The Promise

There are times when we may be tempted to wonder about the Second Coming of Christ. Will He really descend someday from this blue sky above us for a wonderful reunion? We’ve been separated for so long. Such a gloriously happy ending to the earth’s long, tragic history may appear just too good to be true.

But there’s one thing that can keep us going; there’s one thing that can keep hope alive in our hearts. And that’s simply the promise. The One who longs more than anything else to experience complete union with His people has promised to return. Just before departing from His disciples into heaven, Jesus made this pledge:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
—John 14:1-3. (Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides are from the New International Version of the Bible [NIV].)

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He assured His followers, “I WILL COME BACK!” He wants us to be with Him, and He promised to return and take all who trust in Him to the special place He has prepared for us.

The second coming of Jesus is a Bible fact. Scripture speaks of His return approximately 2,500 times. Interestingly, you will find more references to Jesus’ Second Advent than to His first. The fact that Jesus is coming to the world a second time is as certain as the reality that He lived on this earth two thousand years ago. That’s why the apostle Paul could confidently proclaim that, because Christ “gave himself for us” on the cross, we can experience a “blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).