Christ Returns And Then What Happens Revealed

The easiest way to explain the answer to this question is to divide it into three parts.  

Part One: Just before the 7 year Tribulation period, all those who follow Christ, and all children will be raptured off the earth. The dead will first be resurrected and raptured followed immediately by the living. All, now translated and immortal, will join Jesus high in the earth's atmosphere and then be led up into Heaven. There, all will receive rewards at the Bema Seat Judgement with some bring given appointments of governance. Then, all will be given robes and attend the Marriage and Supper of Christ to His Church in Heaven. Today, almost all Protestant churches teach that the rapture will be a pre tribulation event. It is the rapture event that literally triggers the start of the tribulation period. The rapture will be the greatest supernatural event since the Big Bang and the start of physical creation.

Part Two: The 7 year tribulation period ends with the appearance of Christ descending to the earth being followed by those taken from the earth in the rapture seven years earlier (Revelation 19:14). As He approaches the earth, He speaks a word on behalf of the Godhead, and all the unrepentant wicked of the earth simply drop dead by way of the power of the Holy Spirit (Revelation 19:15-18; Hebrews 4:12-13). We saw a shadow of this event when God caused all the first born of the Egyptians to suddenly die in their sleep (Exodus 12:29-30). This will include the armies of the Antichrist who are about to destroy the last remnant of the Jewish race in Israel. So instantly, the earth is now only inhabited by the immortal Saints that arrived with Christ, and those mortal humans that came to believe in Christ during the tribulation period and survived until His appearance. Because animals and plant life are incapable of sin, they are also left alive on the earth.

Part Three: Scripture tells us that Christ will rule the earth from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-2; Revelation 21:1-3; Revelation 22:3-5). During this time, He will allow the various nations of the world to continue to exist including the practices of their various customs. However, all the people of the earth will now only recognize the one true religion which is a belief in the One True Creator God with Christ the Word of God as His visible image (Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 19:15) . So, to pray to Christ will continue to be identical to praying to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

It may be that all the people of the earth will now speak a common language. The Jews believe it will be Hebrew the original language of Adam and Eve, but this is not clear. Please see related: “Who Taught Adam To Speak”. This does not mean that people will take language lessons. Instead, this change will occur automatically. We have a shadow preview of this event when the Holy Spirit arrived at Pentecost 33 A.D. At that time, the disciples suddenly started preaching in a language that was understood by all people from all nations attending this feast (Acts 2:1-8). So, this was yet another shadow event that will probably occur again when Jesus arrives on earth. 

Because the nations will continue to exist for a period of time, the people of these nation will live in total peace and harmony with themselves and all other nations. The immortal saints that returned with Christ will be deployed around the earth to provide governance supervision and assist these nations on behalf of Christ. These various governance and task oriented positions were appointed as part of the rewards given at the Bema Seat of Judgment. It was then that the followers of Christ were grafted or adopted into the Family of God and became privy to all the rights and privileges associated with being a Child of God. 

The mortal people of the earth will now begin to live extremely long lives, grow crops and eat food, live in houses, and have children in order to repopulate the earth. The world will now be free of all diseases and all types of pestilences. The atmosphere and oceans will now be controlled by God who will purified them from all pollution and contaminates. The entire earth will now be regularly watered by gentle rains followed by warm sunny days and cool breezes. The water table beneath the earth will once again be raised and come nearer the surface as it was in Eden. This in turn will create many more fresh water springs, streams, ponds and lakes throughout the world including current desert regions. There will be no more destructive storms, earthquakes nor volcanic activity. The poles of the earth will still have ice caps as they are the cause of the various deep ocean streams and changing weather conditions. And, the entire earth will still have four seasons, but without the frigid cold and extraordinary heat with its accompanying droughts (Genesis 8:22). 

Before the time of Noah and the flood, it seems the earth’s orientation was one of directly facing the sun. This caused the earth to be temperate from pole to pole. This condition was aided by a thick layer of water vapor that enveloped the earth and helped deflect harmful solar rays. Also at this time, the earth’s water table was located very near the surface such that plants and animals had abundant sources of fresh water available (Genesis 2:5-6). Therefore, there was no need for rain storms. However, during the flood, God apparently caused the earth to tilt on its axis by 23 degrees. It was this tilt that caused the earth to experience seasons as was explained to Noah by God. But, because Genesis tells us that the seasons will continue forever on earth, we can assume that seasons will continue during the millennial reign of Christ on earth. 

We now turn to Paul to understand how the people and nations of the earth will interact with each other. Paul received his revelations from Christ by way of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 1:11-12). Paul writes, “There is {will be} no longer Jew or Greek {gentile}, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one {of one accord} in Christ Jesus.”(Galatians 3:27-28) Let’s take a moment to unpack this wealth of information. 

