Jesus Christ is the center of everything. He should be the center of our hearts, marriages, families, churches, and lives. When we gather together as believers, Jesus is in our midst, yet sometimes we forget this powerful truth as we rush back to our daily routines.
For 2,000 years, Christians have spoken of the "four last things" that should be at the center of our faith:
Implied in all of this is the coming of Christ in glory. The early church would greet one another with "Maranatha" - Christ is coming! This was their blessed hope, especially as they faced persecution and hardship.
Today, 99.9% of American churches rarely mention these things, yet they should be central to how we live our lives and redeem our time.
Scripture gives us a vivid picture of Christ's return in Matthew 24:29-31:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
This isn't just any normal event. It will be a tremendous, world-changing moment that should affect how we live today.
In 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, Paul explains that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." We are corrupt from the inside out and cannot enter heaven by our own goodness or works.
But there's a mystery: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." When Christ returns, believers who have died will be raised incorruptible, and those still alive will be transformed.
This is our victory through Christ: "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul comforts believers about those who have "fallen asleep" (died):
"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."
This isn't something secretive or mystical. It's the Lord Himself coming visibly and publicly. We will welcome Him as King of kings and Lord of lords, and reign with Him forever.
Revelation 19:11-16 gives us a powerful image:
"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns... He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God... And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."
This vision shows Christ in all His glory, splendor, majesty, and judgment. For believers, this is our blessed hope. For the world that rejects Him, it means trouble.
Scoffers ask, "Where is the promise of His coming?" They claim everything continues as it always has. But they forget that "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).
God is not slow concerning His promise but is "longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." He's patiently waiting for the true gospel to reach the entire world.
Christ's return will be:
Jesus taught His disciples to ignore claims that He would come secretly. He said, "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Every eye will see Him - even those who pierced Him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn. This will be a traumatic, world-changing event that no one can miss.
We must live our lives in light of the judgment seat of Christ. Every day, we should ask ourselves:
It's not enough to try to be a good person, attend church, say a prayer, or be baptized. You need genuine transformation. The reality of Christ's return should either make you rejoice or "scare the hell out of you."
Consider the suddenness of natural disasters like floods - Jesus said, "As in the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man." People were eating, drinking, and going about life until the flood swept them away.
Ask yourself: If Christ returned today, would you be ready? Are you redeeming the time, making the most of every opportunity to live for Him and share His gospel with others?