Theosis and the Second Coming

Theosis has eschatological implications which are seldom addressed.Chris is returning and His parousia (literally presence, but usually mistranslated as "coming") will be bodily. But--His body has changed--we are His body. Is the man-sized form of Jesus of Nazareth the central part of His return , or does it have something to do with a divine manifestation of HIM throughout his whole body, a body of millions and milions of members, a body which covers the earth, which he longs and prays for to become more and nore perfect, more holy, manifesting Him more clearly, for the purpose of ultimately bringing in everyone?

A Pentrecostal minister J. Preston Eby examines this idea in depth. "Looking for His Appearing" is a seies on the subject.
Eby contends that many of the end time prophecies concerning the return of Christ are fulfilled by the ultimate revelation and perfecting of Christ's presence in us. Eby's insights are sometimes astounding, He points out that the word Astrape translated as lightning in Matthew 24:27 (one of the main proof texts andthat supposedly show the parousia od Christ a sudden event) is the same word translated as "shining" in Luke 11:33. With this in mind, context indicates that the image is not of lightning but of sunrise. A better translation would be :

If then they say to you "Look He is in the desert", do not go there, "Look He is in some hiding place" do not believe it; because the presence (parousia) od the Son of man will be like shining (astrape) in the east and illuminationg (phanetai) far into the west. (matt 24:26-27) Jerusalem Bible!

When the mistranslations are corrected the emphasis shifts from suddenness to the gradual dawning of the presence of the Lord. Thinkign He may be here or there is contrasted with His presence manifested unmistakeably everywhere.

Matthew Fox , an Episcopal priest known for his many works on Christian mysticism agrees. The final section of his masterwork "The Coming of the Cosmic Christ" is titled "SA Vision of the second coming" and considers the coming of the kingdsom of God to be the work of God's childres acting in their divination , restoring the Earth and rebuilding all human institutions to eliminate hunger, hopelessness, and violence.