begins, when Christ reigns from Heaven, and in the Eucharist, and through His Church.
This time lasts well over a thousand years.
Then there is the brief time of the rebellion of Gog and Magog.
Then the devil is thrown into Hell along with the unrepentant sinners of the rebellion.
Sometime after that event, Christ returns for the general Resurrection and the general Judgment.
Then God takes away Heaven and Earth, and God makes a new Heaven and a new Earth.
And after that, who knows?....
by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
April 16, 2006
