The WESTMINSTER LARGER Catechism

WLC 56. How is Christ to be exalted in His coming again to judge the world?

A. Christ is to be exalted in His coming again to judge the world, in that He, who was unjustly judged and condemned by wicked men,1 shall come again at the last day in great power,2 and in the full manifestation of His own glory, and of His Father’s, with all His holy angels,3 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God,4
to judge the world in righteousness.5

Proofs

1Acts 3:14–15; 2Mt 24:30; 3Lk 9:26; Mt 25:31; 41 Thes 4:16; 5Acts 17:31

Comments

Christ’s exaltation began with His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God; but it will culminate in His coming again to judge the world.

This glorious reappearance of our Lord as Judge and King is set against a dark background of His being unfairly judged by the wicked men of the world. While the world gave Him no justice, but wickedly condemned Him to death; the Lord would execute perfect justice by which He would righteously condemn the wicked world and bring an end to it together with all its injustices and rebellions against God (see Acts 17:31).

Four other things, among many others, may be said of Christ’s coming again.

Firstly, He will come at the Last Day. The Scripture distinguishes between the ‘last day’ and the ‘last days’. The ‘last days’ refer to the period between the incarnation of the Lord and His second coming (see Heb 1:2; Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1; Acts 2:17; 2 Tim 3:1; 2 Pet 3:3). On the other hand, the ‘last day’ refer to the day on which Christ will return, at which there will also be a general resurrection and a public judgment with Christ presiding as the Judge (Jn 6:39-40, 44; 11:24; 12:48; Acts 17:31; cf. WLC 87). From that last day onwards, the world with its progress and decline as we know it today would cease.

Secondly, in contrast to the great humiliation and weakness through which the Lord first took on human flesh, He will come with ‘great power’ (see Mt 24:30), "and in the full manifestation of His own glory, and of His Father’s" (Lk 9:26; Mt 25:31). We can only imagine what it means for the Lord to come with great power and glory, but it would certainly imply that unlike the case in His first coming, the Lord would not be limited in anyway. His power and greatness would not be hidden as before, and He would not be subject to ordinary providence common to man. All the inhabitants of the earth and heaven will see Him in His splendour, and will have no doubt concerning His greatness and power.

Thirdly, the Lord will appear "with all His holy angels" (see again Lk 9:26; Mt 25:31). The fact that Christ will come with the holy angels is itself also a manifestation of His great glory. Angels are spirit beings. But it is very probable that at that last day, they will appear visibly in human sight like when the myriad of angels appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem at the time of the Lord’s birth (Lk 2:13). The fact that the Lord would appear with His heavenly host would be a great confirmation of His status as the King of kings and Lord of lords, so that every knee will bow and every tongue confesses that He is Lord.

Fourthly, the Scripture teaches us that the Lord will come with "a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God" (1 Thes 4:16). What is the significance of this great noise at the coming of the Lord? Calvin explains:

As therefore a commander, with the sound of a trumpet, summons his army to battle, so Christ, by his far sounding proclamation, which will be heard throughout the whole world, will summon all the dead. Moses tells us, (Ex 19:16), what loud and terrible sounds were uttered on occasion of the promulgation of the law. Far different will be the commotion then, when not one people merely, but the whole world will be summoned to the tribunal of God. Nor will the living only be convoked, but even the dead will be called forth from their graves. Nay more, a commandment must be given to dry bones and dust that, resuming their former appearance and reunited to the spirit, they come forth straightway as living men into the presence of Christ (comm. on 1 Cor 15:52).

As the trumpet sounded at the proclamation of the Law at mount Sinai, so the trumpet would be sounded again as the world is summoned to the tribunal of God to be judged according to His Law. And who would be sitting at the throne and judgment seat, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the world,—i.e. all men who ever lived from the foundation of the world to the last day,—with perfect righteousness. W