The Lord Himself Will Come: Understanding the Importance of the End Times
Jesus Is Coming Back
The title of this series comes directly from Scripture and points us toward one of the most significant promises in the Bible: Jesus Christ Himself will return.
When Jesus returns for His church, it will be the first time in more than 2,000 years that He physically leaves Heaven and interacts with this planet again.
Since His resurrection, Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father. He is our Savior and our intercessor, and Scripture tells us that He continually intercedes for us.
But when Jesus ascended into Heaven, He also told His followers that another would come, the Holy Spirit.
For more than 2,000 years, the Holy Spirit has been actively working in the lives of believers and carrying out God's purposes on the earth. The Holy Spirit is God's present, active work in and through His people.
But there is coming a moment when that changes.
Jesus Himself will come.
It will be a dramatic shift in the way God is working on the earth. The return of Christ isn't merely another event on a prophetic timeline but a culmination of God's work throughout human history.
We Need an Eternal Perspective
We need to confront the way we tend to think about life.
Most of us naturally view life through the lens of roughly 70 or 80 years.
We think about our careers, our homes, our marriages, our children, our retirement, our finances, and our plans within the boundaries of one human lifetime.
But Scripture calls us to something bigger.
We need to look at our lives in light of eternity.
This life is not all there is.
Our decisions make more sense when we understand that eternity is real. Our faith makes more sense when we understand that this world was never intended to be the final destination. The things we experience, both good and bad, cannot be properly understood if we only look at them through the limited context of our earthly lives.
An eternal perspective changes how we see our families.
It changes how we work.
It changes how we make decisions.
It changes how we endure difficult seasons.
And it changes how we prepare for the return of Jesus.
We aren't simply moving from one generation to another until life ends. God is working according to an eternal plan, and we are living inside that plan right now.
The Bible Has a Lot to Say About the Return of Christ
The return of Jesus isn't a minor biblical theme.
The return of Christ is one of the most frequently mentioned subjects in Scripture. It is mentioned 318 times in the New Testament and nearly every New Testament book refers to Christ's return.
That should make us stop and think.
When was the last time we seriously thought about the return of Jesus?
When was the last time we studied what Scripture actually says about it?
When was the last time we heard a message devoted to it?
If the return of Christ is such a significant biblical theme, then it deserves our attention.
God evidently wants His people to understand this.
Not so we can become obsessed with dates.
Not so we can speculate about things Scripture doesn't reveal.
But so that we can have the proper perspective, discernment, hope, and readiness as we follow Jesus.
The Catching Away of the Church
Scripture describes the catching away of the church, commonly called the rapture.
Look at two key passages: 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:
“We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.”
He describes a moment that will happen in an instant “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.”
The dead will be raised, and believers will be changed.
Our mortal bodies will put on immortality.
There will be a generation of believers who are alive when this happens. They will never experience physical death in the ordinary sense. They will be caught away in the presence of God.
And those who have already died in Christ will be raised.
Believers who die are already in the presence of the Lord. But at the catching away, there will be a transformation of the body. The perishable will become imperishable. The mortal will become immortal.
It is a supernatural event that is completely beyond anything human beings could accomplish.
And that is precisely the point.
This isn't science fiction.
It is the power of God.
“For the Lord Himself Will Come”
Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 that the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a loud command, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God.
The dead in Christ will rise first.
Then those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And Scripture concludes with these words:
“And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
Then comes the instruction:
“Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
That is important.
The teaching of Christ's return isn't intended primarily to terrify believers.
It is intended to encourage us.
Why?
Because it tells us that God has the final word.
Nations don't have the final word.
Kings don't have the final word.
Dictators don't have the final word.
The devil doesn't have the final word.
God does.
No matter what happens in the world around us, God is still in control and He will accomplish what He has promised.
Don't Try to Predict the Date
No one knows the date or hour of Christ's return.
Jesus Himself said that no man knows the day or hour.
So if someone claims to have figured out the exact date of the rapture, Scripture gives us no reason to listen to them.
