The doctrine of the “second coming” or what some call “the rapture” are not presented in the Bible for an intellectual exercise but it is there to spur us on to hope. I realize that some students of prophecy think the second coming and the rapture are two different events, while many recognize them as the same.

Here, I wish to stress to you that the Bible specifically calls the return of Jesus, “the blessed hope,” and it’s found in Titus 2:13. This is what is says, “we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (NIV).

The followers of God have long found hope in the promised return of the Lord, it is the keynote of Scripture, the completing act of redemption, the awakening of the saints in the resurrection, the ushering in of the earth made new, and the end of sin.

Job, a man in the most despairing of circumstances, regained hope after the destruction and death of his property and family by looking to the return of the Lord, saying, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth” (Job 19:25 NIV).

Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam in the midst of the circumstances brought by sin and violence known in Noah’s time, regained hope saying, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints” (Jude 14 NIV).

John, the Apostle who was banished to Patmos for his faith, regained hope in his loneliness and in actually seeing in vision the worst of tribulation by looking to the return of the Lord, saying, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20 NIV).

The Apostle Paul gave us some beautiful words of encouragement on the return of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, but it is what he said in verse 18 that we need to remember, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

This is not the time for the church to shy away from the encouraging theme of our Lord’s return out of fear of misunderstanding the sequence of events. I fear for those who sit in pews before a pulpit that doesn’t mention the Blessed Hope of Jesus’ return because if we are not prayerfully thinking about our Savior’s return we are risking hopelessness in the presence of today’s despairing times.

2 Timothy 4:8 gives an indication that our Christian hope is as true followers of Christ, who “love his appearing.” To love His appearing is to have an active cherished hope in it and a longing for that event to take place.

Whatever your current circumstances, find hope in knowing that Jesus Christ is going to return just as He promised. The Old Testament prophecies said that He would come and bear our sins and He did. He said He will rise from the dead and He did. In John 14:3 He said He will come again to set all things new and He will!

The return of Jesus Christ is the blessed hope for all who grieve at the bedside of a loved-one, too. Why? Because when “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 NIV).

When Christ returns our deceased loved-ones will rise in the “resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV). Whatever sickness or disease that laid claim to their life will be powerless against their resurrected immortal body.

Furthermore, when Jesus returns, those who may be “alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NIV). Those who are alive will meet their loved-ones in the air and will forever be together again. This is why Jesus’ return is our blessed hope when the sorrowful circumstances of life, pain of disease, or the grief of death befalls us.