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While the hope of all the redeemed is Christ, and His glorious coming, we must
remember that this coming has several aspects. The redeemed will find their inheritance
in at least three spheres--the earth, the "heavenly city" and in "heavenly places". So that
we are not surprised to discover that the Second Coming of Christ has three aspects,
corresponding with these three spheres.
First Sphere.
"His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives" (Zech. 14: 4).
"This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall also come in like
manner . . . . . Then returned they . . . . . from Olivet" (Acts 1: 11, 12).
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days . . . . . shall appear the sign of the Son
of man in heaven" (Matt. 24: 29, 30).
These passages have reference to the earth and the restoration of the kingdom to
Israel. They have no immediate reference to the Church.
Second Sphere.
"So that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ"
(I Cor. 1: 7).
"Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all" (Gal. 4: 26).
"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (Heb. 10: 37).
"The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout" (I Thess. 4: 16).
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto Him . . . . . that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (II Thess. 2: 1-3).
These passages refer to the second sphere of blessing. They do not refer to the earth
and Israel's kingdom, and most certainly not to the Body and the "heavenly places".
There are too many associations with prophecy for this aspect of the Coming to be the
hope of the Mystery, apart from the fact that the epistles quoted above (Corinthians,
Thessalonians, Galatians and Hebrews) were all written before the dispensation of the
Mystery was committed to Paul, the prisoner.
Third Sphere.
To be manifested in glory is the hope of the Church of the One Body. Its members are
already seated there in the Divine purpose, and their hope when realized will place them
there in fact. The epistle to Titus, written between the two imprisonments of Paul, speaks
of this phase of the hope:--
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the manifesting of the glory of the great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2: 13).
For the time being, He is hidden. His glory is not manifest; and so, as the apostle
says in another context, "We walk by faith, not by sight" (II Cor. 5: 7).