We may recognize seasons.
We may see prophetic patterns.
We may understand biblical signs.
But we cannot know the exact day.
The purpose of studying prophecy isn't to give us a calendar date.
It is to give us a biblical perspective.
God's Plan Was Never a Backup Plan
The events surrounding the return of Christ aren't random or disconnected.
God isn't reacting to history.
He isn't scrambling to respond to human failure.
He isn't coming up with Plan B because mankind messed up Plan A.
This has been God's plan from the beginning.
Isaiah 46 declares that God makes known the end from the beginning. What looks like the future to us is already known to God.
He knows the beginning.
He knows the end.
And His purpose will stand.
That means the return of Christ isn't something God suddenly decided to do because the world became too broken.
He has been moving toward this plan throughout human history.
His ultimate desire has always been to bring people into relationship with Him and give those who receive His Son the promise of eternal life.
The Lamb Was Slain From the Foundation of the World
This is where the message moves from end-times prophecy to the gospel itself.
Revelation 13:8 refers to “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”
Jesus was not God's emergency response to sin.
He was the plan.
Adam sinned, and sin entered the world.
Humanity became separated from God.
The relationship between God and mankind was broken.
And we inherited the consequences of that brokenness.
The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.
Every person faces the reality of sin and death.
But God had a plan.
From the Garden to the Cross
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve a command, a promise, and a choice.
They could eat from the trees of the garden, but God warned them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
There was life in obedience.
There was death in rebellion.
Adam exercised his choice and rebelled against God.
Spiritually, he died.
Sin entered humanity.
Death entered the world.
And mankind became separated from God's presence.
That separation created a void that humanity has been trying to fill ever since.
We search.
We strive.
We build.
We accomplish.
We pursue relationships, possessions, success, recognition, pleasure, and countless other things hoping something will satisfy the emptiness inside us.
But the void was created by separation from God.
It can only ultimately be filled by God.
And God didn't respond to humanity's rebellion with revenge.
He responded with mercy.
He sent His Son.
Jesus Is the Way Back to God
Jesus came as the perfect, sinless Savior.
He was fully God and fully man.
He lived without sin.
Then He went to the cross and died in our place.
He paid the price for the sin we could never remove ourselves.
We couldn't earn forgiveness.
We couldn't work our way back to God.
We couldn't make ourselves righteous enough.
God is holy and just. He doesn't change His nature to accommodate our rebellion.
So He provided the perfect sacrifice.
Jesus.
That's why Jesus could say in John 14:
“I am the way.”
Not a way.
The way.
He is the truth.
He is the life.
And through Him, we have access to the Father.
The cross is not a side story in God's plan.
It is at the center of it.
Because Jesus died, sinners can be forgiven.
Because Jesus died, broken people can have a new beginning.
Because Jesus died, people who were separated from God can be brought back into relationship with Him.
Forgiven, Justified, Sanctified, and One Day Glorified
What happens when someone puts their faith in Jesus?
We are forgiven.
But God does more than simply erase our past.
Scripture teaches that righteousness is imputed to us.
God looks at us through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We are justified.
We are declared righteous because of what Jesus has done.
Then the Holy Spirit begins His ongoing work of sanctification.
We aren't perfect.
But we aren't where we started.
Day by day, the Holy Spirit works in us and makes us more like Jesus.
And then there is another day coming.
A day when we will be glorified.
We won't simply be forgiven.
We won't simply be justified.
We won't simply be sanctified.
We will be in the presence of God, completely removed from the presence of sin.
That is the hope of the believer.
And that is where the return of Christ takes on even greater meaning.
Jesus is coming for His people.
The Church Is a Gift to This World
The church isn't perfect.
But the church is redeemed.
The body of Christ is a gift to this planet.
The presence of Spirit-filled believers, people who have been born again and who aren't ashamed of the gospel, serves as a restraint against the darkness and destruction that would otherwise overtake humanity.
The church isn't simply a building where Christians gather.
