Waiting Patiently

Patience is a virtue—a superior virtue. Every man, woman, and child will spend a large portion of their lives waiting for things to happen, so each of us must develop this virtue to one degree or another. But Christians must develop this virtue to a superior degree.

Developing superior degrees of patience is possible because we have the Hope. We wait for another World. We wait for the Kingdom.

Our Hope makes us holy. That is, we are different--so we are treated unfairly by the people of this World. Their mistreatment causes us to long more deeply for the appearance of Jesus. It causes us to desire to see him, for we know that his appearance will free us from the injustices, persecutions, and slander we suffer during this life.

The Rapture

Once Jesus appears, he will send angels to snatch up believers into the clouds to be with him. That event is called the Rapture. Once the Rapture occurs, from that point on, we will remain with Jesus. So, the Rapture is our reunification with Christ. Being such a special event, we have a special name for it. We call it the Blessed Hope.

… we wait for the Blessed Hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).

Future Plans

When you have an appointment, you prepare for it. When something special is on your calendar, you get ready. Let’s say that you have a plane trip to visit family in another country on the agenda. To prepare, you take out your passport, you review your finances, you rent a car online, and you get your luggage ready.

The big event on the Church’s calendar also involves a flight—it’s called the Rapture. On that day we will be snatched up by angels into the clouds.

We are patiently waiting for the Rapture, hence we call it a hope, the Blessed Hope. It’s our salvation from sin since we’ll get new sinless bodies. That’s why the passage at hand states:

… the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people… while we wait for the Blessed Hope—the appearing of… Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).

The Rapture coincides with the Resurrection of the Dead. That means that at the Rapture we’ll meet up with believers from all previous generations as we ascend to Heaven. Adam, Eve, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joshua, Samson, Samuel, David, Elisha, Jeremiah, Daniel, Esther, John the Baptist, the Twelve Apostles, Mary, Paul, Timothy, Priscilla, Aquilla, and all the other famous believers will be there.

Every Eye Will See Him

Another major aspect of the Rapture event is that it will be visible to every person on the Planet. The whole World will get a glimpse of Christ’s glory. In fact, it will be the most public event ever. All people will see him coming in the clouds. Jews and Gentiles will behold him.

They [the Jews] will look on the one they have pierced (John 19:37).

And I will pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10).

… just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in his day (Luke 17:24; NASB).

For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be (Matthew 24:27; LEB).

Jews and Gentiles will mourn when they see him. They will mourn for their sins, especially the sin of disbelief. Many will realize how wrong they were to have doubted Christ and will be converted. But they will miss the Rapture.

‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him;’ and all peoples on Earth ‘will mourn because of him’ (Revelation 1:7).

It will be too late to save them from the wrath of God. They will have to pass through the most difficult times ever seen in the history of this planet: the Seven Cups of Wrath of God.

Angelic Intervention

The common conception of the Rapture is that we will fly up to the clouds on our own. You’ll see that illustrated in most graphics on the Internet. However, the Rapture is not us flying up to the clouds. It is passive. We are snatched up. We do not perform the action, we receive the action.

And who pray tell snatches us up? An innumerable host of angels. When Christ comes, he sends his angels to snatch up all believers, and they take us to the clouds.

And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it (Matthew 24:31; LEB).

Let’s not forget the role of angels in the Rapture. Jesus commands them to act, and the harvest of souls is carried out by angels.

… another angel came out of the Temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the Earth is ripe.’ So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the Earth, and the earth was harvested (Revelation 14:15-16).

Transformation

On our way up, we will be transformed in the blinking of an eye. We will leave our human nature of sin, and will exchange it for a divine nature. To be sure, we’ll remain human. We’ll still be the people we identify as today—just that our nature will no longer be a human nature. It will be the divine nature.

We will become as Christ is, spiritual people—eternally young, strong, beautiful, intelligent, and healthy. We will become immortal.

We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the Last Trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the Dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

Appearing vs. Return

The Return of Christ to rule on the Earth in his Kingdom is a different event from the one we’re addressing here, the appearing of Christ. The apostles use the Greek word parousia to indicate Jesus’ Return, but his appearing occurs prior to his return. They are two different historical events.

The appearing is when Jesus sends his angels to snatch believers up to him. After that, he takes us to Heaven to be there with him until Armageddon, when he'll return permanently. Technically, the Return of Christ begins when he sets his feet down on the Mount of Olives, and it splits in two.

On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half… And then on that day there will not be light, the precious things will congeal. There shall be continuous day—it is known to Yahweh—not day and not night; and at evening time there will be light.

And then on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem… and Yahweh will be king over all the Earth; on that day Yahweh will be One and his name one (Zechariah 14:4-9; LEB).

The Return: Establishing His Throne

Jesus’ reign will begin once Jesus establishes his Throne in Jerusalem. That's another very important aspect of his Return.

Truly I tell you, at the Renewal of all Things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious Throne… (Matthew 19:28)

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the Throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his Kingdom will never end (Luke 1:31-33).

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders… Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s Throne and over his Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6-7).

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the Earth… The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain (Isaiah 25:7-8, 10).

To the one who is victorious, I [Jesus] will give the right to sit with me on my Throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his Throne (Revelation 3:21).

The Return: Establishing the Kingdom

Jesus will establish the Kingdom of God forever only at his Return, not at his appearing. That is, it will happen years after the Rapture.

There will be one King over all of them… My servant David [through his descendant, Jesus] will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd… David my servant will be their Prince forever (Ezequiel 37:24, 25).

I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be Prince among them (Ezekiel 34:24).

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go out for me, to be Ruler in Israel; and his origins are from of old, from Ancient Days… (Micah 5:2; LEB)

Their Leader will be one of their own; their Ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me… (Jeremiah 30:21)

The Effect Now

If we have it, the Hope of Christ's appearing will be the inspiration behind self-controlled, righteous, and godly living. We will say “no” to temptation, and we’ll order our lives in such a way that we’ll show self-control, righteousness, and godliness. We will prepare ourselves for our encounter with Jesus.

Let's look at the Blessed Hope passage one more time, but this time we'll focus on what it says before it mentions the Rapture:

… the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the Blessed Hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).

To have this Hope is as if we were preparing for a trip. We’re getting our life in order for the trip of a lifetime. Get your heart ready. Don’t miss your flight!

When you have an appointment, you prepare for it. When something special is on your calendar, you get ready. If you have a plane trip to visit family in another country on the agenda you will prepare. You take out your passport, you will review your finances, you will rent a car online, and you will get your luggage ready.

The big event on the Church’s calendar also involves a flight—it’s called the Rapture. It is the Blessed Hope. Are you preparing for it?