How Will Christ Return?

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. 

Matthew 25:13   

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  

I Thessalonians 4:16-17 

How will Christ return? In the primary text we have been considering for the past few days Christ made it clear He would return and that it would be impossible to know the day or the hour of it. Paul describes the return of Christ in the fourth chapter of I Thessalonians. He declares that three things will mark it: a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. This indicates it will not be secret or doubtful in any way. When He does return ‘the dead in Christ will rise first.’ This means that Christ will raise from the dead those who have died in faith. Beyond that, those who believe in Him, who are alive at the time of His return, shall be ‘caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.’ These two statements taken together affect all believers in the history of the world from the beginning. It is impossible for it to go unnoticed. It is an entirely public affair. All those who have rested by faith in Christ from the beginning are included and involved. We can live today and be prepared to die today resting by faith in this future return. Jesus is coming again. 

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that the day is coming  
when we will see You Face-to-face. 
We praise You that, in that hour, faith shall be sight.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning