By Arthur J Licursi

We as grace-age Bible believers believe “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2Tim. 3:16). But we must be careful to distinguish between two different words used by God when speaking of the eternal hope of God’s two different Biblical people groups of God.

1. The believers of the Nation Israel and their Gentile proselytes were looking to resurrect at Christ’s 2nd ‘coming,’ to be ‘present’ on earth.

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his [2^nd] coming [Gk. parousia, his presence].” 1 Corinthians 15:23 (KJV)

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air [atmosphere, sky]: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thes. 4:17

2. The “saints” and “the faithful” members of the Gentile “body of Christ” are looking to “appear with Him in [heaven’s] glory,” when He appears “in the heavenly places.”

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing [Gk. the ‘epiphaneia’] of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)

^“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [the verb, Gk. phaneroo, appear, be manifested], then shall ye also appear [verb, Gk. phaneroo, appear, be manifested], With Him in [heaven’s] glory.” Colossians 3:4 (KJV)

Let’s consider these three key Greek words;

I. ‘Parousia’ is a word which is derived from para, ‘nearby,’ and ousa, ‘being;’ and invariably means the personal appearance or arrival of someone. It occurs twenty-four times in the New Testament.

II. ‘Epiphaneia’ [noun] is a word which in derived from epi, ‘upon,’ and phaino, ‘to make light, let shine, throw light upon’; and it means appearance, manifestation, shining upon; and is used six times in the NT.

The verb for Epiphaneia is ‘Phaneroo,’ meaning to appear or ‘be manifested,’ This is used in Colossians 3:4; as well as 1 Peter 5:4; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; referring to His two literal appearings to come; 1^st will be His ‘appearing in heaven’ (Col. 3;4) and later in He will ‘appears’ in His 2^nd coming on earth.

III. Apokalupsis (Strongs 602) can refer to both the revelation of God’s word (e.g. Rom. 16:25), the “revelation of the mystery [secret]” and of Jesus Christ at His second coming. This word is derived from apo, ‘away from,’ and kalupto, ‘to hide,’ – away from hiding, the exact opposite of hiding; it means, uncovering, unveiling, revealing. When used of a person, it always denotes their ‘actual appearance.’

So, there are these words that are specially made use of by the Holy Spirit to describe the personal presence and the appearing of the Lord both in heaven and later, on earth. These words are Parousia, Epiphaneia, and Apokalupsis, Phaneroo.

Colossians 3:4 uses phaneroo, meaning to ‘appear.’ This will be of Christ’s shining and our sudden ‘appearing with Him’ as “the body of Christ” in ‘spiritual union’ with Christ as its “the Head” of the body, seen in [heaven’s, cf. Col. 3:1] glory.

These above represent these two “hopes” that are quite different;

• His ‘Parousia’ concerns Christ’s 2^nd ‘literal COMING’ to earth to save and bless Israel’s believing remnant in the Millennial kingdom on earth.
• His ‘phaneroo’ concerns “the body of Christ” GOING to heaven to “appear with Him in glory.”

We need to recognize the substantive difference here, which is seen in these two different Greek words, 1) ‘parousia,’ and 2) ‘phaneroo.’

Note that the Greek word ‘parousia,’ is usually translated ‘coming,’ most often speaking of ‘Christ’s 2^nd ‘coming’ to earth,’ as found in passages such as these:

“What shall be the sign of Thy COMING [Gk. parousia], and of the end of the world [age]?” (Matt. 24:3).

“The COMING of the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15).

“The COMING of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:1).

“They that are Christ’s, at His COMING” (1 Cor. 15:23).

“The COMING of the Lord draweth nigh” (Jas. 5:8).

“The promise of His COMING” (2 Pet. 3:4).

“Not be ashamed before Him at His COMING” (1 John 2:28).

1. ‘Parousia’ - The instances listed above concern Israel’s hope, looking for the literal ‘presence’ [parousia] of Christ on earth. It’s usually translated as “the coming.” “His coming.” The prophesied 2^nd ‘coming’ of Christ to earth speaks of His ‘parousia,’ the visible, literal, ‘presence’ of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. He will come again at the end of the Tribulation period to save Israel’s believing remnant and set up His Millennial kingdom on the earth.

