What is the blessed hope? It is, quite simply, the soon return of Christ from the heavenlies to meet those of us living and those dead who are in Him and acknowledge Him as Savior. This is spoken of in my favorite verses in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 where Christ descends in the clouds, but does not touch the earth, calls the dead from the grave to rise to Him, and then the rest of us who call Him Lord. And why is He doing this? Because the rapture of the church from the earth heralds the onset of the Great Tribulation which will be marked by all the horrors described in the four gospels and Revelation. Do we know when this event will occur? No, nowhere in scripture does it give any indication of when the rapture will occur, but we can know for certainty that the Great Tribulation will start immediately following and will end seven years from that time to usher in the millennial kingdom when Christ will reign on earth for 1,000 years. For those of us who are raptured, we will never again see this earth in turmoil or destruction for we will be forever with Him in heaven, talking to God Himself and getting all our questions answered. Even so come, Lord Jesus!

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”