Paul always taught people about the future—that salvation carried a promise of eternal life. He also told his audiences that the same Jesus Christ who died, arose, and ascended would one day return. This would be Christ’s “second coming” (1 Thessalonians 2:19). The believers knew that this could occur at any time and that it would be unannounced.
If we are alive when Christ returns, then our own meeting will be with the Lord in the air, “with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” Believers will be “caught up together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This event is called the Rapture and is part of the Second Coming.
Second Coming of Christ
The second coming of Christ is in two parts: the Rapture (1) which occurs sometime around the beginning of the last seven years (Great Tribulation) and the Revelation (2) which concludes at the end of the seven years (Great Tribulation).
Note the following verses that reveal a Biblical paradox concerning Christ’s second coming. In each case, the first verse describes the Rapture while the second verse describes the Revelation:
1 Thessalonians 4:17: “…we will meet the Lord in the air.” (1 – Rapture)
Zechariah 14:4-5: “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.” (2 – Revelation)
1 Thessalonians 5:2 and Revelation 16:15: “He will come like a ‘thief in the night.’” (1 Rapture)
Revelation 1:7: “Every eye will behold Him.” (2 – Revelation)
Titus 2:13: “The return of Christ is a time of blessing and hope.” (1 Rapture)
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9: “The return of Christ is a time of punishment and judgment.” (2 – Revelation)
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and John 14:2-3: “He will come ‘for’ His saints.’” (1 Rapture)
Zechariah 14:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Revelation 19:11-16: “He will come ‘with’ His saints.” (2 – Revelation)
The only way to reconcile these verses is to understand that Christ’s second coming is in two stages:
Rapture
The first stage occurs when Christ comes in the air, like a thief in the night, in great blessing and hope, for His saints to remove them to Heaven. This is called the Rapture. Rapture comes from a Latin word, Rapturo which means to catch away.
The Rapture is not without precedent (Both Enoch (Genesis 5:24: Hebrews 11:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:1 and 11) were raptured.
Revelation
The second stage occurs at the end of the last seven-year period called the Great Tribulation when Christ comes to the ground, with every eye on Him, with His saints, to bring judgment and punishment. This is called the Revelation or 2nd Coming or Day of the Lord
Will Christians be here? That depends upon which scenario you choose.
There are three major choices with a number of variation to consider as we attempt to pinpoint when rapture will occur during the end times:
- Pre-Tribulation is the view that the rapture will occur sometime before, or at the beginning, of the final seven years of the Great Tribulation. This is the view I hold.
God has rescued His people from great trouble in the past:
- He closed the door of the ark and Noah and his family were saved from the flood.
- He saved Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
- He opened the Red Sea to make a way of escape for Israel when the Egyptians were on them.
- He saved Rahab from the destruction of Jericho.
Of course, there are numerous pictures in Revelation of Christians who are undergoing suffering. Many suppose that these are people who missed the rapture but received Christ afterwards.
- Mid-Tribulation is the view that the rapture will occur in the middle of the seven years when the Antichrist sets up the Abomination Of Desolation on the altar in the Temple. Like Pre-Tribulation’s, Mid-Tribulation’s will not experience the horrors of the last 3½ years described in Revelation.
- Post-Tribulation is the view that the rapture occurs after the seven-years, and that, therefore, Christians will go through the horrors described in the book of Revelation. There are verses that may support this interpretation, but I hope not. I don’t want to be anywhere around that horrible time.
How to Prepare for the Coming of Christ
- Be Ready. Live for Jesus now. Prophecy is a call to live right.
- Be certain that you know Jesus: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
- Be Prepared: Plan as though He weren’t coming for 1000 years; but live as if He were coming in the next 10 minutes.
Darrell
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