👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽The Day of #Repentance: The #Second #Coming of #Christ and the #Final #Judgment
Part 1
Beloved brethren, seekers of truth and followers of the Holy Orthodox faith, we greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today, let us turn our hearts to a most solemn and awe-inspiring teaching the Day of Repentance, which is the Second Coming of our Lord, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment. This day is the fulfillment of all things, the hour when divine justice will be revealed, and the righteous will be separated from the wicked. Let us, therefore, approach this teaching with reverence, that we may be found ready when the day arrives.
The Second Coming of Christ: A Day of Glory and Judgment
The Holy Scriptures and the teachings of our Lord make it abundantly clear: Christ shall return in power and great glory. This is not a hidden event, nor one seen by a select few, but a universal revelation where every eye shall witness His coming.
“For as the lightning comes from the east and shines even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:27)
In that hour, the Son of Man will descend upon the clouds, surrounded by the host of angels, to judge the living and the dead. The prophetically spoken and long-awaited moment shall come to pass, and none shall escape His gaze.
“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30)
Who shall stand on that day? The faithful shall rejoice, for their hope has been fulfilled, but the wicked shall tremble, for judgment is at hand.
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward everyone according to their deeds.” (Matthew 16:27)
Yet, though the promise is sure, the hour remains hidden. Not the angels, nor even the Son in His humanity, but only the Father knows the appointed time. This is not for our curiosity, but to keep us ever-watchful, lest we be caught unprepared.
“But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36)
As it was in the days of Noah when men lived carelessly until the flood came upon them so it shall be at Christ’s return. The world will be taken unaware, and the door of repentance shall be shut forever.
The Resurrection of the Dead: The Triumph Over the Grave
When Christ descends in glory, all the dead shall rise both the righteous and the wicked. This is no mere reawakening of perishable bodies but the transformation into imperishable, eternal forms. The Archangel Michael shall sound the divine trumpet, and at the command of the Lord, the graves shall be emptied.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
There shall be three blasts of the trumpet:
1. The first shall awaken those who perished in disaster the devoured, the drowned, the forgotten.
2. The second shall call forth the great and small, the rulers and the beggars, the saints and the sinners.
3. The third shall summon even the unborn, for nothing is hidden from the divine summons.
And behold, in that resurrection, men shall not rise in their old infirmities, nor in the frailty of the flesh, but in the fullness of their prime women at fifteen, men at thirty for that is the state of perfect human strength.
“The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53)
The Final Judgment: The Divine Reckoning
When all have risen, the Great Judgment shall begin. Every soul shall stand before the throne of Christ, and the books shall be opened the book of life and the record of every deed, word, and thought.
“Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
Continues 👇🏽