The Day of Christ (Part 1)

Overview

Rev. Rico Magnelli examines “The Day of Christ (Part 1)” through Revelation 1, Romans 5, 1 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, showing how christ, lord, time shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.

Transcript

Understanding The Day of Christ (Part 1)

Well, God bless you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. And welcome to this third installment of the anchor of the soul, the day of Christ. I’d like to give you an overview of how we’ll handle this third installment of this webinar.

First, we’re going to handle an overview or a timeline. Then we’ll handle the day of Christ. Then we’ll look at our spiritual bodies.

And finally, our expectations of hope. Please turn to Revelation chapter 1. Let’s consider a timeline. Now the day of Christ is a very specific phrase used in the word that’s in reference to the gathering together of the church of the body of Christ.

It’s very unique. This is the day of Christ or the day of Jesus Christ. That same day we are gathered begins the day of the Lord in which justice, judgment, and wrath will be administered by Jesus Christ.

Now the day of the Lord happens over a period of time, not in one day. And as you recall, we are saved from the wrath to come. That wrath and that judgment comes in the time period referred to as the day of the Lord.

Because Romans 5, 9 and 1 Thessalonians 1, 10 tells us that we are saved from this wrath to come. But the day of the Lord begins that very day that we are gathered together as the church. And in Revelation chapter 1, verse 1, it says the revelation.

The revelation is the unveiling, the revealing of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass, and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. John is the individual that wrote down the book of Revelation. It’s a revealing of Jesus Christ, not as the coming Messiah to the world, but as the one that will execute wrath and judgment.

It’s the revealing of Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords. The day of the Lord, it’s immediately following, like I said, the day of Christ, begins the falling away first that’s noted in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. What this falling away is, it’s an apostasy or a rebellion against God. And that rebellion against God has been happening since the beginning of mankind on the earth.

The difference with this rebellion that’s coming in the future is it will be unrestrained because it will be spearheaded by the appearance of a man who will set himself up as God to the entire world. So it’s not like an empire that has ever existed, which covered vast areas, vast regions of the globe geographically. No, no, no, no.

This will be very unique. This will be the entire world will be under the rule of one man. Jesus Christ refers to him in Matthew 24 15 as the abomination of desolation because again, this man presents himself as if he’s God.

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 through 8, he’s referred to as the man of sin, the son of perdition. He’s referred to as the wicked. In 1 John 2 18, he’s referred to as the Antichrist.

In Revelation 13 2, he’s referred to as the beast. And of course, that’s a figurative reference because it’s emphasizing him as a wild animal, like a beast of prey, like a leopard or a bear or a lion. And it’s accentuating his brutality, his ferociousness and his savage nature.

In Revelation 13 18, he is associated with a number, and the number is 666. So following the day of Christ, which is the gathering together of the church, the day of the Lord begins, and there will be rebellion against God. There’ll be plagues.

The wicked one will be revealed. And during the day of the Lord, this period of time, Jesus Christ will be more active as king of kings and lord of lords. It notes in the book of Revelation that Jesus Christ comes on a white horse with armies of heaven, also on white horses, and that wicked one is defeated, which is the beast and his armies.

And the beast and his false prophet, an individual that speaks for the beast, are thrown into the lake of fire. That means their existence is ended. And at that time, the devil is bound for a thousand years.

You can read about it in Revelation 19 and Revelation 20. Then the first resurrection happens. And this resurrection is referring to those that had faith during their lifetime.

Because of that phrase, the just shall keep on living by faith, this is referring to them. In Revelation 20, during this thousand-year rule, no books are opened. Christ will be ruling.

The devil is bound. And it’s not a judgment, this first resurrection, but simply a resurrection for those who abide in faith. And this would include both Gentile and Israel.

So this first resurrection does not seem to be concentrated on one given time, but rather it’s spread out during the day of the Lord. This thousand-year reign of Christ, it’s a time where God, before moving on to eternity, wants to restore things and return to a pristine kind of original creation quality. The removal of the devil and his children for a thousand years before moving on will allow people to live in that environment, but they certainly will continue to exercise free will.

The Biblical Foundation

At the conclusion of the thousand years, the devil is released again. And he endeavors to deceive people so they certainly have free will. And he marshals an army of the people that will be alive at that time.

