Second Advent, when will Christ come again?

Chapter Second Advent

Jesus clearly spoke about the Second Advent (Matt. 16:27). But he said that no one knew of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven (Matt. 24:36). Therefore, up to the present, it has been thought reckless even to try to know when, where and how the Lord would come.

By examining the words of Jesus, "Only the Father knows." (Matt 24:36), and the verse, "Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7), we can understand that God, who knows of the day and hour, will surely let His prophets know all the secrets concerning the Second Advent of the Lord before actualizing it.

Therefore, Jesus said that Lord would come like a thief (Rev. 3:3), while, on another occasion, he said that, for those in the light, the Lord would not come as a thief (I. Thess. 5:4). It was true that Jesus came as thief to the chief priests and scribes, who were in darkness, but, to the home of John the Baptist, which was in light, God revealed Jesus' birth beforehand. At the time of his birth He revealed the fact to the wise men of the east, Simon, Anna, and the shepherds. Again, Jesus warned the people, telling them to watch at all times, praying that they might have the strength to escape all those things that would take place, because the day of the Second Advent would come upon them suddenly like a snare; so, it is evident that He will reveal it beforehand to the saints who are in the light, so that they may prepare for the coming day of the Lord.

From the examples appearing in the course of the providence of restoration, we can see that God always did things after having revealed the facts to His prophets beforehand; for example: the judgment in Noah's time, His destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Messiah's coming. Therefore, it is evident that, at the Second Coming of the Lord, God will speak to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see so that they may be enlightened by the saints about what would take place, as He promised that in the Last Days He would pour out His Spirit (Acts 2:17).

Section I

When will Christ come again?

We call the time of the Lord's Second Advent the "Last Days". We have already clarified, in the "Consummation of Human History", in Part I, that we are at present in the Last Days. Accordingly, we know that now is truly the time for Christ to come again. We find in the history of the providence of restoration that Jesus came after the 2000 years of the "providential age of restoration by indemnity". Therefore, seen from the principle of restoration through indemnity, we may understand that the Lord will come at about the end of the 2000 years of the "providential age of the prolongation of restoration through indemnity" (the New Testament Age), which restores through indemnity the previous period, through the substantial time-identity.

As we have discussed in detail concerning World War I, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Adam-type personage on the side of Satan, perished with the defeat of Germany in the First World War, and Stalin, the personage in the type of the Lord of the Second Advent on the side of Satan, realized the world of communism; this fact foreshadowed that Christ would come again, and restore through indemnity the world under the principle of coexistence, co-prosperity and common-cause. Consequently, we can understand that the period for the Second Advent began right after the First World War.