It’s better than Christmas. Better than your birthday. Better than your wedding day. Imagine the best day of your life. There is a day that will be better still. Even great days can’t compare to this one. Bad days feel less tragic when we hope in the Day that’s coming.
What is it? It’s the day of Christ’s return. When is it? No one knows for sure. (Not even Jesus according to Mark 13:32.) The Bible tells us it will be a day to end all days. It will be a show-stopping, earthshaking, time-splitting day. As we fill our days and mark our calendars, we are wise to look ahead to the Day to come. While some of the details remain mysterious, the Bible makes one thing clear: It’s going to be the best day ever. Here’s what the Bible tells us about that Day.
Jesus is coming back SOON.
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done” (Rev. 22:12).
He’s coming for US.
So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (Heb. 9:28).
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).
Listen for the trumpet blast.
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. And the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thess. 4:16).
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (1 Cor. 15:52).
The living and the dead will join Jesus in the clouds.
And 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, and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:16–17).
Everything we see will dissolve.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed (2 Peter 3:10).
The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place (Rev. 6:14).
Our Hero will ride to our rescue on a white horse.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:11–16).
Death will die.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev. 1:17–18).
We will live!
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:4).
We need to be ready.
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:32–33).
“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44).
The promise of the day of Christ’s return lifts our eyes from the day we are facing right now and the sum of our days to come. We can rest in the promise that He is coming for us and that on that Day everything will be set right.
What should we do in the meantime? How can we fill the time as we wait for Christ’s return? We can ask God to use this day to get us ready for the Best. Day. Ever.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:1–4).
By Erin Davis