2. ‘Phaneroo’ - By contrast, the Lord’s appearing is His “epiphaneia or Manifestation,” in the “FAR ABOVE” HEAVEN. The Lord is to “appear” and be seen by and with “the faithful” members of “the body of Christ” in the Far above “heaven of heavens.” With that, the Gentile members of “His body” will simply “APPEAR WITH HIM IN [heaven’s] GLORY” (Col. 3:4), “FAR ABOVE”

^“When Christ, who is our life, shall APPEAR, then shall ye also APPEAR with him in [heaven’s] glory.” Col. 3:4

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in The Heavenly Places, ²¹FAR ABOVE all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:” (Eph. 1:20-21)

So, the Greek word ‘parousia’ [His presence] is used to describe the hope of the Judeo-Christian believing “little flock” (Luke 12:32) as the Church of ISRAEL that was hoped for During The Period Of The Acts while it was still in view.

We find ‘parousia’ used most often in the Gospel of Matthew and by Jesus, and Peter, James, and John, as ministers of the circumcision [Israel], and in Paul’s Acts Period epistles written BEFORE the dispensational change of Acts 28:28.

But after Acts 28:28 Paul’s focus and his epistles cease to be centered upon Israel, turning then to the Gentiles; Paul being “the Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13). Thus, we never find mention of “His coming” in Paul’s POST-Acts epistles in reference to His 2^nd coming to earth. In these epistles. Rather, Paul is looking for His appearing in heaven with Christ. This “appearing” is our “blessed hope.” (Titus 2:13)

“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in [heaven’s] glory.” Col. 3:4
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)

But “His COMING [parousia]” to Israel is still DELAYED (cf. Rom. 11:25) while the present Post-Acts “fellowship [administration] of the Mystery” of the Gentile “body of Christ” is ongoing Today. The “revelation of the mystery [secret]” of “the body of Christ” was added and inserted into God’s timeline … but it was always in God’s plan and “kept hid in God.”  Paul’s Post-Acts ministry was

“… to make all men [all races] see what is the fellowship [administration/dispensation] of the mystery [God’s secret plan for the Gentile “body of Christ”]” which from the beginning of the world Hath Been HID In God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:” (Eph. 3:9).

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery [secret], lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Romans 11:25 (KJV)

Christ’s personal arrival on earth to save Israel’s believing remnant, with her Gentile proselytes of the Tribulation period, and set up His long-promised earthly kingdom is YET FUTURE. This is because today’s dispensational age of “the Mystery [secret]” of the Gentile “church, which is His body,” though planned “from before the foundation of the world began” (Eph. 1:4), was inserted into God’s timeline after ‘Israel fell,’ was “blinded” and “cast away” for a time (cf. Rom. 11:10-11, 15, 25, Acts 28:28).

“For I [Paul] would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery [Gk. musterion, secret], lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles [the ‘body of Christ’] be come in.” Romans 11:25 (KJV)

With their “fall” (Rom. 11:12), Israel’s Kingdom hope was then Set Aside, Temporarily, Until after the Gentile “body of Christ” is Filled Full and removed from planet earth to “appear with Him in [heaven’s] glory” (Col. 3:4).

So, in contrast with ‘parousia,’ we have the Greek word, ‘phaneroo.’ It is almost exclusively used in Paul’s POST-Acts Prison Epistles concerning the hope of the members of the Gentile, “the body of Christ,” who will next “APPEAR with Him in ‘heaven’s] Glory.”

Now let us draw another comparison between these Pre-Acts 28 and Post-Acts 28 verses;

• Pre-Acts 28:28:  In the Paul Acts period epistles we have 1Thessalonians 4:17-18 the “the Lord DESCENDS from heaven”; and in 2Thessalonians 1:7-9 “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.”
• Post-Acts 28: This verse is very different from Paul Pre-Acts 28:28 epistles. It is in Paul’s Post-Acts epistle to the Colossians where we see The Lord is prophesied to simply ‘appear,’ being seen ‘in glory’, i.e. where Christ now sits “on the right hand of God.”

“When Christ, who is our life, shall ‘appear,’ then shall ye [the members of His body] also ‘appear’ with him In Glory.” Colossians 3:4 (KJV)

There is a hope for all the companies of the redeemed of all ages but these two appearances of Christ demonstrate a great contrast as applies to us today.

• The “hope” of the Acts Period Epistles, and Messianic believers (Jews and Gentiles) was for the Lord’s “COMING” to earth to set up His long-promised kingdom “on earth.”
• But today’s “hope” for the members of “the Mystery [secreted]” “body of Christ” is that ‘we are ‘GOING’ to heaven to be “manifested,” “appearing with Him in glory,” “far above” all heavens (Eph. 4:10).

