His Return

I believe when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth, He will simply step out of the invisible realm, and appear to believers, wherever they may be. They may be in their homes, or in a place of prayer, or worshiping together. He will come to each individual believer, or group of believers, who are looking for His return. He will appear in His glorified body, and be real and tangible to all who love Him. He will be visible, and function in a real body, in the same way that He did during the forty days after His resurrection. When He comes, He will establish God’s Kingdom in the world, and will empower His people to rule with Him.
When Jesus comes, His people will be able to see Him, and He will be able to touch them. When He reveals Himself to believers, they will be changed, as He releases His power and glory into them. Then, as they walk in this new power, they will rise up and witness Christ to all nations with great liberty and mighty miracles. His Kingdom will grow and fill the whole earth.
For forty days after His resurrection, Jesus lived on earth with His people. He taught them, instructed them, ate with them, and did many other marvelous things. He was real and could be seen and touched. Satan could not attack Him, neither could His enemies. His disciples met with Him, and He appeared wherever He wished, with no restrictions: in a garden, in private homes, by the seaside, on the road. He appeared to individuals, and groups, and then a crowd of 500 saw Him. Multitudes of deceased saints also rose and appeared to many people. But only believers saw Jesus, as there is no record of any unbelievers seeing Him. His resurrection presence transformed the disciples.
This was a preview, or foretaste of what will happen at His return. When Jesus went away, He promised to come back to earth and establish His Kingdom. The angels said that He would come in “LIKE MANNER.” As I will show, this referred not only to the way in which He departed, but also to the manner in which He had been with them for the forty days. The SAME Jesus will return in the SAME way (Acts 1:11 NIV Bible). We are told quite clearly that the state in which Jesus was taken into heaven, is the same state as that in which He will return to earth. In other words, the same Jesus who was crucified, and then rose again, and walked with them in resurrection, will appear, as He was while with them during the forty days.
Just as Jesus came to believers at that time, so He will return to His people wherever they are. Believers will then see the Lord, for He will be visible, as, and when He desires. He will reveal Himself wherever He wishes, whether to individuals, small groups, or large congregations.
Nowhere in the entire world will be out of His reach, although not everyone will be able to enter His presence. However, those who love Jesus will see Him. He will unexpectedly return and appear to all who are His. It could be at any time. If Jesus is your Lord, you too will see Him. One day, as you are going about your daily tasks, He will be there; Jesus will suddenly stand in your presence.
When the King returns, He will come in the power of His Kingdom, which will grow and fill the whole world. By His “PRESENCE,” He will change and empower His people, and through them rule the nations. His people will rise into a new liberty, free from carnality that works death, and the Kingdom of God will come with authority into all the earth.
The presence of the King IN His people will assure victory. There will be no mistaking the risen Lord, when He manifests Himself - He will appear in risen glory to His people, and He will be real and tangible. His personal manifestation to His people will be at His visible return to be with them, in glory. His manifestation to the world will then be through His people, who will display His glory, having been changed by Him.
The return of the risen Lord is the next step in God’s unfolding plan to submit the entire world to Himself. The presence of Jesus will bind Satan, and leave him powerless to deceive the world. Over the last two thousand years, the Gospel has gone into all nations. Through faith in Jesus Christ, salvation has been made available to all the families of mankind, and there are now devout believers in every nation. They form the Body of Christ, His Bride and Temple. It may seem in places as being small and insignificant, but it is the bridgehead to which Jesus will return. In these end-times, the Lord is establishing a world-wide net that will cover all nations.
The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached for a witness to all nations, and then He will return. At His coming, His people will be represented throughout the world. Believers are citizens of His Kingdom, and it is to them that Jesus Christ will come. When Jesus returns, He will be with His people, not just in His Spirit, but in a Real, Visible Presence.
True believers are the base through which the Lord will work in the next great step in God’s plan - to take the world for Jesus. He, Himself will return to direct it. Believers proclaim the Gospel, but only the King can establish the Kingdom. One day, His people will have dominion and rule; but not without the King. When the King comes, His Church will be transformed and empowered to rule the nations. The return of the King will break the power of evil, demolish the rulers of darkness, destroy the wicked, and blow the systems of the world wide open.
Then, “IN HIS PRESENCE,” there will be the greatest harvest ever seen. Millions will turn to Him, and the world will see the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth. The age of miracles, resurrection and power, will have fully come. This is what the prophets of old saw when they described the Glory of God filling the whole earth.