作者： Kim Riddlebarger 译者：寇正华
在圣经的整个救赎历史进程的叙事中，对我们这堕落之族的拯救经历了很多迂回曲折。但当我们翻到故事的最后的篇章，这故事到达了一个荣耀的终结。确实有一个日子，一切不公将被匡正，人类的一切痛苦将会停止，并且我们眼中的每一滴泪水都将被擦去。新约圣经对未来的热切期盼是，有一天，我们神圣的主耶稣将突然从天降临，使死人复活，审判众人，并且通过除去人类罪恶的所有痕迹而更新天地。在启示录21:3-4中，约翰使我们想起主的再来是神恩约应许的顶峰：“我听见有大声音从宝座出来说：‘看哪，神的帐幕在人间。他要与人同住，他们要作他的子民。神要亲自与他们同在，作他们的神。神要擦去他们一切的眼泪；不再有死亡，也不再有悲哀、哭号、疼痛，因为以前的事都过去了。’”这正是每个圣徒渴想的荣耀之日——主的再来之日。
然而对不认识耶稣的人来说，主的再来却是令他们惊惧的日子。这将是能想像到的最可怕之日。在启示录6:15-17中，约翰以神的忿怒彰显的角度来描述这日：“地上的君王、臣宰、将军、富户、壮士，和一切为奴的、自主的，都藏在山洞和岩石穴里，向山和岩石说：“倒在我们身上吧！把我们藏起来，躲避坐宝座者的面目和羔羊的忿怒；因为他们忿怒的大日到了，谁能站得住呢？” 那些不属基督的、没有在羔羊宝血中被洗净的、没有披戴他的义的人，将在审判之日面对神全然的烈怒。”
圣经教导我们，当时候的末了耶稣再来时，将同时发生三件不同但相关的事。第一件事是死人复活（但12:1-4；赛25:6-9）——包括那些将在基督面前蒙福活到永远的人（帖前4:13-5:11；林前15：12-58），以及那些将进入永恒审判的人（帖后1:6，8-9；启20:11-14）。第二件事和死人复活密切相关，并且这对信徒和不信之人一样都是最终的审判（太13:36-43; 25:31-46）。第三件事就是新天新地的创造（罗8:21；彼后3:10）。
旧约先知曾预言人类历史将会进入普遍的死人复活的结局。在但以理书12:2中，先知宣告：“睡在尘埃中的，必有多人复醒。其中有得永生的，有受羞辱永远被憎恶的。”以赛亚说到这日时提到弥赛亚的宴席（赛25:6-9）。万军之耶和华“必为万民用肥甘设摆筵席，用陈酒和满髓的肥甘，并澄清的陈酒，设摆筵席。他又必在这山上除灭遮盖万民之物和遮蔽万国蒙脸的帕子。他已经吞灭死亡直到永远。主耶和华必擦去各人脸上的眼泪，又除掉普天下他百姓的羞辱。”保罗采用这个背景的这些经文向哥林多人讲明身体复活的本质和盼望（林前15:50-55）。“弟兄们，我告诉你们说，血肉之体不能承受神的国，必朽坏的不能承受不朽坏的。我如今把一件奥秘的事告诉你们：我们不是都要睡觉，乃是都要改变，就在一霎时，眨眼之间，号筒末次吹响的时候。因号筒要响，死人要复活成为不朽坏的，我们也要改变。这必朽坏的总要变成（变成：原文作穿；下同）不朽坏的，这必死的总要变成不死的。这必朽坏的既变成不朽坏的，这必死的既变成不死的，那时经上所记‘死被得胜吞灭’的话就应验了。‘死啊！你得胜的权势在哪里？死啊！你的毒钩在哪里？’”
关于最终的审判将在主耶稣再临时到来，有众多经文清楚地支持。在给帖撒罗尼迦人的第二封信中，保罗写道：“那时，主耶稣同他有能力的天使从天上在火焰中显现，要报应那不认识神和那不听从我主耶稣福音的人。他们要受刑罚，就是永远沉沦，离开主的面和他权能的荣光。这正是主降临、要在他圣徒的身上得荣耀，又在一切信的人身上显为希奇的那日子”（帖后1:6-9）。在马太福音13:39b-43中，当解释稗子的比喻时，耶稣宣告“收割的时候就是世界的末了；收割的人就是天使。将稗子薅出来用火焚烧，世界的末了也要如此。人子要差遣使者，把一切叫人跌倒的和作恶的，从他国里挑出来，丢在火炉里；在那里必要哀哭切齿了。那时，义人在他们父的国里，要发出光来，像太阳一样。” 当我们的主再来、死人复活的时候，审判就到来了。
但此时也会发生另外一件颇具戏剧性的事件。在彼得后书第3章中，我们读到“在末世必有好讥诮的人随从自己的私欲出来讥诮说：‘主要降临的应许在哪里呢？因为从列祖睡了以来，万物与起初创造的时候仍是一样。’他们故意忘记，从太古，凭神的命有了天，并从水而出、藉水而成的地。故此，当时的世界被水淹没就消灭了。但现在的天地还是凭着那命存留，直留到不敬虔之人受审判遭沉沦的日子，用火焚烧。亲爱的弟兄啊，有一件事你们不可忘记，就是主看一日如千年，千年如一日。主所应许的尚未成就，有人以为他是耽延，其实不是耽延，乃是宽容你们，不愿有一人沉沦，乃愿人人都悔改。但主的日子要像贼来到一样。那日，天必大有响声废去，有形质的都要被烈火销化，地和其上的物都要烧尽了。” 根据使徒彼得所言，当主耶稣再临时，自然秩序将彻底改变，并且人类罪污的所有痕迹都将从地上洗除。死人复活，全地受审判，被造物被更新。
因此，当耶稣在末日再临时，他使死人复活，审判世界，并且将万物更新——同时发生三件不同但相关的事件。这就是为什么使徒时代的教会彼此安慰时会用祝福语“Maranatha”（“主必要来！”林前16:22），还有我们的主向他的百姓亲自应许的安慰的话“你们就当挺身昂首，因为你们得赎的日子近了”（路21:28）。
Basics of the Reformed Faith:
The Second Coming
Kim Riddlebarger
The biblical
account of the redemption of our fallen race takes many twists and turns
throughout the course of redemptive history.
But the story comes to a glorious resolution when we come to the final
chapter of the story. There is indeed
coming a day when all injustices will be made right, all human suffering will
cease, and when every tear will be wiped from our eyes. The great hope of the New Testament for the
future is that one day our blessed Lord Jesus will suddenly return from heaven
to earth to raise the dead, judge all men and women, and renew the heavens and
earth by removing every hint and trace of human sin. In Revelation 21:3-4, John reminds us that
the Lord’s return is the culmination of God’s gracious covenant promise: “And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, `Behold, the dwelling place of God
is with man. He will dwell with them,
and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their
God. He will wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor
crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” This is that glorious day for which every
believer longs–the day of Christ’s return.
Yet
for those who know not Christ, the Lord’s return is a day to be feared. It will be the most terrible day
imaginable. In Revelation 6:15-17, John
describes this day in terms of the manifestation of God’s wrath: “Then the
kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the
powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among
the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, `Fall on us and
hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of
the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Those who are not Christ’s, who are not
washed in the blood of the lamb, nor clothed with his righteousness, will face
the full fury of God’s wrath on the day of judgment.
The
Bible teaches that when Jesus returns at the end of the age, three distinct yet
related events occur simultaneously. The
first event is the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:1-4; Isaiah
25:6-9)–including both those who will live forever blessed in the presence of
Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58), and those who will
enter into eternal judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6, 8-9; Revelation
20:11-14). The second event is closely
related to the resurrection of the dead, and this is the final judgment of
believers and unbelievers alike (Matthew 13:36-43; 25:31-46). The third event is the creation of a new
heaven and earth (Romans 8:21; 2 Peter 3:10).
The
Old Testament prophets foretold that human history would come to an end with a
universal resurrection of the dead. In
Daniel 12:2, the prophet declares, “many of those who sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt.” Isaiah speaks of this day in
terms of a great messianic feast (Isaiah 25:6-9). God “will swallow up on this mountain the
covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all
nations. He will swallow up death
forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach
of his people he will take away from all the earth.” With these texts in the background, Paul
informs the Corinthians of the nature and the hope of the resurrection of the
body (1 Corinthians 15:50-55). “I tell
you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does
the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Behold! I tell you a
mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the
imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable,
and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is
written: `Death is swallowed up in victory.’ `O death, where is your
victory? O death, where is your sting?’”
That
the final judgment occurs at the time when Jesus returns is clear from a number
of texts. In his second letter to the
Thessalonians, Paul writes that “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do
not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They
will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be
glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2
Thessalonians 1:6-9). In Matthew 13:39b-43,
when explaining the parable of the weeds, Jesus declares, “the harvest is the
end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at
the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather
out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into
the fiery furnace. In that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father.” Judgment occurs when the dead
are raised at that time when our Lord returns.
But
there is another dramatic event which occurs at this time as well. In 2 Peter 3, we read, “scoffers will come in
the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, `Where is the promise of his
coming? For ever since the fathers fell
asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of
creation.’ For they deliberately
overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed
out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these
the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth
that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and
destruction of the ungodly. But do not
overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance. But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it will be exposed.”
According to the apostle Peter, when Jesus returns the natural order
will be radically changed, and all traces of the stain of human sin will be
purged from the earth. The dead are
raised, all are judged, and creation is renewed.
Therefore,
when Jesus returns on the last day, he raises the dead, judges the world, and
makes all things new–three distinct but related events all of which occur at
the same time. This is why the apostolic
church comforted one another with this benediction, “Maranatha” (“our Lord
come”–1 Corinthians 16:22) as well as with our Lord’s own comforting words of
promise to his people, “look up, your
redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).