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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Coming
Subjects in this Topic:
( ðáñïõóßá , being present) OF CHRIST, a phrase employed,
(1.) literally, in reference to our Lord's first appearance in the flesh (1Jn_5:20; 2Jn_1:7), or to his future appearance at the last day to fulfill his promises to raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness (Act_1:11; Act_3:20-21; 1Th_4:15; 2Ti_4:1; Heb_9:28).
(2.) Metaphorically, Christ is said to come when his Gospel is introduced or preached in any place by his ministers (Joh_15:22; Eph_2:17); when his church or kingdom is visibly or powerfully established in the world (Mat_16:28); when he bestows upon believers the influence of his spirit, and the peculiar tokens of his love (Joh_14:18; Joh_14:23; Joh_14:28); when he executes his judgment on wicked communities who reject or corrupt his Gospel (2Th_2:8); and when his providence calls us away from the world by death, as preparatory to the judgment of the last day (Mat_24:42). The basis of this metaphorical usage in regard to the coming of Christ is the same as in relation to the coming of God; that as he governs the world, every specific act of his providence and authority indicates his presence in a more striking manner to human conception, on the principle that no agent can act where he is not. See ESCHATOLOGY.