A hinge of the whole story
The Return of Christ
The story that began with a good creation and turned on a cross and an empty tomb is not yet finished. The return of Christ is its promised end, the King coming again to make all things new, where every tear is wiped away and God dwells with His people forever. This is where it is all going.
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”Revelation 22:20
What happened
What happened, and what is promised. Unlike the earlier hinges, this one is still ahead, yet Scripture speaks of it with certainty. When Jesus ascended, angels told the watching disciples, "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Jesus Himself promised to come again (John 14:3) and warned that no one knows the day or hour (Matt 24:36). The Bible's final vision unveils the end: a new heaven and a new earth, the holy city coming down, and a great voice declaring, "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them... And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Rev 21:3-4). The One on the throne says, "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev 21:5). The book, and with it the whole Bible, closes on the promise and the prayer: "Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22:20).
Why the whole story turns here
Why the whole story turns here. This is the turning point that gives every other its final meaning, the destination toward which the whole Bible has been traveling. The metanarrative has a shape: creation, fall, and the long work of redemption through Israel and supremely through Christ, all moving toward a restoration greater than the beginning. The return of Christ is that restoration arriving. It completes what the resurrection began; His rising was the firstfruits, and His coming brings in the full harvest, when the dead are raised and creation itself is "delivered from the bondage of corruption" (Rom 8:21). It answers the fall completely: the curse is lifted, death is destroyed, and the exile from Eden ends forever in a garden-city where "there shall be no more curse" (Rev 22:3) and the tree of life stands open. The deepest longing of the whole story, God dwelling with His people, first hinted in Eden, pursued through tabernacle and temple, begun again in the incarnation, is fulfilled without a veil at last. On the details of how and when these things unfold, faithful Christians have held differing views across the centuries; Scripture calls us to watchfulness rather than to charts. But on the central hope there is one voice: Christ will return, the dead will be raised, evil and death will be undone, and God will dwell with His people in a made-new world, forever.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The whole hope is Christ Himself; the story ends not with an event but with a Person. The same Jesus who was born, crucified, and raised is the One who returns as King and Judge, and "every eye shall see him" (Rev 1:7). He is the Alpha and the Omega, "the beginning and the ending" (Rev 1:8), the One through whom the world was made and the One to whom it is being brought home. In the new creation there is no temple, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Rev 21:22), and it needs no sun, "for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev 21:23). The Lamb once slain reigns forever, and His people see His face. Every promise from Eden onward finds its yes in Him, and the last word of Scripture is a longing for His coming: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22:20).
Questions people ask
Do Christians agree on the details of the end times?
On the central hope, yes: that Christ will return bodily, the dead will be raised, evil and death will be judged and undone, and God will dwell with His renewed people forever. On the timing and sequence of events, faithful Christians have long held differing views. Scripture emphasizes watchfulness and hope rather than settling every detail (Matt 24:36, 42).
How does the Bible's story end?
Not with escape from the world but with the world made new. Revelation shows a new heaven and new earth, the curse lifted, death gone, every tear wiped away, and God dwelling with His people face to face (Rev 21:3-5). The final turning point completes the whole story, restoring and surpassing the good creation with which it began.