Why Jesus Must Return
by A.W. Pink
Is there any real need for Christ to return? So far as God’s children are concerned only one answer is possible to this question – “yes”.
Christians of every shade of religious belief are agreed that there is an imperative need for our Lord to come back again. As to the precise character of that need, as to the particular urgency of that need, opinions may vary, but concerning the need itself this is universally admitted.
Even post-millennialist (Those who believe Jesus will come back for His Church after the Tribulation) teach that Christ must come back at the end of time to judge the wicked and reward the righteous. But we hope to show that the need for His return is much deeper and much wider than the reason put forth by the post-millennialist.
Suppose Christ never returns–then what? The present order of things cannot continue indefinitely; such a thought is unthinkable. No one is satisfied with present conditions. Even those who despise the teachings of God’s Word hope for a better day, a Golden Age, an era of blessedness, such as this earth has never yet witnessed. And pre- millennialist (Those who believe Jesus will come back for His Church before the Tribulation) believe that this Golden Age can be ushered in by nothing short of the personal return of Christ Himself. Here then are a few reasons why we believe the Redeemer (Jesus Christ) must come back again.
CHRIST’S RETURN IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY…
It is very apparent to any one who has read thoughtfully through the Old Testament that the First Advent (Jesus first coming) of our Lord did not exhaust the burden and scope of the numerous predictions which had been made concerning Him.
Many of the things foretold of Israel’s Messiah were not accomplished during the days when He dwelt among men. Many of the promises found in God’s Word connected with the Person of Christ, still await their ratification. While it is true that the First Advent of the Lord Jesus literally and remarkable fulfilled many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Him, yet, it is also true that many others were not then fulfilled. To several of these we shall now call our readers attention.
“And I will put enmity between you (the “serpent”) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” – Genesis 3:15
Genesis 3:15 is not a single prophecy but a compound one and at least seven separate predictions are included in it. Let’s look a little more closely:
The woman is to have a seed: as we know, this pointed forward to our Lord’s humanity.
He was to be peculiarly the woman’s “seed,” not the man’s, hence we read, “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Galations 4:4).
The woman’s “Seed” was to bruise the Serpent: in other words, Satan was to be His particular antagonist.
He was to bruise the Serpent’s head.
He Himself was to be bruised in the “heel” by the Serpent; and hence it is written, He was “bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5)
There was to be “enmity” between the Serpent and the one who gave birth to the “Seed,” namely Israel (Revelation 12:1-6). And then, after making mention of the enmity between the Serpent and the woman, we read,
“And between thy seed–the Serpent’s “seed,” i.e., the Son of Perdition–and her “Seed.” In other words, this age long “enmity” was to head up in a conflict between the Antichrist and the true Christ.
For this study it is sufficient to single out the fourth and fifth of the above items, which, in their historical order, have been reversed.
“Thou shalt bruise His heel.” That old Serpent the Devil was to be permitted to attack the wound the only vulnerable part of our Lord’s person–His humanity, here intimated by the word “heel.” This portion of prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified. No sooner was the Lord Jesus born in Bethlehem of Judea than the “Dragon” (Satan) sought to encompass His destruction (Revelation 12:4). Immediately following His baptism, which was the inauguration of His public ministry, He was tempted or “tried” by the Devil for forty days (Mark 1:13). On the eve of His crucifixion our Lord expressly declared, “This is your hour, and the Power of Darkness: (Luke 22:53). Thus was Satan allowed to bruise the “heel” of the woman’s Seed.
But we also read, “It shall bruise your head,” that is, Christ shall bruise Satan’s “head.” The head is the seat and source of power, and in the Scripture we are now considering is placed in sharp antithesis with the “heel” of the woman’s Seed. Stripped of its prophetic symbolism, it can only mean that Christ is to depose Satan and reduce him to a state of impotency. This interpretation is fully confirmed in Revelation 20 where we learn that a day is coming when the Devil shall be bound and cast into the Bottomless Pit to remain there securely confined throughout the Millennial Era. What we now desire to emphasize is, that, this part of the prophecy was not fulfilled when our Lord was upon earth before, and has not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, if this prophecy is be realized our Lord must return to this earth and deprive the Devil of his power, for He alone is competent for such a task. Again; we read in Isaiah 9:6-7
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.”
Here again we meet with a prophecy which has already received a partial fulfillment, but which has not yet been completely realized. Unto Israel a Child was “born,” unto Israel a Son was “given;” but, during the days of His First Advent the “government” for He is not yet seated upon His own “throne: (Revelation 3:21). Notice that, above, it is repeated “of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” His “government” and “peace” are inseparably connected. The latter part of this prophecy therefore looks forward to the time of His Second Advent (Christ’s Second Coming), for “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory” (Matthew 25:31). Then will it be that He shall inaugurate a Reign of Peace, for then it shall be (and not till then) that “He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3). Thus we see that the declarations of the Prophetic Word require and necessitate the personal return of Christ to this earth, for only then will they be literally and completely fulfilled. Many other Old Testament predictions could be cited to the same effect, but we’ll look at only one more.
“Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:5-7)
First notice that unto David (Israel) God promised to raise up a King who should reign and prosper. Without a doubt this prophecy refers to our Lord Jesus Christ who was born “King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2), for it was uttered shortly after the Jews were carried down into Babylon, since which they have had no human King. It needs no argument to prove that the terms of this prophecy were certainly not fulfilled at the time of our Lord’s First Advent, for then, the Jews would not own Him, but demanded His death, and when Pilate inquired of them, “Shall I crucify your King?” (John 19:15), the leaders of the nation answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
Furthermore, this prophecy was not fulfilled when our Lord took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, for note, it says that Israel’s King shall “execute judgment and justice in the earth,” not “from the heavens.” Again; we observe that it declares, “In His days Judah (the two tribes) shall be saved, and Israel (the ten tribes) shall dwell safely” which certainly did not come to pass during the days of our Lord’s humiliation. No, this prophecy, like scores of other Messianic predictions recorded in the Old Testament, looks forward to the time of our Lord’s Second Coming to the earth, which is imperative if the terms of this prophecy are to be realized.
Even so, come Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)
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