What You Need to Know (and Not Know) about Christ’s Return: Reflections on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

That Jesus will someday return in glory is a very important part of the Christian faith and the Bible’s storyline. Much of the biblical narrative is about what God has done in the past, but we must never forget that our faith is future oriented as well. One of the great encouragements and incentives of the Christian life is that this broken and sinful world will not always be the way it is. Christ’s return and ultimate victory over sin and death is meant to be a great source of encouragement for believers (see 1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11). I love how Paul puts it in his letter to the Romans, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”^[1]

As Christians, we tend to go to extremes about Jesus’ return. Either we obsess about it and try to nail down all the details assuming that all current events are predicting his immediate return, or, perhaps in reaction to this view, we simply never address it. Let’s consider what we need to know from 1 Thess. 4 and 5.

What You Don’t Need to Know 

You don’t need to know about the times and seasons, Paul tells the Thessalonians, because Christ’s return will be unpredictable, like a thief who comes unexpectedly at night or like labor pains that suddenly come upon a pregnant woman (see 5:1-3). The purpose of focusing on Jesus’ return is NOT to speculate about times and seasons, and certainly not to speculate on a specific date or time in history. When I was growing up, I heard things like, “88 reasons why Jesus will return by 1988.” Guess what? They were wrong and in hindsight look kind of foolish. Or worse, such individuals might be considered false prophets.

What You Need to Know 

Knowing the certainty of Christ’s return should be an extra incentive to persevere in the faith and walk in Christ’s love by His Spirit. Martin Luther said that there were two days on his calendar: Today and That Day! We see today and its responsibilities and opportunities in light of eternity. When Christ returns, we will be made like him which gives us incentive to become more like him now (see 1 John 3:2-3). What we will be then, we are becoming now. Because Jesus will return one day, we live expectantly as if it might be today, and we plan wisely, knowing that he may tarry for many generations to come.

How Should We Then Live?

• As believers, our grief is different. Yes, we grieve the passing of fellow believers, but we do so with hope. We know that they are in Christ’s presence and one day when he returns we will all be united and receive our resurrection bodies (4:13-18). The Christian life is hopeful. 

• We are children of the day and not children of darkness. Our lives, therefore, should be characterized by those who belong to the day, putting on faith, hope, and love (5:1-8). 

• We should encourage one another as followers of Jesus knowing that Christ’s death has spared us from judgment and secured our salvation and reconciliation to God (5:9-11). 

How should Christ’s return affect the way you live out this day?

^[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ro 8:18.