First, Paul wrote, “there is no Jew or Greek {gentile}”. Paul is stating with great certainty that with the return of Jesus, a paradigm change, or a new creation will be ushered in. First and foremost, all the people of the earth will worship the One True Creator God as it was in the days of Adam before sin entered the world. This means that for the first time since the fall of Adam, the world will experience universal human equality. In other words, the earth will be populated by utopian communities. Different nations will continue to have different genetic traits such as skin-colors and traditions, but all the peoples of the earth will live together in homogenous groups under the rulership of Christ where derogatory ethnic distinctions will no longer be tolerated (Revelation 2:26-27). As such, these communities will now be able to put aside all concepts concerning discrimination, property boundaries, economic disadvantages and enslavement in all its forms from physical, to psychological. Now, all people of the earth will live together as brothers and sisters, as equals and not divided by nationalism, ethnic affiliations or even families. And as such, communities will now put aside racial, political, religious and economic differences. This in turn will be the removal of all the causes of societal unrest and conflicts that have plagued the earth since the time of Adam.   

Next, Paul wrote, “… there is no longer slave or free”. Attitudes towards those peoples who provide services that involve manual labor as opposed to people who provide creative concepts and leadership skills will change. People with manual skills will be respected just as are doctors, lawyers, engineers and those who hold jobs of great authority. They will now be seen as full members of the brotherhood of humanity. Another vital cog in the wheel of society. In this new economy, people will either share tasks equally, or there may simply be little need for manual labor due to incredible technological advances. It may be that devices controlled by A.I. will be developed and provide many if not most of the everyday needs of all people. 

Paul continues,”…there is no longer male or female …”. As for the roles performed by males and females, we need to understand the coming two separate scenarios. At the rapture, Christ caught up both the faithful living and the faithful dead into the sky where two events occurred. The dead, now with thirty year old bodies, are reunited or indwelled with their life spirits. Next, these revived saints, along with the living followers of Christ that were also raptured off the earth, are all translated to a state of immortality. These are the same events that happened to Jesus who was dead, arose immortal and was later raptured off the earth. Then both of these groups are taken into Heaven. There they will all be judged at the Bema Seat of Christ for their good works. Some will receive crowns to signify their extraordinary efforts on behalf of Christ.

These 5 Crowns are, the Crown of Life given to martyrs (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10). The Incorruptible Crown given to those that persevered in faith through trials (I Corinthians 9:25). The Crown of Righteousness given to those who look forward to the Second Coming (II Timothy 4:8). The Crown of Glory given to Christian clergy (I Peter 5:4). And the Crown of Rejoicing given to those who evangelized (I Thessalonians 2:19).

Next, all the saints will be rewarded with governance and other responsibilities. They will perform these duties during the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth (II Corinthians 5:10). Then they will all be given robes and attend the Marriage Ceremony of Christ to His bride the Church. This event will be followed by the Marriage Supper {reception celebration} of Christ. This group will later reappear as the entourage of saints that will return with Christ at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:14).  

As immortals, those who were once married on earth will recognize and commune with their spouses but they will no longer be married to them. Their marital relationship ended according to their marriage covenant vows. This vow stipulated that the marriage ended in death or, “… until death do us part”. Marriage was an institution created by God to help humans better cope with the stress and strains of a fallen world in which to raise families. However, the earth is now ruled by God through Christ His Word. So, those resurrected, raptured and made immortal will no longer need help mates as Christ will provide for all their needs. Second, immortals will no longer be needed to produce children. They were given this ability during their first incarnation. This task will now be accomplished by those mortal followers of Christ that survived the tribulation period. So, there are still males and females on the earth, but only mortal males and females will marry, create families and repopulate the earth. God wants to see a never ending stream of children joining His family. God has very exciting eternal plans for all His Children. Please see related: “What Happens at the End of the Millennial Reign?” 

Finally, Paul wrote, “ .. for all of you are one in Jesus Christ.” Paul is describing a future world where all people are one under the leadership and inspiration of Jesus Christ. While the earth will consist of people who are male and female, mortal and immortal, white and of color, all are now united under the one banner of the Children of God. Thus, all are treated by one another fairly and equally regardless of their nationally, ethnic identity or position of duty. A social ideal of harmony and connection, where those factors in society that once created division and conflict have been removed. So, some people will be assigned tasks of planning and governance, some will be creating families, while others will be involved in helping maintain the needs of their communities. However, all will be ideally suited for their assignment. And, all will gladly look forward to accomplishing the tasks at hand because it helps their community and pleases God. Thus, these tasks will not be considered work because every person will look forward to any assignment and receive a great sense of accomplishment having completed it. And, all people will be richly rewarded in this new economy with tremendous health, a beautiful home, a loving family, and a caring community that values them for the unique individual they are.

This new ideal world was always God’s ultimate plan for mankind. The fact that Adam bought sin into the world and temporarily set back God’s plan does not mean he was able to terminate God’s plan. Here we see God ushering in His original vision just as prophesied so that all people who have ever lived and will ever live at last have the opportunity to experience the Garden of Eden here on earth as they were originally created to do. An extraordinary experience opportunity belated, but well worth the wait.

However, the Millennial reign, as incredible as it will be, is only the precursor to the following Ages that will completely stagger the imagination. So, stand by because you are not going to believe what happens after the thousand year reign of Christ ends! Please see related: "Time Ends and Eternity Begins"