Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ gave firm assurances to his disciples that he would come again to reward the faithful and fulfil age-long promises. (John 14:1-3; Revelation 22:20) His disciples restated this promise several times in their writings. 1 Timothy 6:14; Titus 2:11-14; etc.
However many people believe Christ would appear physically for all to see. Some believe he would even be in Jerusalem where all the world would be gathered to see him. One of the texts cited to buttress the belief in the bodily presence of Jesus Christ is Revelation 1:7. But the word cloud used in the text denotes invisibility, that is, that the second presence will not be visible to the ordinary eyes. (Compare Exodus 33:9,10; Acts 1:9-11) The “eyes” in Revelation 1:7 are “eyes of understanding” as explained by St. Paul in Ephesians 1:17-19. Those who will wail at his coming are the workers of iniquity who will be punished by Christ at his second presence as stated in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
The reason Jesus Christ came in flesh in the first advent was for him to die for the redemption of mankind. But Christ had accomplished that duty and resurrected as a spirit according to 1 Peter 3:18. He has been glorified. And he is in heaven.
In Matthew 24:3,7,8 Christ gave signs to mark his second presence. The disciples of Christ, knowing that the Master would not be seen physically at his second presence asked for signs by which people would know he had come. The signs he gave were that there would be a global war, to be followed by pestilences, famines, earthquakes and so on. These fulfilled in the First World War of 1914 – 1918. Also our Lord’s statement in Luke 17:26-30 show that his second presence would be by revelation.
The purposes of Christ’s second presence include the resurrection of the dead saints, selection of the remnant, separation of the sheep and the goats and the destruction of the devil. These do not require his physical presence, they are all spiritual. We do not need to see Christ physically, for “we work by faith and not by sight”. – 2 Corinthians 5:16.
Jesus Christ has come in spirit. He is in heaven, sitting in the right hand of God Almighty, ruling in the midst of the enemies and executing God’s plans one after the other; he will continue until he will hand over the kingdom to God who then will be all in all.