It is the people of God living in the world.
And when Scripture describes the tribulation period, and the church is removed from the earth.
The world will experience a level of judgment and deception that is beyond what we can fully comprehend.
This isn't something to take lightly.
Why Would a Good God Judge Sin?
This raises an important question.
If God is good, gracious, and loving, why would there be judgment?
Because sin has consequences.
If there were no consequence for sin, then what would be the point of salvation?
What would be the need for mercy?
What would grace mean?
God's goodness doesn't eliminate His justice.
His mercy doesn't mean sin doesn't matter.
His grace doesn't mean there is no judgment.
Right now, we are living in a moment of opportunity.
We can come to Jesus.
We can receive forgiveness.
We can start again.
We can surrender our lives to God.
But Scripture also tells us that there is a coming day when that opportunity will no longer be treated casually.
That is why this matters.
The Mercy of God Is the Reason We Are Still Here
Peter gives us another important perspective in 2 Peter 2.
Peter says that with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Then he explains why it may seem like God is slow to fulfill His promise:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.”
He is patient.
He doesn't want anyone to perish.
He wants people to come to repentance.
That means the delay isn't evidence that God's promise has failed.
The delay is an expression of God's mercy.
Every person who has come to Christ during this period has experienced that mercy.
Every additional opportunity to repent is mercy.
Every day we wake up and have another opportunity to turn toward Jesus is mercy.
God isn't slow.
God is patient.
And we should be grateful for that patience.
Scoffers Will Come
But Peter also warns us about what happens when people misunderstand God's patience.
In the last days, scoffers will come.
They will say, essentially, “Where is this coming He promised? Everything is still going on just like it always has.”
People will use the apparent delay as evidence that Jesus isn't coming.
But that's exactly the misunderstanding Scripture warned us about.
God's patience should never be mistaken for God's absence.
The fact that Jesus hasn't returned yet doesn't mean He isn't returning.
It means there is still mercy available.
We Are Living in a Critical Time
Understanding the end times should affect the way we live right now.
This perspective should produce encouragement, gratitude, thanksgiving, and a greater awareness of the time we have been given.
We should make good use of the time.
We shouldn't become victims of the culture around us.
We shouldn't allow the spiritual battles of this age to pull us away from God during what may be one of the most important seasons of our lives.
There is spiritual warfare.
The enemy knows his time is short.
Scripture tells us that Satan's ultimate defeat is coming, and because he knows his time is limited, he is working to steal, kill, and destroy.
The confusion.
The perversity.
The attacks on families.
The attacks on the church.
The attacks on faith.
These things shouldn't cause the church to panic.
They should cause the church to recognize the hour we're living in.
And the answer to the enemy's work isn't human strength.
The answer is the presence of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
A Great Outpouring and a Great Falling Away
The Bible gives us an interesting picture of the last days.
On one hand, Scripture promises a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2 says that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.
That means we shouldn't look at the darkness around us and conclude that God is finished.
Quite the opposite.
God is still saving people.
People are still being transformed.
People who seem unlikely to ever turn to Jesus can still encounter Him.
God can do something extraordinary in this generation.
But Scripture also warns about a great falling away.
There will be people who walk away from their faith.
And that means every believer has a decision to make:
Which group will I be part of?
Will I remain faithful?
Will I continue following Jesus?
Will I allow the culture around me to pull me away?
Or will I determine that, regardless of what happens around me, I am going to follow Christ?
Don't Play Church
This isn't the season to play church.
It isn't the season to go through the motions.
It isn't the season to claim to be a Christian while deliberately refusing to practice the faith.
It's not enough to say, “I'm a Christian,” while allowing everything else to have greater influence over our lives.
This isn't about perfection.
It's about direction.
You may not be where you want to be spiritually.
That's okay.
But don't stay there.
You can say, “God, I'm not where I want to be, but I want to get there.”
You can begin again.
You can have revival in your heart.
You can become closer to Jesus than you've ever been.
