This twelve-part series outlines the “Vintage Jesus” sermons of Pastor Mark Driscoll. See part 1 here.

Click here to watch the sermon “What Will Jesus Do upon His Return?”

6:35: Jesus is coming back. (Jn. 14:3; Acts 1:11; etc.)

7:51: We don’t know when. (Matt. 24:44, 25:13)

8:49: What pop culture figures say about the Second Coming

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

11:15: Jesus will judge everyone who has ever lived. (Ecc. 12:14; Mt. 12:36-37, 16:27; Jn. 5:22; Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 12:11-13, 22:12)

Hans Memling, The Last Judgment, 1466-73. Oil on panels. National Museum, Gdańsk, Poland.

14:22: There will be different judgments for Christians and non-Christians. 

Both will be judged according to how they lived, but . . .

Non-Christians will be judged to determine what punishments they will receive in hell.

• Different degrees of punishment (Mt. 11:24; Lk. 12:47-48, 20:47; Rom. 2:5-6)
• Even Satan and his demons will be judged by Jesus (Rev. 20:10)

Christians will be judged to determine what rewards they will receive in heaven.

• Different degrees of reward [The Bible nowhere explicitly teaches this doctrine; however, Lk. 19:11-27 and 1 Cor. 3:8, 11-15 are often cited as support]
• The sin of Christians was already judged at the cross—they have been declared “not guilty” by the blood of Christ and thus already have guaranteed admittance into heaven

Justice either came for us on Jesus at the cross or comes on us from Jesus in the end, but either way, justice must be served.

23:08: Christians will sit in authority with Jesus to judge men and demons. (1 Cor. 6:2-3; Mt. 19:28; Lk. 22:30; Rev. 3:21)

On Judgment Day, we will see everything as God sees it. We don’t have his perspective in this life, but we will in the next.

25:24: Jesus will lift the curse and its effects. (Rev. 22:3)

“How much money has been spent to make the world a better place? How many wars have been fought, how many elections have been held, how many petitions have been signed, how many organizations have been started, how many dollars have been given? This is the effort of human history to improve the human condition.” We’re all trying so hard, but the world is not getting any better, because we live in a fallen, sinful, cursed world.

28:44: We’re all victims of the curse, but we’re all also the cursers.

32:03: Don’t you look forward to a world where there are no obituaries, no funerals, no cemeteries, no hospitals, no therapy, no medication, no wheelchairs?

33:35: Everybody wants Jesus but may not know that it’s him they long for.

35:16: Not only will Jesus restore humanity to the way it was supposed to be, he will restore creation too. (Rom. 8:19-21)

Imagine what the world would be like apart from sin. Imagine the New Jerusalem—new rules, new order.

37:33: Improper view of heaven: that we will all be fat little baby angels sitting on fluffy white clouds in diapers and halos. The biblical picture of heaven is Genesis 1 and 2: an earthly kingdom ruled by a perfect king named Jesus.

39:20: Jesus will give Christians glorified, resurrected bodies. (1 Thess. 4:16)

43:42: Jesus will establish a kingdom that extends over all peoples, all places, all times.

Kim Yong Gil (1940-2008), The Secret of Coming Again. Chinese ink coloring on oriental paper, 240 x 480 cm.

The new kingdom will look nothing like the kingdoms of this world—no more ballots, no more campaign finance reform, no more pickets or protests, no more taxes. Just a benevolent, all-knowing, gracious, uncontested Jesus seated on the throne—clean, simple, nice, easy.

For Christians, this world is as bad as it gets; this is as close to hell as we’ll get.

Read part 7.