And what ends up happening is God shuts this whole operation down. The devil is thrown into the lake of fire, his existence is ended. And as you read in Revelation 20, the heaven and the earth are dissolved.

Further elaboration you can see in 2 Peter 3, verses 10 and 11. Following the current heavens and earth being dissolved comes the great white throne judgments of the future and the second death. This can be found in Revelation 20.

And at that judgment, Jesus Christ will execute this judgment. According to John 5, 19-30. And he’ll have all nations before him.

And he will separate the sheep from the goats. According to Matthew 25, 32-46. And the standard for salvation is no longer what the Christian had offered.

Or the people during the time of Christianity, where you can confess Jesus Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead. Or you had faith. The standard for salvation during this white throne judgment will be along the lines of Matthew 25.

Where Jesus Christ says, I was hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. He says, as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren.

He’s talking about those in the world. What the world would consider insignificant perhaps. Because Jesus Christ is the son of man.

He’s referring to his natural lineage. Jesus goes on to say, you have done it unto me. See, Jesus Christ represents all people.

All people. He is the son of man. Along with being the son of God.

Further elaboration can be seen in Romans 2. Where it says, For when the Gentiles which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves. Which show the work of the law written in their hearts. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.

Wow. End quote. This work of caring for others from the heart is what is weighed and acceptable when faith has not been accomplished in someone’s lifetime.

Wow. Talk about loving care from a loving God. Amazing.

Then follows the new heavens and the new earth. So that’s a basic timeline in a very compact way of expressing it. And surely there’s a lot of details to this.

But we won’t be handling those at this time. Look at 1 Thessalonians, please. Chapter 4. See what initiates this timeline is the day of Christ.

The gathering together of the church. What I’d like to do is I’d like to read here because 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is the Christian’s hope in the day of Christ. And it’s a calling aside to comfort and encouragement.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13. Paul writes, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Now we know asleep is a euphemism for those that have died in Christ in this situation.

That you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which are asleep.

In other words, those that have died in Christ that have fallen asleep in Christ they rise first. Then there will be Christians alive at the time of the return of Christ. Wow.

Verse 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain so there will be somebody alive at the time shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Examples and Spiritual Lessons

Wherefore, the practical application for us is comfort. It’s encouragement. We are to comfort and encourage one another with these words.

It’s a calling aside to comfort and encouragement in a troubled and challenged world. Absolutely. Look at 1 Corinthians 15.

Please. Now, the day of Christ the return of Christ for the body of Christ that initiates that whole timeline also has another component to it. Here in 1 Corinthians 15 these two sections 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 are the two places in the Bible that actually detail what’s going to happen on the day of Christ.

And this one in Corinthians is the Christian’s hope in the day of Christ but it’s also a call to action to abound in the work of the Lord knowing that what we do in light of the return of Christ is not in vain. We’re not wasting our time. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 51 Paul writes Behold, I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed.

So again, he’s noting that there will be Christians alive at this time. In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye.

So this is going to happen rapidly. Whenever it happens in whatever 24 hour period that occurs and only the Lord knows that time. At the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So those that are dead in Christ, that are asleep in Christ they’re the corruptible. The mortal are the Christians that are alive at the time.

But both are changed. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Wow.

So to one group, one church, Paul is saying the hope of the return of Christ, the day of Christ is a call to action. To another group, the church of the Thessalonians he’s saying that it is a call to comfort and encouragement. And to the Christian believer, it’s both.

It’s both. That’s right. See, this phrase, the day of Christ is found in Corinthians and it’s also found in Philippians.

Both very practical books. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1, please. The Corinthian church were spiritual children with a worldly or carnal approach to life.

They were trying to make Christianity fit into their old Gentile and idolatrous ways of living. That did not work well for them. The Philippians, on the other hand, had taken Christianity to the next level and were joyful and moving ahead with grace.

Yet we see practical things both churches are encouraged to do in light of the day of Christ. The Christian walk is very individual. It’s like the work of building a house.

At first, the builder of the house puts up the framing of the house. Like the walls, the roof, the exterior of the home, the foundation. Then the more refined or finished work of the interior is needed like, you know, cabinets and paneling and painting and molding and all that kind of thing.

Well, to draw an analogy, the Corinthian church needed help framing their house with the walls and a roof and a foundation. They were very, very, very rudimentary and fundamental in their challenge. They did not need the interior finish work done yet.

