History’s Most Important Event

In 1961, President-elect John F. Kennedy invited Billy Graham to join him for a golf getaway. After the round, Kennedy began driving them back to the hotel. But along the way, Kennedy pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. He stopped the engine and looked Graham in the eye.

“Billy,” he asked, “do you believe Jesus Christ is coming back to earth one day?”

“I certainly do, Mr. President,” Graham replied.

“Then why do I hear so little about it?”¹

Christ’s return should be no secret. It is history’s most important event. Both the Old and New Testaments proclaim that Christ will return and reclaim this broken world. To understand this monumental event, we’re going to look at what precedes His second coming, how His coming differs from the rapture, and the importance of His return to us today.

Events That Precede Christ’s Return

In Daniel 9, the angel Gabriel gave a timeline for Christ’s return. He said God would complete His plan for Israel and usher in the Messiah’s kingdom 490 years after a decree was given to rebuild Jerusalem. That decree came in 445 BC.² On that date, God started the countdown to Christ’s second coming.

During His first coming, 483 years after this decree, Christ made atonement for our sins on the cross. But when Israel rejected their Messiah, God pressed the “pause” button on His countdown with seven years remaining. We’re living in that pause—the gap between Christ’s first and second comings.

Right now, God has temporarily turned away from Israel so that Gentiles can be saved (Romans 11:25). We call this period the church age. It will end when God raptures the church—that means you and me—to live with Him in glory. Then God will restart His countdown toward Christ’s second coming.

During those final seven years, known as the tribulation, God will pour out His wrath on the earth (Revelation 6–18). One of the key figures in the tribulation is a world leader known as the Antichrist. Daniel 9:27 says the Antichrist will make a peace treaty with Israel at the beginning of the tribulation, but after three and a half years, he will break the treaty. He will relentlessly persecute God’s people, including Jews and Christians, as well as anyone else who opposes him.

Finally, fed up with years of persecution and natural disasters, other world leaders will turn on the Antichrist. His allies will gather on the plain of Armageddon to oppose these enemy forces (Revelation 16:16). But as the armies clash, their attention will be diverted by a sight from which they’ll never recover. Revelation 19:11 says, “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”

When He comes again, Jesus will crush His enemies and dispatch unbelievers to hell. He will then begin His thousand-year reign on earth with the marriage supper of the Lamb. Verse 7 states that you and I will join in as the church, the bride of Christ.

Differences Between the Rapture and the Second Coming

Many people believe that the second coming of Christ is the same event as the rapture, but these two events differ in at least eight ways:

1. No prophecies remain before the rapture can occur, but many prophecies must still take place before the second coming.

2. At the rapture, Jesus appears in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At the second coming, He returns to earth (Zechariah 14:4).

3. At the rapture, Jesus snatches believers away to heaven. At the second coming, He returns to earth with believers.

4. The rapture was never discussed in the Old Testament. Since Paul had the job of revealing the mystery of the church, he also talked about the rapture, the event that will end the church age. However, the second coming was prophesied hundreds of times in the Old Testament.

5. After the rapture, only believers are judged. At the second coming, unbelievers are judged.

6. After the rapture, the earth undergoes no change. After the second coming, the earth is partially renovated.

7. After the rapture, Satan continues to work. In fact, he works more feverishly than ever. After the second coming, Satan will be bound for a thousand years.

8. At the rapture, only believers will see Christ. At the second coming, everyone will see Him (Zechariah 12:10; Philippians 2:10–11).

How the Second Coming Affects You

What difference does it make whether Jesus comes back? Let me mention three implications for you and me today.

First, Jesus is coming back to fulfill biblical prophecies. If Jesus does not physically return, the Bible cannot be trusted.

Second, Jesus is coming back to judge unbelievers (Isaiah 11:4). This should motivate us to share with as many people as possible the only way to escape God’s judgment: trusting in Jesus for salvation.

Third, Jesus is coming back to reclaim the earth. If God takes us to heaven but leaves the earth as it is, He would be conceding defeat to Satan. No, Jesus is coming back to reclaim His rightful property. And Jesus wins.

Today, it doesn’t seem like Jesus is winning. Real evil and sorrow surround us—but they are only temporary. The Bible says one day Jesus will come back to reclaim what was lost.

In Revelation 11:15, John said, “The seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.’” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

1. William Martin, A Prophet with Honor (William Morrow, 1991), 281.

2. Charles Caldwell Ryrie, “Daniel,” The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard, (Moody, 2012), 1362.