Christ’s Second Coming in Like Manner to Acts 1:9-11

by Brad Baker

May 29/ 2022

1 Many people have taken advantage Acts 1: 9-11 to try to prove a physical return of Christ. 2 They assume that the manner in which Christ ascending into heaven with a physical body just because Christ showed Thomas that He was not a Spirit but had flesh and bones after He was resurrected from the dead.  3 They do not take into account at which time was Christ made a Life-Giving Spirit according to:

 1 Corinthians 15: 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.


4 Futurist also to not take into an account of when someone noticed that Christ was no longer flesh as they once knew Him. 5 Paul wrote about it though he probably did not witness it but could have heard about it through someone else who did notice the change but either way it had to have been notice before Christ ascended into Heaven in order for them to know and that was to be written as God’s inspired word here:

2 Corinthians 5:16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

6 Those that assume that the manner in which Christ was ascended into Heaven was with a physical body, but is that the manner in which it happened in. 7 In like manner they constantly drone out those words and try to convince others their view wrong. 8 While falsely accusing anyone who believes otherwise to be not saved because they supposedly do not believe in the Resurrection of the Dead with biological bodies, while denying the Spiritual resurrection that others believe in as the truth. They believe  Christ’s resurrection and coming could have only been physical, therefore if it was Spiritual that it did not happen at all. 9 The danger in all of this aside from both sides having faith one way or another is that one side see the other side as heretics that can not be allowed into Heaven and it becomes more clearer here as to why this is so:

Corinthians 15:14And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”



10 Here is what like manner means; Christ was taken up in a cloud from them and He was to come back in the clouds in like manner the way they saw Him go into Heaven. 11 If a mountain climber used spikes and ropes to climb straight up a mountain he would use spikes and ropes to get back down. 12 That would be the manner he would come back down in. 13 It does not matter if he was wearing a T-shirt going up and a jacket coming down, or if He would return facing backwards to Heaven instead of where He was going. 14 It doesn’t matter if Christ was ascending in a white robe or if it was the cloth He was wrapped in when He was set in the tomb or if He would return facing to Heaven instead of facing forward to where He was going. 15 This is not the manner in which Acts 1: 9-11 is talking about.

Acts 1:9-11

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

9Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”


16 If Elisha was to return in like manner it sure did not happen in regards to his own physical body in order for the law of typology to be applied with a type and a antitype for a future fulfillment by Christ for His Come in the clouds. 17 Elisha returning in the Spirit of Elisha through John the Baptist should be convincing enough that Jesus Christ would do that through the body of Christ during the first century in a similar way. Paul mentioned once that some were seeking proof that Christ was speaking through him:

2 Corinthians 13:3 since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.

18 Here is the story of Elisha being taken into heaven by a whirlwind and it does not seem to matter whether he was taken in his physical body to return as John the Baptist who was physically born through his mother Elizabeth according to what Luke said in chapter 1.

Elijah Ascends to Heaven:

2 Kings 2: 1 And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel.

3 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”

And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

4 Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.”

But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they came to Jericho.

5 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”

So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.”

But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8 Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9 And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from[b] Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. 16 Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.”

And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”

17 But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send them!” Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him. 18 And when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

Elisha Performs Miracles

19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.”

20 And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’ ” 22 So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you bald head! Go up, you bald head!”

24 So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

25 Then he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

The Second of Elisha  as the Coming Messenger:

Malachi 3: 1“Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

2 

“But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.

3 

He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.

Elijah who was to come through John the Baptist:

Matthew 11:9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written:

‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

John’s Birth Announced to Zacharias:

Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

19 The manner in which Christ was to come back in should not be considered for when He was to return. 20 His disciples asked Jesus when they would see His coming and the end of the Age and they knew it would be when the Temple was thrown down to begin with which made them curious enough to ask those questions in:

 Matthew 24:1Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”


21 Then in Luke 21 other things were written that said all things would be fulfilled when the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem were complete. 22 Jesus even said Heaven and Earth would pass away in verse 35. 23 The Old Heaven and Earth were associated with the Temple as a type for Heaven and the nation of Israel was a type for the Earth according to:

Isaiah 51:16 And I have put My words in your mouth;
I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
That I may plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”

The Destruction of Jerusalem:

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man:

25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

The Parable of the Fig Tree:

29 Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

24 To come in like manner, and so Christ was made a Life Giving Spirit before He ascended into Heaven so His coming in AD70 was as a Life giving Spirit. 25 Prove me wrong.. because we know for a fact that flesh and bone can not fly without wings as a normal reality aside from God doing a miracle. 26 I don’t think we can really call Elisha coming back through John the Baptist a miracle but be better explained in a Spiritual way as a Spiritual reality. 27 Jesus never even once flew around in the sky with wings before He was crucified so how could He fly after especially without wings when He ascended into Heaven unless He was a Spirited Being at that time. 28 There was not a whirl wind or a tornado seen to do that like with Elisha. 29 Even the Angels supposedly have wings but Jesus never did that we know of, nor did He have gills and fins to go deep sea diving in the Red Sea. 30 Spirited Being’s are like the Angels, they can appear and disappear, they can manifest themselves through flesh and bone. 31 A Spirited Being can appear in different forms like Jesus did after He was resurrected according to:

 Mark 16: 12After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

32 Someone asked me : Why are so interested in removing the “supernatural” part of the events?


33 I responded with this, because people sometimes make what was just natural to look supernatural in order to fit something that might not to true. 34 I prefer to be interested in typology and Spiritual realities more so than things like Elisha being taken away in whirl wind. 35 Though is might have been a miracle in a way and people back then could have considered it to be, it can also be explained through the possibility of nature. 36 Even Elisha’s second coming can be explained better by and Spiritual reality Vs. a miracle because Elisha returned through John who was born from a woman. 37 Physical bodies returning from their graves requires a miracle that has no Spiritual reality to it nor is it an antitype to a type of any kind. 38 I believe that when we take a Spiritual reality and try to make it look like a miracle when it is not, then what we do is cause others to reject all things that are either a Spiritual reality or a miracle.

39 I believe that God does miracles after all He is the one who created all things. 40 The Godhead of Father, Son & Holy Spirit has always having been in existence. 41 That is mind blowing when you think about God never having a beginning or an end but I choose to believe in it whether someone can prove it wrong or not.  42 If I have a choice to believe a thing to be a Spiritual reality over a miracle I will chose and Spiritual realities any day especially when they can be seen through typologies. 43 With a miracle you really have to consider the possibility that it happened either naturally or was it super naturally. 44 To me many of the greatest miracles in the Bible are just natural Spiritual realities that I find in typology. 45 When you really think about it this was the greatest series of miracles that that ever happened was with the type set in The Feasts of the Lord and Holy Convocation Days within those Feasts where God’s redemption plan for mankind was revealed. 46 The Spring Feasts were fulfilled within about 50 days of each other from the crucifixion of Christ as the Passover to the Holy Spirit indwelling His believers. 47 Then 40 years later within the first centuries generation a type of the 40 years in the wilderness was fulfilled and ending with the Fall Feast starting with the Holy Convocation Day of Blowing Trumpets. 48 Then right on to the resurrection of the dead, then the Holy Convocation Day of Atonement for the Great White Throne Judgment onto the Feast of Tabernacles for Marriage of the Lamb and then the New Heaven and Heaven beginning with all Things Made New.

Conclusion:

Why Did Jesus Christ say that He was Ascending when He had not yet Ascended…?

49 In between the Lord’s Passover and the Holy Convocation Day of Atonement  there was the three phases of the resurrection were being fulfilled. But a very important event took place just after the resurrection of the First Fruits of Israel that happened in Matthew 27:51-53 and it was the Ascension of Christ. Christ was not the first to be resurrected from physical death but He was the first to rise from the death of Adam and that allowed others to be released from hades.

50 The first resurrection which was the antitype of the barley harvest. The years harvest began with the Holy Convocation Day of First Fruits when Jesus rose from the grave and the disembodied souls from of the First Fruits of Israel Matthew 27: 51-53 was fulfilled.


51 Jesus ascended into Heaven 40 days after He was raised from the dead but after He was raised from the dead and before His Ascension into Heaven He said this to Mary:


John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”

52 All most everyone believes Jesus was raised physically from the dead and accepts that and I do to because He was not a disembodied soul that had decayed like most before Him who were raised from the dead right after Christ resurrection. 53 Paul said: Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer:

2 Corinthians 5:16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

54 Paul also said that the body first is sown natural body but raised a Spiritual body. No where can we find that the raised body is both a natural body and Spiritual body after it has been resurrected. 

55 Many believe in a physical Spiritual body but nowhere in the scriptures can we find a physical Spiritual body. 56 Paul goes on to say that Christ had become a Life-giving Spirit as well and that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

57 At some point in time Jesus’ body had to change from a physical body to a Life-giving Spirit with a Spiritual body that was just a Spiritual body in order to enter into Heaven at His Ascension.

58 Why did Jesus tell Mary not to cling to Him because He had not ascended yet, but that He was Ascending…? 59 Do you think that could have meant Jesus was in the process of ascending and further more do you think that if Mary was to have cringed to Him that she might have started to go through the same process of ascending with Christ or maybe it was because she was not to defile Him according to the law but touching something that was unclean.


60 We know that those who remain and would be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye at the second coming of Christ were changed instantly and did not go through a process to change. 61 However with Christ ascending it could have been a process over 40 days to change from a physical body to a Spiritual body where He became a Life-giving Spirit that could enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

 1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has 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 your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

62 According to Acts 1:11 that Jesus will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. 63 Christ had to have been transformed into a Spiritual body with the process completed before He could be fully ascended into Heaven. 64 So then He would also coming in the clouds of glory as a life-giving Spirit with a Spiritual body that one could be seen through the eyes of understanding that the Kingdom of God is not visible with the natural eyes.

Acts 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

65 This sets the stage for the rest of the Feasts and Holy Convocation Days within those Feasts to be fulfilled in with Christ as a Life-giving Spirit with a Spiritual body that could enter and be in the Kingdom of Heaven with to fulfill them and appear in the same manner as He was taken up in and that includes the Holy Convocation Day of Atonement at the Great White Throne Judgment.

66 Then the second phase of the first resurrection was the antitype of the wheat which was the Feast of Pentecost which rose many from being Spiritual dead in sin who found a new life in Christ and reigned with Him while they were still on the Earth. 

67 Then the final harvest was for the fruit in the fall and was just before the Great White Throne Judgment which is called the second or general resurrection because it was in a class all of it’s own where the unjust were resurrected for judgment then cast into the Lake of Fire which was referring to in:

 Matthew 25: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 

68 Jesus then told them that in the hereafter that they would only see Him on the clouds of Heaven. 69 In other words in a Spiritual body where flesh and blood can not enter, not on the Earth in a physical form.

Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”