SECTION TWO I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD
ARTICLE 7 "FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAlN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD"
I. He Will Come Again in Glory
Christ already reigns through the Church. . .
668 "Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the
dead and of the living."548 Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his
participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus
Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is
"far above all rule and authority and power and dominion", for the
Father "has put all things under his feet."549 Christ is Lord of the
cosmos and of history. In him human history and indeed all creation
are "set forth" and transcendently fulfilled.550
669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body.551
Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished
his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. the redemption is
the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit,
exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ (is) already present
in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the
kingdom".552
670 Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfilment. We
are already at "the last hour".553 "Already the final age of the world is
with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is
even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is
endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect."554 Christ's
kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs
that attend its proclamation by the Church.555
. . . until all things are subjected to him
671 Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is
nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the
King's return to earth.556 This reign is still under attack by the evil
powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's
Passover.557 Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized
new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim
Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this
present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she
herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet
and await the revelation of the sons of God."558 That is why
Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by
saying to him:559 Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"560
672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet
come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited
by Israel561 which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the
definitive order of justice, love and peace.562 According to the Lord,
the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time
still marked by "distress" and the trial of evil which does not spare the
Church563 and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of
waiting and watching.564
The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel
673 Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been
imminent,565 even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons
which the Father has fixed by his own authority."566. This
eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if
both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed".567
674 The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of
history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come
upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus.568 St. Peter says
to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn
again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may
come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ
appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for
establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from
of old."569 St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the
reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life
from the dead?"570 The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's
salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles",571 will
enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all".572
The Church's ultimate trial
675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a
final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.573 The
persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth574 will unveil
the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering
men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy
from the truth. the supreme religious deception is that of the
Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in
place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.575
676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the
world every time the claim is made to realize within history that
messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the
eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified
forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of
millenarianism,576 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form
of a secular messianism.577
677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this
final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and
Resurrection.578 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic
triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by
God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his
Bride to come down from heaven.579 God's triumph over the revolt of
evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic
upheaval of this passing world.580
II. To Judge the Living and the Dead
678 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus
announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching.581 Then
will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to
light.582 Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of
God's grace as nothing be condemned.583 Our attitude to our
neighbour will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine
love.584 On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did
it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."585
679 Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive
judgement on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer
of the world. He "acquired" this right by his cross. the Father has given
"all judgement to the Son".586 Yet the Son did not come to judge, but
to save and to give the life he has in himself.587 By rejecting grace in
this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works,
and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of
love.588
IN BRIEF
680 Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the
things of this world are not yet subjected to him. the triumph of
Christ's kingdom will not come about without one last assault by the
powers of evil.
681 On Judgement Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in
glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the
wheat and the tares, have grown up together in the course of history.
682 When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the
dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and
will render to each man according to his works, and according to his
acceptance or refusal of grace.
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