What Happens on the Day Jesus Returns?
Christians agree that Jesus is coming again.
But what happens when He comes?
Does His return begin another long period of ordinary history on this earth?
Or does the New Testament describe His return as the end of this present age and the beginning of eternity?
Instead of starting with a system, let's gather the passages that clearly describe that day.
Paul: Jesus Returns and the Dead Are Raised
Paul gives one of the clearest descriptions in 1 Thessalonians:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven... and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
— 1 Thessalonians 4:16
Jesus returns.
The dead in Christ are raised.
Living Christians are then caught up together with them:
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
— 1 Thessalonians 4:17
And what happens after they meet Him?
Paul says:
“And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
Notice where Paul's emphasis falls.
Jesus returns.
The dead are raised.
Living believers are changed.
God's people meet the Lord.
And they are with Him forever.
Paul Says It Happens at the Last Trumpet
Paul describes the same great transformation in 1 Corinthians 15:
“The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:52
When?
“At the last trumpet.”
Again the sequence is simple.
The trumpet sounds.
The dead are raised.
Living believers are changed.
Death is defeated.
Paul concludes:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:54
This is not merely another stage in ordinary human history.
Death itself is being defeated.
What About the Wicked?
Paul also describes what Christ's return means for those who reject Him.
He tells persecuted Christians that God will give them relief:
“This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”
— 2 Thessalonians 1:7
What happens to those who refuse God?
“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord.”
— 2 Thessalonians 1:9
And when does this happen?
“On the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people.”
— 2 Thessalonians 1:10
Notice that carefully.
The righteous receive relief when Jesus is revealed from heaven.
The wicked receive judgment when Jesus is revealed from heaven.
Paul doesn't place those events a thousand years apart.
Peter: What Happens to the Earth on That Day?
Now listen to Peter.
He calls it:
“the day of the Lord.”
— 2 Peter 3:10
And what happens on that day?
“The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”
— 2 Peter 3:10
The King James Version puts part of it memorably:
“The elements shall melt with fervent heat.”
Peter repeats the point:
“That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.”
— 2 Peter 3:12
Whatever questions we may have about the exact nature of this destruction and transformation, one thing seems clear:
Peter is not describing another thousand years of ordinary life on the present earth.
So what comes next?
Peter's Next Earth Is the New Earth
Peter immediately says:
“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
— 2 Peter 3:13
Notice the movement.
Day of the Lord.
Present heavens and earth pass away.
New heavens and new earth.
Where do we insert another thousand years of ordinary earthly history?
Peter doesn't mention one.
Jesus: The Resurrection Happens on “The Last Day”
Jesus Himself repeatedly used an interesting expression in John 6.
He said:
“I will raise them up at the last day.”
— John 6:40
Again:
“I will raise them up at the last day.”
— John 6:44
And again:
“I will raise them up at the last day.”
— John 6:54
Martha understood this language.
Speaking about her dead brother Lazarus, she said:
“I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
— John 11:24
So the resurrection is associated with the last day.
That raises a very simple question:
If the resurrection occurs on the last day, how can another thousand years of earthly history follow the last day?
Jesus Places Both Groups in the Resurrection
Jesus says:
“A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out.”
— John 5:28–29
Who comes out?
Both groups.
“Those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”
Jesus describes all who are in the graves hearing His voice.
Some rise to life.
Others rise to condemnation.
Paul later speaks similarly:
“There will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
— Acts 24:15
That sounds remarkably straightforward.
Jesus Also Places Judgment on “The Last Day”
Jesus says something else:
“There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words.”
— John 12:48
When will that judgment occur?
“The very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”
So according to Jesus:
The righteous are raised at the last day.
Judgment occurs at the last day.
Again we have to ask:
What comes after the last day?
Jesus Describes His Return and Judgment Together
Matthew 25 gives us another picture.
Jesus says:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.”
— Matthew 25:31
Then:
“All the nations will be gathered before him.”
— Matthew 25:32
He separates them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
And the scene concludes:
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
— Matthew 25:46
Again the sequence is uncomplicated:
The Son of Man comes.
The nations are gathered.
Judgment takes place.
The wicked go to punishment.
The righteous go to eternal life.
What Did Peter Preach Earlier?
This wasn't something Peter invented late in life.
In Acts 3 he told his listeners that heaven must receive Jesus:
“until the time comes for God to restore everything.”
— Acts 3:21
Jesus remains in heaven until the time of restoration.
That fits naturally with Peter's later description of the Day of the Lord followed by the new heavens and new earth.
Now Put the Passages Together
Don't begin with Revelation 20.
Don't begin with a chart.
Just put the straightforward passages beside one another.
What happens when Jesus returns?
Christ descends from heaven.
— 1 Thessalonians 4:16
The trumpet sounds.
— 1 Corinthians 15:52
The dead are raised.
— 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52
Living Christians are changed.
— 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
The righteous and wicked face resurrection and judgment.
— John 5:28–29; Acts 24:15
Christ is revealed with His angels and judgment falls.
— 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10
All nations stand before the Son of Man.
— Matthew 25:31–46
The present heavens and earth face fiery dissolution.
— 2 Peter 3:10–12
God's people look for the new heavens and new earth.
— 2 Peter 3:13
And Jesus repeatedly calls the time of resurrection and judgment:
“the last day.”
So Where Do We Put Another Thousand Years?
Now we are ready to return to Revelation 20.
Some people believe Jesus will return, raise His people, and then begin a literal thousand-year reign on this present earth.
But before accepting that timeline, we should ask whether it fits the passages we have just read.
If Jesus raises His people “at the last day”...
If the wicked are judged at “the last day”...
If Paul says the righteous receive relief and the wicked face judgment when Jesus is revealed from heaven...
If Peter says the Day of the Lord brings fiery judgment upon the present heavens and earth...
And if what Peter expects next is “a new heaven and a new earth”...
then we have a very important question:
Where does another thousand years of ordinary earthly history fit?
Perhaps Revelation 20 was never intended to create a thousand-year interval after Christ's return.
Perhaps we should interpret Revelation's symbolic vision in harmony with the clearer passages that tell us directly what happens when Jesus comes.
Don't accept that conclusion because we say it.
Read the passages.
Put them beside one another.
Draw the timeline they actually describe.
Then ask:
If this is the last day, what day comes next?
Text B4 Tradition
Read First. Conclude Later.