The glorious Day of the Lord

And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him. 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 NLT

After commending Christians in Thessalonica for their enduring faith in the midst of the persecution they were facing because of their decision to follow and place their lives to Christ, Paul turns to the issue of God’s vindication of their suffering. Paul transitioned to emphasize the events surrounding the return of Jesus and the consequences of that return. The patience and faithfulness with which Christians manifested enduring those trials provides the evidence of God’s righteous judgment. There is a sense in which the righteousness imputed by God to His followers in the face of persecution is the condemnation of God himself on the ungodly. The “Day of the Lord” is seen as a time when God’s presence is so great that He overwhelms the unrighteous by that very presence. By virtue of God’s presence in the lives of believers, enabled them to stand firm and remain faithful in the face of evil persecution and discord. They will not yield to evil because the Spirit of God dwells within them. God in His perfection and holiness, evil simply cannot stand in His presence. Darkness will be dispelled by the light. When God’s overwhelming righteous presence will come, evil will be destroyed. Paul, then, provides several descriptions of the event surrounding Christ’s return as prophesied from the Old Testament (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10). “The Lord Jesus appears from heaven” (2 Thessalonians 1:7). “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it” (Isaiah 40:5). “In flaming fire” (2 Thessalonians 1:7). “See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind” (Isaiah 66:15). “...With his mighty angels” (2 Thessalonians 1:7). “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding” (Psalm 103:20). “Punish those who don’t know God” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). “So I also will choose harsh treatment for them.… For when I called, no one answered …” (Isaiah 66:4) those“...Who refuse to obey the Good News” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). Followers of God have been despised and regarded as a problem by many because of their conviction and commitment to follow God, but when the Day of the Lord comes, God will reveal them to the universe as His children. “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are...We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us, (Romans 8:18–23) and Christ will share His glory with them forever.

Blessings,