Christ’s Coming From Heaven in the Clouds

Christ’s Coming From Heaven in the Clouds Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart Series: Belgic Confession 37 Scripture: Matthew 24:21-31

THE LAST JUDGMENT

Finally, we believe, according to the Word of God, when the time appointed by the Lord (which is unknown to all creatures) is come, and the number of the elect complete, that our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, corporally and visibly, as He ascended, with great glory and majesty to declare Himself Judge of the quick and the dead, burning this old world with fire and flame to cleanse it …

Dean Davis: “[Christ’s coming] is the hub, the central element of the Consummation, the core eschatological event that brings all the others to pass in quick succession” (The High King of Heaven [Enumclaw, WA: Redemption Press, 2014], p. 596).

Prof. David J. Engelsma: “That Jesus will return on or with the clouds (Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Rev. 1:7) is often misunderstood, as though this were a general description of the manifestation of his glory at his return. The clouds then are more or less ordinary clouds. The reference, however, is to a special cloud, thus signifying a particular glory. The clouds are the effulgence of the special cloud that in the Old Testament rested upon the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-48); that led Israel through the desert (13:21); and that rested upon the mercy seat in the tabernacle (Lev. 16:2). It is the bright cloud that overshadowed Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the mountain and out of which the voice of God sounded, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him’ (Matt. 17:5). This cloud is special. It is the cloud that is the shining forth of the glorious being of God himself. It is the presence of God with his people in the most visible manifestation of this awesome being possible for humans, other than his presence in Jesus, of course. As names by an extra-biblical source, it is the ‘Shekinah-cloud.’ That Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven therefore signifies as Jesus himself explained, that he comes ‘with power and great glory’ (Matt 24:30). That power and great glory will be the power and glory of God himself in the fullest manifestation of the divine power and glory possible to humans. Jesus’ coming is a coming with this power and glory; on this power and glory; attended by this power and glory” (The Church’s Hope: The Reformed Doctrine of the End, vol. 2, “The Coming of Christ” [Jenison, MI: RFPA, 2022], p. 106).