Aim to understand how Christ will return
Aim
a) to understand how Christ will return
b) to understand the mission of the Messiah
Materials
* Outline of the Principle Level 4. chapter 16 – The Second Coming
* visual aids: Jesus & John the Baptist, Jesus’ birth, Christ on the clouds, Jesus seated
* Bible verses about Jesus the second coming
* children’s worksheet
Lesson Outline
1. Review the last lesson
2. The 2nd Coming of Elijah
3. The 1st Coming of the Messiah
4. Jesus’ Words
5. Worksheet
6. Conclusion
7. Prayer
1) Review the last lesson
* Why does Christ need to return?
Jesus only gave spiritual salvation. A new Messiah is needed to give full salvation.
* Christians have been waiting for 2,000 years for Christ to return. The second advent has already taken place through True Father, but most Christians don’t realize it. Why is that? It is because they don’t have the correct understanding. By studying the Principle we can clearly understand how Christ will return.
2) The 2nd Coming of Elijah
The second coming of Elijah, is the clearest example to explain how Christ will come again.
Who was Elijah? He was a great prophet from the Old Testament whose mission was to prepare the Jews to receive the Messiah. At the end of his life it is recorded that he went to heaven in a chariot of fire.
“Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (11Kings 2:11)
Show the picture of Elijah
Through the prophet Malachi, God promised to send Elijah again, before the coming of the Messiah Because Elijah had gone into heaven in a chariot of fire, the people believed that Elijah would
surely descend from heaven. Yet, Jesus clearly declared that John the Baptist, who was born on earth, was Elijah.
Show the picture of John the Baptist
However, that does not mean that Elijah, himself, was born again as John the Baptist. Elijah was in the spirit world, helping John the Baptist, who was on earth, since John was born with the same mission. So, although the mission was the same, the person was different. Through this, we can understand that the Second Coming might possible take place by the Lord’s being born on earth. We can also understand that though at the Second Coming, the Lord, as the Messiah, will have the same mission as Jesus, he may not have the same appearance as Jesus What did the people expect to happen? Elijah would come down from heaven
Why? People thought he would come down in the same way that he left
What happened? Elijah was born on earth as John the Baptist He was a different person, with the same mission
3) The 1st Coming of the Messiah
In the Old Testament, we find two contradictory prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah.
In Daniel 7:13, we find the prophecy that the Lord would come on the clouds:
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man…”
Show the picture of Christ on the clouds
However, the prophet Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2).
“But you, Bethlehem……out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
Show the picture of baby Jesus
Which of these contradictory prophecies did the Israelites believe?
Knowing the influence of the two prophets Daniel and Micah on the Israelites, and knowing that the Israelites had great faith in God, we know that they were waiting for the Messiah to come from heaven. That’s one reason they could not accept Jeseus as the Messiah
What did the people expect? The Messiah would come on the clouds
Why? People believed Daniel was a great prophets, and they believed it was possible
What happened? He was born on the earth
4) Jesus’ Words
We can learn about the Second of Christ from Jesus’ words.
Show the picture of Jesus
1) They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call (Matt. 24:30-31)
Show the picture of Christ on the clouds
Because Jesus said the Son of Man will come on the clouds, many Christians today believe Jesus himself will return on the clouds of heaven.
2) But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.(Luke 17:25)
If Jesus came on the clouds, why would he suffer or be persecuted.. He would only suffer if he was born on earth and not recognized.
3) Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed,(Luke 17:20)
If there are no signs of his arrival, he could be born as a baby and nobody would notice him.
4)When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8)
If Jesus came on the clouds no one would doubt who he was, but Jesus asked if there would be any faith when Christ comes you don’t need faith if everyone can see him on a cloud.
Based upon what Jesus said it, Christ will not come on the clouds? So why did Jesus say he would
There are two reasons:
1) Jesus wanted to give hope to Christians, to help them during the terrible persecution
2) If Jesus had made it clear that Christ would be born on earth too may people would be claiming they were the Messiah. God would reveal the truth when the time is right. The explanation of the Principle gives the correct understanding. The second coming of Christ will be a new person born on earth, who has the same mission as Jesus, who comes to complete what Jesus couldn’t finish.
What is the Messiah’s mission?
a)God’s purpose in creating Adam and Even was to be fulfilled through their fulfilling the Three Blessings on earth. In other words, they were to perfect themselves as ideal individuals, become true parents, who are the origin of the ideal family, and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
Then, as God’s representatives, they were to rule the Creation in love. However, because they fell, they could not become the True Parents and they created an evil world.
Jesus, who came as the Second Adam , was to transform this world into the ideal world that had been planned at the time of creation. Since God’s Three Blessings still remain unfulfilled, even after the dispensation for salvation through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the Messiah, the sinless Third Adam, must come to fulfill god’s Purpose for the Creation.
What do Christians expect? Jesus to come on the clouds
What will happen? A new person with the same mission as Jesus will be born on earth.
What is the mission of the Messiah?
– He comes to complete the mission of the first and second Adam
– He must fulfill the three Blessings
– Give full salvation to people
– Build the Kingdom of Heaven
5) Complete Worksheet
6) Conclusion
To conclude ask each person what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims:
a) to understand how Christ will return
– We can learn from Elijah’s second coming and the Messiah’s first coming. They were born on earth. They didn’t come on the clouds
b) to understand the mission of the Messiah
– He comes to complete the mission of the first and second Adam
– He must fulfill the three Blessings
– Give full salvation to people
– Build the Kingdom of Heaven
7) End with a Prayer
