Will Christ Return in 2024?
Definitive answers to the world's most pressing questions about the end times
‘Tis the season for Christians to reflect upon the birth of the Savior who came to save the world from sin, destroy the works of the devil, and bring about the obedience of faith to the nations.
Instead, according to a survey, 47% of Christians are focusing on the apocalypse, believing humanity is on the brink of destruction.1
My Prediction About the Return of Christ
I don’t subscribe to making prophecies or setting dates about when Christ will return in bodily form to earth. However, I can rely 100% on the prophecies and predictions already given in the Word of God.
Therefore, with absolute certainty, I can say that Christ will not return in 2024 — nor in the next seven years. Please hold me accountable for this. Laugh if you want. However, mark your calendar to test me to see if I’m a false prophet.
When this earth endures until 2031, then you will know that my prediction is true.
How Can I Be So Certain?
God has established His own timeline as to when Christ will return physically to earth and put an end to history as we know it.
The answer is found hidden in plain sight with these words:
Then comes the end…
1 Corinthians 15:24
God has told us when the end of history will occur and all the events that must happen first.
This substack post will not be your typical trek through a prophetic timeline. There will be no talk of the antichrist or tribulation, no mention of beasts and locusts, no discussion of wars and rumors of wars, no timeline of stars falling from the sky, or any other apocalyptic message.
Rather, as always — this is a message of HOPE.
When Comes the End?
Consider this question a puzzle to solve with most clues found in Chapter 15 of First Corinthians — with the rest of the Bible as a corroborating witness.
Our next clue as to when the end of the world comes is found in the remainder of 1 Corinthians 15:24. Remember the first part of the verse, “Then comes the end…”
Here’s the next part of the story:
…when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:24
So the end comes when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father. But when does that happen?
We’ll need to look at the preceding verses to get the context.
What Happens Immediately Before The End?
The passage right before 1 Corinthians 15:24 is talking about the resurrection of the dead. This is an important passage that we will circle back to further along in the puzzle (which is really not that hard to figure out).
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 says:
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
Then comes the end, according to the next verse. Resurrection first. Then the end — when Jesus hands the kingdom over to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24).
But there’s a more critical question.
What Happens Between the Advent and Return?
It’s imperative that we understand how the Scripture answers this question. So lets go back to our chapter.
1 Corinthians 15:25 holds the clincher, the theme of history on planet earth since Christ’s Advent, and the main theme of Scripture — which can be thoroughly demonstrated and proven over and over: What happens between Christ’s Advent and Christ’s bodily Return?
The answer:
He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
1 Corinthians 15:25
This verse is a reference to Psalm 110:1, which says, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’”
Psalm 110:1 is the most quoted verse in the New Testament. Virtually every NT author quotes this verse or alludes to it.2 Psalm 110:1 gives us God's trajectory for history:
Christ must reign until all His enemies are a footstool for His feet.
When Did Christ Sit at the Right Hand of God?
Or said another way, “When did Christ begin to reign?”
The answer is at the ascension.
Daniel 7:13 prophesied it:
I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a son of man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Honor, and a kingdom,
So that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
While on earth, Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. And He received His kingdom, according to this passage, at His ascension — namely, when He came UP to the Ancient of Days. No other time in Scripture does it talk about Jesus Christ going UP to heaven except at His ascension.
Mark 16:19 clears up all possibilities of another conclusion.
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
Christ received His kingdom, dominion, and crown rights at the ascension. And He is reigning now from Heaven — where He must continue ruling until the time that all His enemies are subject to Him.
New Testament Affirms Christ’s Present Reign
Lest you think this is some obscure idea, consider that almost every New Testament writer affirms that Christ is now seated at the right hand of God ruling from heaven.
Jesus predicted it: Luke 22:69
Peter preached it: Acts 2:33
The Apostles agreed it was so: Acts 5:31
The Holy Spirit attested to it: Acts 7:55
Stephen saw it: Acts 7:56
Paul wrote about it: Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1
The author of Hebrews3 reiterates it: Hebrews 8:1; 10:12; 12:2
Peter wrote about it: 1 Peter 3:22
The ascended Christ said it was so: Revelation 3:21
Plus, the Apostle's Creed4 teaches this same truth:
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Hymn writers often wrote about it. Consider this verse from “Rejoice the Lord Is King” by Charles Wesley:
He sits at God's right hand
till all his foes submit,
and bow to his command,
and fall beneath his feet.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Sadly, many churches, I suspect due to their lack of faith, have removed this verse from the song. 5
How Long Will Christ Rule from Heaven?
