Once you gain an understanding of the days of Scripture, God’s unfolding eternal plan becomes amazingly clear. These days are not ordinary 24-hour periods but prophetic seasons in which God accomplishes specific stages in His redemptive plan.

Understanding these days helps you to accurately handle the word of truth, 2 Timothy 2:15. They are passages that may appear to speak about the same event, but refer to different prophetic periods.

Three Distinct Biblical Days

These distinct biblical days are one great story that spans the whole of God’s redemptive plan.  Each has a different focus and concerns a different group of people. Each has a different outcome.

A simple timeline looks like this:

• The Day of Christ  – The Church Age brought to its completion. It concerns Christ and His Church. The focus is redemption complete, reward and glorification. In other words, it is justification, sanctification and glorification completed.
• The Day of the Lord – is God’s intervention in judging evil, restoring Israel and establishing Christ’s kingdom on earth.
• The Day of God – The eternal state. God dwells with His redeemed creation in the new heavens and new earth.  The I Am that I Am, Exodus 3:14, is All in All.

Together, the three Days reveal God’s plan from:

• Redemption, to
• Restoration, to
• Consummation.

Day of Christ – Redemption Completed

The expression ‘Day of Christ’ is primarily found in Paul’s writings. It concerns Jesus Christ and His Bride – the true church. It is a day of joy, completion and reward, Philippians 1:6, 1:10, 2:16; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:9,10.

Paul encourages believers to look forward to this day with confidence. It celebrates everything Christ accomplished through His redeeming work at Calvary.  

What happens on the Day of Christ?

This is a day of hope and joyful expectation. It includes:

• The resurrection of believers
• The gathering of the Church to Christ
• The completion of our salvation
• The Judgment Seat of Christ – believers receive rewards, not condemnation
• The presentation of Christ’s Bride in all her glory, without spot or wrinkle, Ephesians 5:27.

This is God’s eternal purpose: Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined…..He also called and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified, Romans 8:29,30.

The Day of the Lord – The World’s Restoration

The Day of the Lord is one of the major prophetic themes throughout both the Old and New Testament. It is a day that focuses on the earth, Zephaniah 1; Isaiah 2; Joel 2; Amos 5; 2 Peter 3.

It is God’s intervention into human history to:

• Judge sin
• Overthrow evil
• Restore Israel and
• Establish Christ’s righteous kingdom.

What Happens During the Day of the Lord?

It is a day to be feared. It is a solemn and awe-inspiring period, marked by:

• Divine judgement on sin and rebellion
• Destruction, Joel 2:1,2; Amos 5:18
• God’s wrath against the nations
• Israel’s restoration
• The return of the glorified Christ
• The establishment of Christ’s millennial kingdom.

The Day of the Lord is coming. Cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation. And He will exterminate its sinners from it, Isaiah 13:9.

It will be a day of clouds. A time of doom for the nations, Ezekiel 30:2, 3. It will come as destruction from the Almighty, Joel 1:15.

Everything opposed to God’s rule is removed so that righteousness can flourish.

Salvation During the Tribulation

Even during this period of judgement, God’s grace remains available. Judgement never cancels God’s mercy toward those who turn to Him.

Multitudes that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language stand before the throne and before the Lamb. These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 7:9,14

They are believers who refuse to bow down and worship the Antichrist. These people weren’t ready when the Bride was taken, but subsequent events confirmed their belief in Christ.

Like a Thief in the Night

Paul writes the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, 1 Thessalonians 5:2.

Christians differ regarding the precise timing of this prophetic event. Some place the gathering of the Church before the Tribulation, others claim it is mid-Tribulation, or even after it. Whatever one’s position, Scripture is clear. God will accomplish everything He has promised in His appointed time, Isaiah 55:11.  

The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout. With the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So, we shall always be with the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

At the close of Christ’s millennial reign, Satan is briefly released for one final rebellion. Then comes the Great White Throne and the final judgement of Satan and his cohorts and all who rejected Christ as their Saviour, Revelation 20.

Day of God – Completion of All Things

The day of God is the final day in God’s eternal plan of redemption and restoration, 2 Peter 3:12. Time has fulfilled its purpose. Judgement has ended forever and eternity begins for the redeemed.  

Peter says in the Day of God:

• There is a new heavens and a new earth
• Righteousness dwells forever
• God dwells among His people – no separation. No more veils.

What Happens in the Day of God?

John describes this in Revelation 21, 22, for there is:

• No curse
• No death
• No sorrow and tears
• No memory of things past, Ecclesiastes 1:11.
• No sea
• No temple
• No night
• No need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates it, Revelation 21:23.

Christ hands the kingdom over to the Father, after He has abolished all rule and authority and power, 1 Corinthians 15:24. Eternity becomes the only reality – the eternal present moment. There will be:

• God’s unhindered presence
• Eternal righteousness
• Perfect fellowship with God
• Everlasting peace

It is the full establishment of God’s eternal kingdom that was formed before the foundation of the world.

The Different Companies of the Redeemed

One key to understanding these prophetic days is recognizing the different companies of redeemed people as revealed in Scripture:

• Old Testament saints – believers who died before the Cross – justified by faith
• The Church – the Bride of Christ clothed in fine linen bright and clean, Revelation 19:7.
• Tribulation martyrs – those who come out of the Great Tribulation, clothed in white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 7:9, 14. 

While each has a distinct place within God’s redemptive plan, all share one eternal destiny, forever in His presence.

The Hope Set Before Us

Peter encourages believers to look for and hasten the coming of the Day of God, in which righteousness dwells, 2 Peter 3:12.

The hope reaches far beyond:

• The present church age
• The Great tribulation
• Christ’s millennial reign
• The final judgement.

Understanding the Days of Scripture

These three prophetic days reveal the complete work of God:

• The Day of Christ – redemption completed
• The Day of the Lord – creation restored
• The Day of God – eternity consummated.

The story that began in the Garden of Eden ends with God dwelling among His redeemed people. Sin is gone. Death is no more. Time has fulfilled its purpose. God is All in All, 1 Corinthians 15:28, and His eternal kingdom stands complete.

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Dr. Wendy is a servant of the Lord who lives to share words of encouragement from the Word of God in these end of time days.

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