[369]After his resurrection Jesus was exalted and given a name above every name (Philippians 2:9) and sat down at the right hand of the Father in glory and in power. (Revelation 3:21) Of him the apostle Paul writes: "Now the Lord is that spirit". (2 Corinthians 3:17) Jesus explained to Nicodemus concerning a spirit, saying, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.... The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit."—John 3:4-8.
[370]Seeing, then, that Jesus Christ is a glorious spirit being with a divine organism, and that as the wind cannot be seen, but comes and goes, so a spirit can thus come and go without being discerned by human eyes, could not our Lord be present and yet not observable by any natural eyes? That is exactly according to the facts. Satan is a spirit being. For many centuries Satan has been the god or invisible ruler of the present evil world (2 Corinthians 4:3,4); yet no human eyes have seen Satan, although men have felt his influence and still feel it. Satan is not only the god of this world, but he is the chief one of his wicked, invisible heaven; that is to say, the invisible ruling order of things composed of Satan and the other fallen angels who exercise power over human beings. The apostle Peter said: "We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness". (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-5) The coming kingdom of the Lord is the new heavenly kingdom. This new ruling power, the Messiah, is invisible, and will be invisible to human eyes, but will establish in the earth visible agencies and representatives, namely, a new social and political order of things. We should not, therefore, expect the Lord's second coming to be in a body visible to human eyes, but should expect that he would be present, exercising his power in his own sovereign way.
[371]In many places in our Bible referring to the second coming of the Lord the word translated into the English as "coming" is properly translated presence. The proper meaning is distinguished by the Greek word used, from which the English is translated. The Greek word parousia (pronounced par-oo-seé-ah) means presence, and refers to the invisible presence of the Lord and is used in the following Scriptural texts. We here quote the texts as they appear in the King James Version, putting in brackets the proper word immediately following the word "coming".
[372]"What shall be the sign of thy coming [presence]?"—Matthew 24:3.
[373]"As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming [presence] of the Son of man be."—Matthew 24:37,39.
[374]"They that are Christ's at his coming [presence]."—1 Corinthians 15:23.
[375]"Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming [presence]?"—1 Thessalonians 2:19.
[376]"To the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming [presence] of our Lord Jesus Christ."—1 Thessalonians 3:13.
[377]"We which are alive and remain unto the coming [presence] of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."—1 Thessalonians 4:15.
[378]"I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming [presence] of our Lord Jesus Christ." —1 Thessalonians 5:23.