Even if you feel farther from God than you have ever been, you can turn around today.
God isn't against you.
He's for you.
He isn't trying to make you lose.
He wants you to win.
What Research Revealed
The Barna research divided people into practicing Christians, non-practicing Christians, and non-Christians.
The concern was the dramatic movement of people away from active Christian faith.
According to the figures shared, between 2000 and 2022, approximately 33 million people moved from the category of practicing Christians into the non-practicing category, while another 33 million moved from identifying as non-practicing Christians to no longer identifying as Christians at all.
While a troubling statistic, this illustrates the biblical warning about falling away.
At the same time God is pouring out His Spirit and bringing people into His Kingdom, the enemy is working to pull people away from faith.
That should make us more determined, not more discouraged.
The enemy doesn't get the final word.
God does.
This Is Not the Time to Waste
I remembered being young and thinking there would always be more time.
I thought I could wait.
Wait until I was older.
Wait until later.
Live the way I wanted for a while.
But looking back, I regret the time I wasted.
I regret opportunities I missed to tell friends about Jesus.
I remember accomplishments from that period, but they feel hollow compared to what God ultimately gave me.
That's the warning:
Don't assume you have unlimited time.
Every person breathing is living on borrowed time.
We don't know when Jesus will return.
We don't know how long we have on this earth.
So we shouldn't waste the opportunities God has given us.
Don't Be Afraid of the End Times. Be Ready
The message of the end times isn't ultimately a message of fear.
It is a message of hope.
The Lord Himself will come.
God is in control.
His plan cannot be stopped.
His purpose will stand.
His promises will be fulfilled.
And for those who belong to Jesus, the future isn't something we need to dread.
It is something we can look forward to.
That's why Paul told the Thessalonians to encourage one another with these words.
The return of Christ reminds us that this world isn't our final home.
It reminds us that our suffering isn't permanent.
It reminds us that sin doesn't have the last word.
It reminds us that death doesn't have the last word.
It reminds us that Satan doesn't have the last word.
Jesus does.
Start Where You Are
Maybe you're spiritually strong right now.
Maybe you're struggling.
Maybe you've been walking with Jesus for decades.
Maybe you've recently come to faith.
Maybe you've drifted.
Maybe you're exhausted.
The answer is the same:
Start where you are.
God can get you where you need to be.
His grace is still available.
His mercy is still reaching.
His Spirit is still moving.
His plan is still unfolding.
And His invitation is still open.
You don't have to have everything figured out before you come to Jesus.
You don't have to clean yourself up first.
You don't need everyone else's approval.
You simply come and say:
“God, have mercy on me. I'm a sinner. Take my life. Let me start again.”
And He will meet you there.
Let's Be Part of the Revival
The Bible tells us that the last days will include both an outpouring and a falling away.
So the question isn't simply, Are we living in the last days?
The more important question is:
How are we going to live in them?
Will we allow the culture to pull us away from Jesus?
Or will we draw closer?
Will we become spectators?
Or will we serve?
Will we compromise?
Or will we stand?
Will we waste our opportunities?
Or will we use our time for God's purposes?
Will we become discouraged by what we see?
Or will we believe that God is still pouring out His Spirit?
Let's be part of the revival.
Let's be people who understand the time we're living in.
Let's be people who are grateful for God's mercy.
Let's be people who say yes to Jesus.
Let's be people who live with eternity in view.
And let's be ready.
Because the promise hasn't changed.
The Lord Himself will come.
Jesus is coming back.
And when He comes, God's eternal plan will reach its triumphant conclusion.
Until that day, we have an opportunity.
We have a mission.
We have a purpose.
We have people to reach.
We have families to influence.
We have a generation to disciple.
We have a world that needs the hope of Jesus.
So don't waste this moment.
Don't drift away.
Don't play church.
Don't assume you have more time.
Draw closer to Jesus.
Live faithfully.
Stay ready.
And above all, remember the hope at the center of it all:
The Lord Himself will come.
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