We live in the perilous times that Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Lawlessness, deception, and violence define our day. We see expressions of evil that exceed anything we could have ever imagined just ten years ago. Wars, ethnic strife, and the threat of nuclear warfare fill our newsfeeds.
What is it that gives us hope in the midst of all the human chaos around us? Is it not Christ’s return to the earth that assures us of His sovereign control over all the madness of our day? Although our immediate expectation is that of meeting the Him in the air, it’s His Second Coming that guarantees a glorious climax to the chaotic history of mankind.
Between the Rapture and Jesus’ return at the end of the Tribulation, life on planet earth will become even more treacherous, deceptive, violent, deadly, and evil. Jesus, however, will put an end to all that at His arrival back on the planet. He will destroy the kingdom of the antichrist and establish a thousand-year period of righteousness and peace on earth.
Christ’s Glorious Second Coming
No single word adequately describes the splendor and glory of Jesus’ return to the earth, although terms like triumphant, powerful, magnificent, and spectacular fit with what Scripture reveals about His return. Revelation 19:11–16 describes it as a majestic procession the likes of which the world has never before witnessed:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, and Lord Of Lords.
Author Ed Hindson beautifully describes these verses in his book, Future Glory:
The singular vignette of Christ’s return in Revelation 19:11–16 is the most dramatic passage in the entire Bible. In these six verses we are swept up into the triumphant entourage of redeemed saints as they ride in the heavenly procession with the King of kings and Lord of lords. In this one passage alone, all the hopes and dreams of every believer are finally and fully realized. This is not the Palm Sunday procession with the humble Messiah on the donkey colt. This is the ultimate in eschatological drama. The rejected Savior returns in triumph as the rightful King of the world—and we are with him. (pp. 113-114)
Oh, how Satan and his hordes must hate hearing the words the verses quote above, which majestically portray Jesus’ Second Coming. Revelation 20:1-10 reveals His rule over all the nations, which the “prince of the power of air” (see Ephesians 2:2) currently governs through his minions. During Christ’s reign, our adversary will remain locked away, unable to influence the world in any way. The grandest hope of all the ages will spell his final doom (Revelation 20:10).
The story contained in Revelation 19:11-20:4 exceeds our wildest imaginations. What will we feel as we ride on white horses behind our Savior as He rides triumphantly across the sky? And the good news doesn’t stop there; we will reign for a thousand years alongside our Lord (Revelation 2:26-27, 5:9-10).
Christ’s Second Coming will mark the grand finale of human history and the inauguration of the greatest kingdom the world will have ever seen. Jesus gave His own description of His spectacular return to earth in Matthew 24:29-30:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
This morning, my search for stock market futures took me to the CNN business site, which indicated that fear was the driving force behind the current volatility in the financial markets. It listed a recession as the primary source of anxiety, but I can think of other factors that might be frightening investors.
If Not for Bible Prophecy
If not for Bible prophecy and my hope in Jesus’ soon appearing, I could see myself easily giving into the panic that abounds in our world. But I know that regardless of how dark and chaotic our world becomes, Jesus will have the final say. The globalists will someday succeed in bringing about the “Great Reset,” or the kingdom of the antichrist, but Jesus will destroy their realm.
Don’t let anyone lead you astray on this matter, Jesus’ return at the end of the Tribulation will exceed our most fanciful imaginations and He most certainly will rule over the nations, and a restored Israel, for one-thousand years. Those that teach otherwise don’t know Bible prophecy nor do they understand Jesus’ preeminence as described in Colossians 1:15-20.
In Hereafter, It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine, Terry James and I describe the future glory that awaits us as believers beginning with Jesus’ appearing to take us home. From beginning to end, we emphasize the jubilant joy that awaits us in Heaven. The last chapter contains twenty-seven frequently asked questions and answers pertaining to Heaven and our experience there.
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