To be a Christian is to hold a particular understanding of history. This point was made by Augustine of Hippo in his great book The City of God. The Greco-Roman world in which Augustine lived viewed history as a circular process without end. Most non-Christians in the ancient world believed that the same things would happen over and over without any ultimate meaning. Augustine pointed out that the incarnation of God’s Son and His atoning death on the cross were nonrepeatable events showing that history moved forward according to God’s redemptive plan. Today, the secular humanist believes in “progress,” trusting man’s ingenuity to solve problems and open up new horizons of opportunity. Instead, the Bible-believer holds that history is racing toward the second coming of Jesus Christ, after which the Lord will judge the world and God’s eternal purposes of salvation will be fulfilled. These differing views of history produce different kinds of lives, a point that highlights the importance of biblical eschatology to the Christian.

The Greek word eschatos means “last,” so eschatology is simply the study of the last things. According to the Bible, believers need to know where history is going, in terms of both our personal histories beyond the grave and God’s plan for the future of the world. Christians are pulled forward, Paul said, by “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

The importance of understanding Christ’s return is seen in the example of the apostle Paul. It is evident that Paul highlighted teaching about Christ’s return during his short stay in Thessalonica. When news reached Paul that the new believers were confused on this subject, he provided extensive information in both of his letters to them. “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers” (v. 4:13), Paul wrote. Likewise, there is no reason for believers today to be uninformed about Christ’s second coming.

At the heart of Paul’s eschatology are his statements regarding the “coming of the Lord” (v. 15). Focusing on the event itself, Paul highlights three features of the second coming. The first feature is the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth. Paul writes, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven” (v. 16). The Bible teaches a literal, bodily return of the same Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, rose from the grave, and then ascended into heaven. Acts 1:9 relates that two angels appeared to the disciples who had watched Jesus ascend. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,” they said, “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Paul tells us that this promise will be fulfilled when Jesus physically returns on the clouds to the very world He departed.

Paul’s second emphasis regarding Christ’s return is the visible manifestation of His glory. He writes: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (v. 16). This description rules out any idea of a hidden or invisible return of Christ. In Paul’s clearest teaching of what is often called the rapture – a word that describes God’s people as being “caught up” – Christ’s return is anything but secret: “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (vv. 16-17). This visible nature of this event is amplified in related descriptions of Christ’s return. Revelation 1:7 explains, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.” And Jesus taught: They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30).

Paul’s description in verse 16 emphasizes not only the visible but also the audible nature of Christ’s coming: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” It is clear in Paul’s description that when Christ comes to take His people forever (he concludes: “so we will always be with the Lord,” v. 17), this event involves the visible, audible display of Christ’s glory to all the earth. Jesus taught, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:27).

It is clear from Paul’s teaching that Christ’s return will conclude and culminate all of history. In addition to being a personal, visibly glorious return, the second coming will be Christ’s history-concluding return. We should note that the coming and appearing of Christ in glory is not an event that precedes the final episode of God’s plan for history but is rather an event that brings about the end of history. This rules out, again, an idea of the rapture in which Christ returns only to depart so that more history can be played out, since the return that Paul describes actually ends history. It also rules out the premillennial view of eschatology, the view that there will be a thousand-year period after Christ returns, during which God fulfills His purpose for the people of Israel, and after which occurs the final crisis of history. Instead, the return of Christ is the final crises of history and the last day of which Scripture so frequently speaks. The return of Christ does not usher in additional phases of history, but is simultaneously the end of this present age and the consummation of the eternal age that is to come.

What are the final results of history that are brought about by the coming of the Lord? The first is the judgment of all people who have ever lived. Paul’s description of Christ’s return includes a summons to this judgment, as the Lord descends “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God,” as Christ appears “in the clouds” (vv. 16-17).

The second result of Christ’s return may be regarded as the reverse side of the final judgment, namely, the deliverance and vindication of those made righteous in Christ. The blowing of trumpets in the Bible signals not only God’s judgment but also the gathering of God’s people for salvation. Just as Leviticus 25 called for the sounding of trumpets on the Day of Jubilee, signaling release from bondage and liberty for God’s people, so also this final trumpet-blast, the signal for the dead to arise, for the living to be changed, and for all the elect to be gathered from the four winds (Matt. 24:31) to meet the Lord…, proclaims liberty throughout the universe for all the children of God.

Third, Christ’s return culminates history by fulfilling God’s sovereign purpose in the eternal kingdom of Christ. This purpose was revealed to Daniel when he saw Christ as “a son of man” who came “with the clouds of heaven” to the “Ancient of Days” in order to receive “dominion and glory and a kingdom.” The angel told Daniel that this begins and eternal reign: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13-14).

The purpose of this study has been to introduce Paul’s teaching on Christ’s second coming in his letters to the Thessalonians, which we will examine in greater detail as we continue working through the apostle’s text. Paul will make his own applications to the particular situation of his readers, starting with their need to understand the death of believers in light of Christ’s coming. In concluding this introductory study, however, we can make a few applications that flow generally from Paul’s teaching on the second coming of Christ.

The first application is that we should receive and teach the second coming as a message of comfort for all who have trusted in Jesus for salvation. It is true that when our Lord returns, there will be a final judgment of all sin. But having trusted in Christ for our forgiveness and justification, we rejoice that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Christ’s return should not be taught to frighten Christians but to comfort us regarding the glorious salvation that will soon arrive in the coming of the One who loves us. It is true that the New Testament warns believers to be awake and ready, but Paul asserts that by trusting in Christ, all believers can be confident in the day of His coming (1 Thess 5:9-10).

Second, since the coming of Christ will bring us into His presence in order to share His glory, Christians should begin glorying in Jesus now. One of the chief problems with so much end-times fervor today is that attention is devoted to practically everything except to Christ Himself. Paul sums up his message of Christ’s return with these words: “and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (vv. 17-18). Encouraged with the thought of being with Christ, let us treasure our present communion with Him, the One who is near to His people in His Word, in the secret place of prayer, and at the communion table of His covenant meal. Let Christ’s presence through the Holy Spirit be the glory of our church and our dearest treasure while we await the greater glory of His coming with the clouds.

Third, the return of Christ calls Christians to readiness in the midst of this “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). Hebrews 4:3 warns us that there is no salvation apart from following Christ, since only “we who believed [will] enter that rest.” Meanwhile, believers who might be tempted to despair because of persecution, or led astray by the temptations of sin, or distracted by the siren songs of this world, “are encouraged by the prospect of Christ’s return, when He will grant them relief from their present distress and victory over their enemies, who are also His enemies.

Finally, the coming of the Lord presents a fearful prospect of judgment and condemnation for all whose sins have not been forgiven through the blood of Christ. The Lord will return, Paul warns, “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8).

Knowing this, Christ’s people urgently pray and tell others the good news of salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. We declare the return of the great Judge, whose sword is sharp and whose books document every deed. We hold forth the grace and mercy of Christ for all who repent and believe, declaring His own words that “whoever…believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). Therefore, we appeal to all who have not believed and thus face the prospect of eternal judgment in the coming of the Lord. Paul wrote: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation…We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God…Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 5:19-6:2).

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Study Questions:

Along with sex and money, the third practical issue that Paul discusses with the young Thessalonian church is this chapter of death. What are the issues that the Thessalonians are concerned about in verses 13-18?

How is the grief of Christians still truly grief but grief with hope instead of hopelessness?

Verse 14 repeats one of the earliest Christian creeds, “Jesus died and rose.” Because we know He has defeated death and now has a new, resurrected body, we can have the same hope. How should this knowledge of the future make a difference in the way we live now?