When can Christ come back?

Does anything have to happen before Christ returns to earth?

The surprising answer seems to be yes. One final event must transpire and that event is the adding of the last repenting sinner into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Thus when the body is complete, the Head will appear, or, to use another scriptural analogy, the Bridegroom will come for his beloved bride. The entire book of Ephesians seems to suggest this. See especially 1:10, 22, 23; 2:21; 4:4, 13, 16; 5:22-33.

A very practical truth may be seen here. According to Acts 2, the first convert was added to the body of Christ at Pentecost. What an occasion that must have been, with 3,000 answering Peter’s “altar call.” And God had provided 120 “personal workers” to deal with them (Acts 1:15; 2:1). We know that God himself keeps all records. Perhaps someday at the judgment seat of Christ one of these 120 will hear the Master say: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You led the first individual into that spiritual body!” If this be true, and if Christ’s coming is at hand, it is entirely possible that a soul winner reading these very words might one day hear similar words from Jesus: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You led the last individual into that spiritual body!” At any rate, someday a soul winner will point some seeking sinner to the Savior and it will all be over!