What promises does God have for our future?

Matthew 24:30-31“Then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.”

One of the greatest promises in the Bible is that Jesus will come again. He will come in judgment—righting all wrongs and vindicating his followers. We will be gathered together with him and enter into his glory. Those who have refused Jesus and the truth of this prophecy will spend eternity apart from him.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

When Jesus returns, he will secure the final victory for believers against Satan and all evil. We gain hope and strength as we remind ourselves that evil cannot and will not triumph. This prophecy expresses our hope in the face of our own death or the death of others. We do not grieve with despair but with confidence that God will erase our grief in his time.