Now the Philippians, on the other hand, were fundamentally sound and they were established. They already had their walls and roof up. They needed the interior cabinetry, painting and paneling and the molding and all that done.

And sometimes in Christianity, you see this. People are born again. They’re children of God, but yet they try to fit the world into Christianity.

It doesn’t work. It never works. And then you see people that are fundamentally sound in Christ and they need more refinement in their walk and that’s what, like, the Philippians were like.

Faith in Action

Because the Corinthians were fundamentally unsound and not established in their foundation. They needed help with something as simple as unity. They also were missing God’s gift of Holy Spirit at work in their lives.

They were carnal Christians. Again, spiritually, children of God, for sure, but they were guided by their natural knowledge. And they were very much influenced by their past and their culture.

That’s right. Very much influenced. And that caused no end of problems for them.

And Paul tries to help them. And that’s the background here of these two books to help us. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 4. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ that in everything you are enriched by him.

Certainly, everything about Jesus Christ enriches our lives. In all utterance, that means in word, and in all knowledge, that experiential knowledge. Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you so that ye come behind in no gift.

So the Corinthians were coming behind in the gift of Holy Spirit. What does this mean? Well, the words come behind actually mean come late. So let’s say you’re going to a meeting and you enter the meeting late.

You feel like you’re behind. Well, this is the essence of this word. It means to come late.

But metaphorically, it’s used to miss or lack something. And certainly that happens when you come to a meeting late. You miss the first part of the meeting.

So it’s easily understood that this word can mean that you’re missing something, you’re lacking something. And what they were lacking, the Corinthians, was the gift of grace. That gift of Holy Spirit and the grace that gave it.

So Paul is encouraging them not to miss God’s timing of the gift of Holy Spirit moving in their lives. So we would seek that encouragement as well. So we don’t miss that timing of the gift of Holy Spirit.

We’re at the right place at the right time. And that gift could be referring to our gift as God inspires and works within you or it could be that gift working in someone else. Which it definitely includes the ministries of service in the body.

So this coming late is not talking about being on time for appointments. Though that’s a good idea. But it’s missing the gift at work in our lives.

Because often times the wisdom of God comes in terms of timing. It’s being at that right place at that right time. Fantastic.

Now the Corinthians had been or had had Christ confirmed in them. According to verse 6. So that confirmation they were set on the right foundation. But again, their past and their culture influenced them off of it.

So what happened was that they had come behind. They were coming late. They were missing out on that gift.

So Paul says I don’t want you to miss out on that gift as it works within you. As you wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this word waiting for these words waiting for mean the expectation of the end.

So they were confirmed in Christ and they were to stand with a positive expectation of the future. And this Greek word translated into waiting for is used of expecting the return of Christ. As noted here.

It’s also used of God himself. God was waiting for about a hundred years for the ark to be built by Noah. For God had an expectation if you will that the end of the reign of evil men would come to pass.

As a result judgment and wrath came which was the flood. At the same time God was bringing salvation to man from that judgment and wrath by his grace. As he worked in Noah.

Fantastic. Now for us our expectation is the end of the reign of evil when judgment and wrath begin to be brought down upon the wicked. And that is that whole understanding of the day of the Lord.

Walking in Love and Confidence

Like I said the day of the Lord occurs over a period of time according to God’s time table. And it’s more like an age if you will. And it begins on the same day as the day of Christ when we are gathered together.

The whole church is gathered together. Because we are saved from the wrath to come. Like Noah was saved from the judgment of the flood.

We are saved from that wrath that judgment which is the day of the Lord. Romans 5.9 1 Thessalonians 1.10 So this waiting for concept is very interesting in the word. Because it talks about it in Romans chapter 8 three times.

It says the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. The whole creation is waiting. Because as the sons of God that’s us are revealed fully on the day of Christ it begins and initiates that time table of the day of the Lord.

It also says just like creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God we wait for the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8.23 So we’re waiting for our new spiritual body. And it also says we wait for our hope with endurance.

Romans 8.25 So it’s used three times there. 8.19 8.23 and 8.25 Fantastic. So here the Corinthians are told to have an expectation for an end.

Which is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall confirm shall make you firm and strong unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this blameless means guiltless.

Guiltless. That is so one’s value or worth as a son of God is not impugned. How does that happen? How can we carry that out? Well that’s our identity in Christ.

