Aim to understand the mission of the Messiah
Aim
a) to understand the mission of the Messiah
b) to understand how, when and where the Second Coming will take place
Materials
* Outline of the Principle Level 4. chapter 16 – The Second Coming
* Bible verses about Jesus the second coming
* children’s worksheet
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. When will Christ return?
3. How will Christ return?
4. Where will Christ return?
5. Worksheet
6. Conclusion
7. Prayer
1) Introduction
* 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.
Jesus spoke about the Second Coming many times (Mt.16:26). Many Christians are waiting . We know Father is the Messiah. But how do we do we know? We need to be able to explain why he is the one. The are three questions we need to answer. When, how and where will he return?
WHEN – Many believe now is the time. People have claimed they are the chosen one
HOW – Many Christians expect him to come on the clouds
WHERE – Many expect him to come to Israel
2) When Will Christ Return?
Jesus clearly told of his return and Christians have been expecting his return. But the Messiah can only come when a foundation for the Messiah has been made. This means a chosen nation must make a Foundation of Faith and Substance.
From the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the chosen nation of Israel was formed. It took 2,000 years before God’s people were finally prepared. But Israel failed to accept Jesus when he came. This meant the 2,000 years preparation was completely lost and Israel could no longer be the chosen nation.
God chose Christianity to be the Second Israel. In order to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ, Christianity had to restore the lost 2,000 years by making a new foundation. As a result the history of Israel and Christianity have many parallels. By studying them, we can see that today is the time when Christ will return.
3) How Will Christ Return?
We can learn from:
A. Elijah’s second coming
B. The Messiah’s first coming.
C. Jesus’ words
A. ELIJAH’S 2ND COMING
He was a great prophet whose mission was to prepare the Jews to receive the Messiah. At the end of his life he went to heaven in a chariot of fire.
“Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (11Kings 2:11)
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 descend from heaven. Yet, Jesus said that John the Baptist, who was born on earth, was Elijah.
John wasn’t Elijah himself, but had the same mission as Elijah
*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
B. MESSIAH’S 1ST COMING
There are two opposite prophecies about the coming of the Messiah.
1) Daniel 7:13 says that the messiah 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…”
2) 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, What did the people expect? The Messiah would come on the clouds. That’s one reason they could not accept Jesus as the Messiah
Why? People believed Daniel was a great prophets, and they believed it was possible What happened? He was born on the earth
C. JESUS’ WORDS
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
Because of Jesus’ words, many Christians today believe Jesus himself will return on the clouds of heaven. Why did he say this?
* Jesus wanted to give hope to Christians, to help them during the terrible persecution
* If Jesus had made it clear that Christ would be born on earth too may people would be claiming they were the Messiah.
2) But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Luke 17:25
3) When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth? Luke 18:8
4) The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed Luke 17:20
5) As it was in the days of Noah so will it be in the days of the Son of man Luke 17:26
*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
4) Where Will Christ Return?
A. WILL IT BE ISRAEL AGAIN? No
In the parable of the wicked tenants (Mat 21:41-43) Jesus answers the question:
”Therefore I tell you the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.
“There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
1. The owner of the vineyard represents God
2. The vineyard is the work of God to accomplish His ideal
3. The tenants are the chosen nation of Israel
4. The servants are the prophets of God
5. The owner’s son is Jesus
6. The nation producing the fruits is the nation that will receive the Secong Coming. The Israelites lost their status as the chosen nation because of their lack of faith. The word Israel means “He who has strived with God.” The chosen nation must be people of faith, not just descendants of Israel.
B. WHICH PART OF THE WORLD? The East
The Book of Revelation 7:2 indicates where Christ will return:
”Then, I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun
C. WHICH COUNTRY IS QUALIFIED? Korea
* It cannot be China or Japan. China is a Communist country and Japan persecuted Korean Christianity
* There are 5 reasons why Korea is the chosen nation
1) Have experiences similar to God.
Because God has been a suffering God. the chosen nation must have experienced suffering. Korea has been invaded many times in its 5,000 year history, but has never once invaded another country.
2) Many Religions
The Meesiah comes to fulfill the purpose of all major religions. Koreans are a very religious people, where many different religions have flourished.
3) Front line of both God and Satan,
The nation must be on the front line of both God and Satan, where good and evil confront each other. Korea is divided on the 38th parallel between the communist North and democratic South,
4) Indemnity period to receive the Messiah
The Israelites separated from Satan by suffering for 400 years in Egypt. The early Christians suffered persecution for 400 years under the Roman Empire. Korea suffered for 40 years from 1905 to 1945 under Japanese rule.
5) History of Messianic Prophecies
Just as Israel knew through the prophets knew that the Messiah would come, Korean people have waited for 500 years they through their book of prophecy, Chung-Gam-Nok. And many spiritually gifted people have received revelations that the Second Coming will be in Korea.
5) Complete the Worksheet
6) Conclusion
To conclude ask each person what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims:
a) 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
b) to understand how, when and where the Second Coming will take place
When – today
How – born on earth, a new person with the same mission as Jesus
Where – Korea
7) End with a Prayer