Paul’s epistle to Titus is also POST-Acts but not a ‘Prison Epistle,’ yet it also belongs to the same Post-Acts epistle group as do 1^st and 2^nd Timothy. There, too, we read that we of His Gentile “Body” should live… in anticipation of heaven. We are not waiting for ‘His coming,’ but rather Looking For His And Our Appearing In Heaven.

“looking for that BLESSED HOPE, and the GLORIOUS APPEARING of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

“When Christ, who is our life, shall APPEAR, then shall ye [the members of His body] also APPEAR With Him In [heaven’s] Glory.” Colossians 3:4 (KJV)

Thus, we of “His body” (the body of Christ”) will go up to dwell and serve our “Head” “in the heavenly places” forever.

Comparing “Meet the Lord in the Air” and “Appear With Him in Glory”

Paul’s ACTS PERIOD epistles support ISRAEL’S Resurrection to “Meet the Lord in the Air [Gk. aer, atmosphere, not heaven]” … as compared with…

Paul’s POST-ACTS writings concerning a resurrection of the GENTILE “Body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12) which is to “Appear With Him” as the “Head” of “His Body” (Eph. 1:23, 4:15) “In [Heaven’s] Glory” (Col. 3:4).

1. Jesus’ words here below agree with Paul’s words below concerning Israel’s Resurrection ‘To Meet in the air (Gk. aer, the air, atmosphere, NOT heaven]’ at Christ’s 2^nd Coming to then Return To Earth and set up His kingdom largely agree with Jesus’ ‘prophetic’ words of His 2^nd coming seen in Matt. 24:29-31, Luk. 21:27-28 and others.

JESUS said:

Mat. 24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars [angelic host] shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: ³⁰ And then shall appear [shine] the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven [Gk. ouranos, sky] with power and great glory. ³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect …

Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done IN EARTH, as it is in heaven.

Matthew 25:31-34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: ³² And before him shall be gathered all nations [on earth]: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: ³³ And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation [Gk. katabole, overthrow] of the world [kosmos]:

In Paul’s Acts Period epistles he wrote of Jesus’ 2^nd coming ‘in the cloud’ of ‘the sky’ the “meet” the resurrected elect of Israel… just as Jesus, in Matthew’s Gospels, spoke of His long-promised 2^nd coming (Gk. parousia, literal presence) to save Israel’s believing remnant.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him [with Jesus to the Kingdom on earth]. ¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep [dead].

¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain Shall Be Caught Up Together With Them In The CLOUDS, To Meet The Lord In The AIR [Grk. aer, atmosphere, Not Heaven]: and so shall we [the gospel of the kingdom” believers] ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

2 Thessalonians 1:5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy [Gk. kataxioo, deserving] of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Note: Grace saved believers of this age are not worthy, they are saved upon believing by faith alone:

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.

1 Corinthians 15:51-55 Behold, I shew you a mystery [a secret that]; We shall not all sleep [die], but we [the living] shall all be changed [at His 2^nd coming], ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [the living] shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?

2. Paul’s POST-ACTS epistles concern the heaven-bound Gentile Church of “The Body of Christ” to “APPEAR With Him In [heaven’s] Glory” (Col. 3:1, 4) as the culmination of the “the Revelation of THE MYSTERY” of His “One Body”

Rom. 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY [Secret], which was kept secret since the world began,

Ephesians 5:32 This is a GREAT MYSTERY [secret]: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Philippians 3:20-21, 14 For our conversation [Old English for ‘citizenship’] is in HEAVEN; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ²¹ Who shall Change Our Vile Body, That It May Be Fashioned Like Unto His Glorious [resurrection] Body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself… ¹⁴ I [Paul] press toward the mark [goal] for the prize of the high [above] calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Titus 2:13 Looking for that Blessed Hope, And The Glorious APPEARING of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;)

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who Hath Blessed Us With All Spiritual Blessings In HEAVENLY Places In Christ:

Eph. 1:19-21 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, ²⁰ Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ Far Above all principality, and power, and Might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world [age], but also in that which is to come:

2 Timothy 4:1, 8; 6:14 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at HIS APPEARING and his kingdom; …⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love HIS APPEARING ¹⁴ That thou keep this commandment [instruction] without spot, unrebukeable, until the APPEARING of our Lord Jesus Christ: