The first coming of Christ and his resurrection ensured that in the present age Christians are already raised with him. Christ’s resurrection from the dead also ensured that we believers will be raised bodily at the end of the age (1 Cor. 15:42–44).

As a result of this basic structure of New Testament eschatology, the apostolic church expected the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, an event that was to be the consummation of all human history. What the Old Testament prophets had predicted came to pass in the person of Jesus, and all the promised blessings under the old covenant were fulfilled by a new and better covenant. The coming of Jesus Christ brought a new eschatological age, which is a deposit guaranteeing a glorious and tumultuous end to this age as we know it. Because our Lord has come once, he will come again and in the same manner in which he went into heaven. Maranatha!

Kim Riddlebarger | A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times, Expanded Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), 81–82.

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Post authored by:

• Tony Phelps

  

  Tony grew up in Rhode Island. He was educated at BA (University of Rhode Island) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He worked in the insurance industry for ten years. He planted a PCA church in Wakefield, RI where he served for eleven years. In 2015–18 he pastored Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) in Colorado Springs. He is currently pastor of Living Hope (OPC). Tony is married to Donna and together they have three children.

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