We know that all Scripture is true and that God cannot lie. But does the Bible give clues as to when Christ’s heavenly rule over His earthly (and eternal) kingdom will end?
Back to 1 Corinthians 15:27:
For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
According to the apostle Paul, Christ will continue to reign from Heaven until all his enemies are under His feet.
And other writers in the Bible affirm this very thing.
Consider:
Peter’s testimony in Acts 3:19-21:
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Matthew/Jesus/David’s testimony in Matthew 22:44:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?Mark/David/Jesus/Holy Spirit’s testimony in Mark 12:36:
For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’
Luke/Jesus/David’s testimony in Luke 20:42-43:
Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”Author of Hebrews in Hebrews 1:13:
But to which of the angels has He ever said:
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?and Hebrews 10:12-13:
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
What the Bible writers are teaching is this:
Christ is ruling now from Heaven
Sitting at the right hand of the throne of glory
Where He must remain until all His enemies are subdued
What’s the Last Enemy?
If Christ must rule — from Heaven — until all His enemies are a footstool for His feet6 — when, then, will He return from Heaven for His bride — according to Scripture?
After all His enemies are subdued. It’s that simple.
What is the last enemy?
Death.
The resurrection of the dead will slay the final enemy.
Only then will the end of the world as we know it come. Only then will Christ hand over the kingdom to His Father.
But FIRST — all Christ’s other enemies must subject themselves to Him.
How Then Shall We Live?
We are more than conquerors in Christ. He has all power and authority in Heaven and on Earth — and has commissioned us in that power to win the world to Christ.
The blood of the cross and the subsequent exaltation to the right hand of God is all we need to accomplish the task. Early Christians believed this. And they fought the good fight in faith, believing all the Messianic prophecies of blessing and prosperity on earth — to the point that even wars would cease.
These promises remain for us today and God will accomplish them. He guarantees it.
“But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21).
“Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:7).
“He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law” (Isaiah 42:4).
However, we can’t expect to see God’s promises of goodness without faith.
And we’ve lost it.
What’s happened?
The Devil Has Zapped Our Faith
I used to sing a little song at church camp:
The devil is a sly old fox;
If I could catch him I’d put him in a box;
I’d close the lid and throw away the key;
For all the tricks he’s pulled on me.
The devil knows the Bible better than most Christians. And he knows how to use it against us. He KNOWS that it takes FAITH to overcome the world (1 John 5:4).
So he played a sneaky trick that the church en masse has fallen for like a child going after tasty-looking, poisoned candy.
Satan has tricked the world into believing…
wait for it…
That sly old fox has tricked the church into believing that the devil wins down here and Jesus loses. Christians will only experience victory when Christ returns or raptures the church.
And many evangelical pastors and leaders have fallen prey to this (dis)belief and continue to propagate Satan’s lie.
As a result, we are living in a self-fulling prophecy of doom and gloom because we don’t have the FAITH to conquer the enemies of Christ through the means given in the Bible: Prayer, Preaching, and Proclamation from a position of FAITH that Christ is Lord over all creation and will have His rightful due in time and space before He returns bodily.
Who Wins Down Here?
We cannot deny, according to Scripture, that the Church is triumphant down here in the power of Christ, through the preaching of the gospel, and by pressing the Crown Rights of Jesus Christ over all creation here and now.
The gates of hell CANNOT prevail.
That’s the message of the Bible. That’s the gospel. That’s why Christ came.
Beloved, we have a lot of work to do.
Don’t let the enemies that surround us zap your faith. Fight the good fight, even unto death.
Christ wins down here. And we must be willing to lay down our lives until the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
That’s the trajectory of History. It’s also why I wrote the song Christ Reigns and King of the World.
Do you believe?
https://www.newsweek.com/shocking-number-americans-believe-living-end-times-1762615
I challenge you to study this out on your own time.
Phillip Kayser does an excellent job showing that Luke was the author of Hebrews contrary to popular opinion. He refers his readers to this book for further investigations. David Lewis Allen, Lukan Authorship of Hebrews (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2010).
In a later post, I will discuss what it means that from there He will “come” to judge the living and the dead. We tend to lump all Christ’s “coming” judgments with the last and final judgment. However, the Scripture tells a different story. But I will have to wait for that one.
Compare the lyrics in the Trinity Hymnal with this Baptist Hymnal.
To have all Christ’s enemies as His footstool, simply means that His enemies are subdued, either serving Him willingly or feigning obedience. Remember, the Bible teaches that you and I were once enemies of Christ, but He subdued us under His feet and now we serve Him willingly.