Living as Children of the Day: The Return of Christ

Introduction

You have probably already heard the word Armageddon. At the end of the story, the armies of God and those of the enemy meet, Satan and death are defeated, and then a new heaven and a new earth appear. But before that final act, the Bible announces the return of Jesus to the earth. There was a first coming, at Christmas, when he was born in a manger, walked among us, died on the cross for your sins, rose again, and went up into heaven. This same Jesus will return. This is what is called the return of Christ.

Paul's letter to the Thessalonians was written about ten years after the ascension of Jesus. Some Christians in Thessalonica thought this return was imminent, almost immediate, and this misguided expectation had ended up distorting their everyday lives. Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, takes things back to the basics in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to 5:8 in order to answer three simple questions: in what order will this return take place, when will it happen, and how should we wait for it concretely? You are going to go through these three points one after another.

Outline of the message

1. The order of Christ's return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

• Paul begins with those who have fallen asleep, meaning believers who died before the return of Jesus. He does not want you to grieve like those who have no hope.
• Since Jesus died and rose again, God will also bring back, through Jesus and with him, those who have fallen asleep in him.
• The Christian's ultimate goal is not a waiting room paradise, but eternal life with the risen Christ. Paradise is a magnificent waiting room (a garden, a place of rest free of temptation or sin), but it is not the final destination.
• At the return of Jesus, the dead in Christ rise first, then believers who are still alive are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. You won't have to climb: you will be seized, carried up, and you will be reunited with those who went on ahead of you.

2. The timing of Christ's return (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4)

• Paul refuses to set a date. The day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night, suddenly, just when people are saying "peace and safety."
• Jesus himself said it in the Gospels: no one knows the day or the hour, except the Father. Any precise prediction coming from sects or misguided groups is a warning sign.
• What is certain is that this day will come. Living with that knowledge transforms the way you love, speak, work, and treat others.
• After the rapture of the church, the Bible describes a great tribulation of extreme violence, then the thousand year reign of Christ (Revelation 20:1-6), then the final judgment where everything not written in the book of life is cast away (Revelation 20:7-15).

3. How to wait for the return of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:5-8)

• You are a child of light, a child of the day. You belong neither to the night nor to the darkness. So do not sleep as others do, but stay awake and be sober.
• In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15, "sleep" refers to those who have died. In 5:6-7, that same word this time refers to believers who live as though the return of Christ should change nothing about their daily lives.
• Paul corrects a specific problem in Thessalonica: some, convinced that Jesus was coming right away, had stopped working, stopped being involved, and were waiting with their arms folded (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13). Paul reminds them: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."
• Waiting for the return of Christ does not mean withdrawing from the world. It means living fully where God has placed you: in your family, at your work, in your neighborhood, in your church. It means putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation.

Key takeaways

• The Christian's final destination is not a stay in a waiting room paradise, but resurrection with Christ and eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth.
• Believers who died before the return of Christ are not forgotten: they will rise first.
• The day of his return is unknown. Any precise prediction is a distortion. Your certainty rests on the fact, not on the date.
• The grace of salvation is received by faith alone in Jesus, dead and risen. Your service and your involvement are not conditions of salvation, but the grateful response to a salvation already won.
• Waiting for Jesus means living soberly and faithfully in your everyday life, as a child of the day.

Personal application

1. Would your life change if you knew Jesus was returning this week? What would you do differently starting tomorrow morning?
2. Is there someone around you grieving a loved one "like someone who has no hope"? What can you offer them from the comfort of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?
3. Does your attitude at work, in your studies, or at home reflect someone waiting for Jesus, or someone settling into the world?
4. Does your service in the church come from merit you're trying to earn, or from gratitude for a salvation already given?
5. This week, what "breastplate of faith and love" and what "helmet of hope" do you want to concretely put back on in your life?

Verses cited

• 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (LSG)
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8 (LSG)
• 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (LSG)
• Matthew 24:21-22 (LSG)
• Revelation 20:7-15 (LSG)

Frequently asked questions

Can we know the date of Jesus' return?

No. Jesus himself said that only the Father knows the day and the hour. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, suddenly and without warning. Anyone who sets a date is mistaken and misleads others.

What happens to believers who died before Christ's return?

According to 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16, those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will come back with him. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then believers who are still alive will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

How do we concretely wait for the return of Jesus?

By living each day as a child of the day: faithful in the family, diligent at work, present in the church, sober and watchful. Not by fleeing everyday life, but through service done wholeheartedly, clothed in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.