Because we’ve been crucified buried, raised and ascended with Christ. This is what the gift of and from the Holy Spirit represents. A victorious and new beginning for us that leads us to eternity.

That is what we’re expecting. And we remain guiltless in Christ to the end by partaking in the shared work of Christ. In other words, we don’t allow ourselves to allow culture or our past to get us in condemnation.

We remain guiltless before God. That doesn’t mean we don’t do anything wrong. That’s not what it means.

Sure, we do things wrong. We sin and so forth. But in terms of our worth and value as a son of God, we remain guiltless because we identify with the accomplished work of Christ.

That is the depth of what this is talking about. It says God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord. That fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord is to share in common with Jesus Christ.

So what do we spiritually participate and share in common in with Jesus Christ? Huh? The crucifixion. The burial. The resurrection.

The ascension. And the seating at God’s right hand. This is our identity in Christ.

It’s fantastic. And the Corinthians had been moved off this foundation. They were no longer identifying with the accomplished work of Christ.

Wow. Then he handles with them their lack of unity. Because a call to unity in the Christian community begins with the faith of Christ.

The accomplished work of Christ. Sharing in his finished and accomplished work. Because there’s no other foundation that leads us to victory and unity.

Any other foundation leads to disunity. Look at Philippians. So we’ve looked at the day of Christ in the context here in the book of Corinthians.

Applying the Teaching in Daily Life

And now let’s look at it in the book of Philippians please. Now the Philippian church was much more solid on the things of Christ than the Corinthian church. They practiced unity in Christ.

And a guilt free lifestyle in Christ. Something the Corinthians did not do. They did not practice unity in Christ and they did not practice a guilt free lifestyle in Christ.

So Paul could go no further with them in their walk. Now in Philippians he takes them from the good work of God in the new birth to the perfect man at the day of Christ. Paul teaches them that God is always preparing them for the next thing.

He is ultimately preparing each of us for the next thing and always preparing us for eternity. So Paul teaches them to make the best moral decisions so as not to cause a stumbling block in their life or anybody else’s life. That’s what he’s teaching the Philippians because they could handle more kind of refined teaching at this point.

Paul teaches the Philippians to make salvation effective in their life and to shine as lights holding forth the word of life. And that word of salvation we have made part of the fabric of our soul comes out when we speak God’s word it comes out as the word of life and we’ll see this here in Philippians chapter 1 verse 3 I thank my God, Paul writes, upon every remembrance of you always and every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy for your fellowship your sharing in common in the gospel, the good news from the first day until now. That first day was when the Philippians got born again.

They received the new birth. Watch this being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Well God started that good work in the new birth so a good work must involve God and free will.

Has to. It cannot be something we do outside of God’s involvement. A good work must involve God through his grace.

And it says that he will perform it. He’ll continue to work in your life even up to the very day of Jesus Christ. One translation has it will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

That’s fantastic. So that’s for each and every one of us at the return of Christ. Now certainly people that have fallen asleep in Christ can’t add to it anymore.

But we can that are alive. That’s why this one verse, Philippians 1, 6, kind of encapsulates what we learned from Ephesians 4 in the Heirs of God, the previous installment of this webinar. We learned from Ephesians 4, 7 that each of us received the measure of the gift of Christ.

That’s at the new birth. It’s like we’re an infant in Christ. All the potential is there.

And then we develop our walk and grow in love. We grow in our hope and our faith in our application of these truths all the way on to Ephesians 4, 13 where we reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is at the day of Christ.

That is at the gathering together of the church where we’ll all be united in the faith. See, each of us will reach that level of being a perfect man or a spiritual adult at the day of Christ. When you’re born again, you’re born an infant in Christ in your application.

And then as we walk in love, as we put on and grow in the Word, we develop ourselves in this journey of life until the Lord returns or we fall asleep. And at the return of Christ, we will all have reached our potential. That perfect man, that spiritual adult.

Because the perfect man is you and me face to face in experiential knowledge of who we are and who Jesus Christ is to us personally. We are that spiritual adult version of ourselves in our new spiritual eternal bodies. That’s the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Fantastic. And God will work in you, according to Philippians 1.6, to bring you to that level of spiritual adulthood, if you will. All adults are not the same.

But one can clearly make a distinction between an infant and an adult. Spiritually, it’s the same. God is always preparing us for the next thing in our life.

He may not tell you what it is ahead of time. Or He may tell you. Either way, you’re prepared.

According to 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, God makes a way to escape for us when we’re tempted. It says in Psalm 68, 20 that regarding the issues from death, it’s referring to that God provides the way out of death. And that, of course, is salvation.

So our lives are an ongoing preparation for living now and for eternity. This is all in the context of the day of Christ. Let’s look at this next section where it refers to the day of Christ.

A Life Shaped by God’s Word

In Philippians chapter 1, same chapter, verse 9. It’s part of a prayer. And this I pray, Paul says, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. Judgment here is referring to moral discernment.

Make distinctions between what’s right and wrong. And the greatest way to do that is to go with what God says is right and what God says is wrong. Not necessarily your opinion or my opinion or anybody else’s opinion.

That’s right. And that’s how we grow in love is we make those distinctions. That you may approve things that are excellent.

And this word excellent, this is referring to things that are different. Again, it’s in the category of making moral distinctions. Ethical distinctions.

That’s right. That you may be sincere without offense till the day of Christ. The word sincere means to judge in the sunlight.

So it’s actually giving us a tremendous analogy of when you view something in the sunlight, it gives you the clearest, clearest perception of what something looks like. Man has natural light but often times the natural light doesn’t give you the clear perception of an object. But it’s in the sunlight you can clearly identify something.

It means it’s pure and genuine. That’s right. And without offense till the day of Christ.

Without offense means not to cause a stumbling block for yourself or others. When you can see in the sunlight as opposed to let’s say you’re walking in the forest and it’s dark, you can stumble on something because you can’t see. But in the clearly visible sunlight of the day, you can see obstacles.

And that’s the point that’s being made. In light of the day of Christ, make the best moral choices. To not put stumbling blocks in your own way.

Or anybody else’s way. Judge all things in the daylight, in the light of the word of God. Fantastic! Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.

But I would, you should understand brethren, he’s writing the Philippians, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. By this time Paul was incarcerated, he was in chains, he was detained by the Romans. So even in that situation, Paul expressed himself through these tremendous epistles like Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and so forth, that he was not held back.

It says, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. He’s talking about in Caesar’s court that even though Paul was bound legally, if you will, his conviction and commitment was in Christ, Jesus. He was bound in Christ.

That’s right. And many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear, because they saw Paul’s example, and they were dynamically impressed, and therefore began to speak more without fear. So indeed, preach Christ.

So some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. Some were preaching Christ, doesn’t say Jesus. Christ incorporates Jesus, but the emphasis is on Christ, the victorious one, the resurrected one.

Some were preaching Christ of envy and strife, so they had kind of the wrong intentions and motives. And in some cases, they probably were trying to do this to hurt Paul. And others were doing it with the right motive.

The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, in other words, to make Paul’s situation even worse. But the other of love. That’s the one that were doing it out of goodwill.

Knowing that I’m set for the defense of the gospel, what then? Notwithstanding, in every way, whether in pretense, which is a pretext, pretense here is like for show, for show. Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Why was Paul rejoicing? Because Paul rejoices in that even when people preach Christ in pretense, which is again, for show, or there’s a kind of a hidden agenda.

The message of Christ is preached. And that message is so powerful that it can penetrate and shine through personal agendas, wrong motives, and even bad spiritual environments. The message of Christ can reach people’s hearts if the real truth is what they are seeking.

This concludes part one of the anchor of the soul, the day of Christ. God bless you.

Key Takeaways

• What I’d like to do is I’d like to read here because 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is the Christian’s hope in the day of Christ.
• Because as the sons of God that’s us are revealed fully on the day of Christ it begins and initiates that time table of the day of the Lord.
• Or the people during the time of Christianity, where you can confess Jesus Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead.
• This work of caring for others from the heart is what is weighed and acceptable when faith has not been accomplished in someone’s lifetime.
• Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main message of “The Day of Christ (Part 1)”?

Rev. Rico Magnelli examines “The Day of Christ (Part 1)” through Revelation 1, Romans 5, 1 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, showing how christ, lord, time shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.

Which scriptures are central to this teaching?

The teaching draws especially from Revelation 1, Romans 5, 1 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, Matthew 24.

How can believers apply this teaching?

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Scripture References

Revelation 1; Romans 5; 1 Thessalonians 1; 2 Thessalonians 2; Matthew 24; 1 John 2

This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.