Now you ask me how does this explain the return of Christ. To answer this ? I first need to ask another question. ie. What does Christ come to do? Well the answer is Jesus Christ comes to reverse the curse. The nations & the earth were cursed as a result of rebellion. People were first exiled from Gods Kingdom which is the Garden of Eden. Israels story imitates to us the same story as the story of the Nations. Both were exiled from Gods Kingdom and came under his curse because of rebellion. So then for Jew and gentile the promise of restoration is to return to where we were exiled from. ie "The Garden of Eden." Just Like the Jews we must 1st be forgiven all our sins to be restored. So Christ is the one promised to Abraham in Genesis 12 as the solution the problem of sin which brought curse on all the nations. For it is promised to Abraham that through his seed the nations will be blessed. Blessing is the opposite of curse. So in answer to the ? what does Christ come to do? The answer must be Jesus comes to reverse the curse. That is why Revelation says of the New Heavens & Earth that there will be no more curse. So it turns out heaven is here on earth, surprised? REV2: Jesus says to him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Again salvation is spoken of in Edenic terms. The one who overcomes to the end will return to the place of Gods paradise from which he was exiled. this is return from exile language that Jesus is using. To return from exile is to have your fortunes restored because the curse will have been removed and reversed.

Having established what Christ comes to do, we can return to the ? of the return of Christ. What happens when Christ returns? The apostles Paul & Peter speak of it as the day of our salvation. In Peter1:1-7 he says that trials will result in praise, glory and honour at "THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST" The apostle is clear at his return and he only speaks of one return it will result in our salvation. Here we see that the salvation of the righteous is caught up in the 2nd Christ event. Again in Paul in 2Timothy 4:7-8 Paul speaks of the being rewarded with the crown of righteousness "ON THAT DAY" and not only him but also all who have LOVED HIS APPEARING. Again the receiving of rewards is caught up in the 2nd return of Christ. There is a Day when that happens. Also 1 Corinthians 15:23.... Tells us at Christs coming the dead will be raised. So the return of Christ is the great day at the end when the dead are raised. On that day Christ hands over the Kingdom to the Father. It is quite clear that this is the last day and not before!! Paul goes on to say that it is by this last day resurrection that mortality is exchanged for immortality (vs53). Also in the gospels when Jesus speaks of his return the dead will be raised. Also at his return the sheep will be separated from the goats. Jesus himself never talks about coming again more than once. So in all these pictures that are portrayed around his 2nd coming we find the picture of the last day. On the last day the dead are raised. Gods enemies are judged and punished . Gods children are rewarded with honour, glory, immortality and eternal life in the New Heavens and Earth, and God will be King over the nations of the earth. So to speak of Christ coming 3 0r even more times is to completely misunderstand what Christ comes to do.

Many people don't understand these things because resurrection and the great day of judgement doesn't fit into many peoples understanding of salvation. So in 1Thessalonians 4:16... when Paul talks of us been caught up in the sky to be with Christ forever. We must look at all that happens when Christ comes. When he comes the dead are raised which means we are talking about the last day. So the dead who are asleep are raised from the dead and they along with the living are caught up (raptured )to be with the Lord forever. The use of the word rapture in greek is that of when people go outside of a city to meet their King. They then return with their king to the city. So the concept of rapture as been taken out to another place is alien to the bible.
Matthew 24 which is used to back the rapture speaks of it being like the time of Noah. But if it is like the time of Noah then it can't be speaking of rapture but rather of the judgement of the wicked. we find that the wicked are taken out not in the sense of rapture but in the sense of judgement. Otherwise why compare it to the days of Noah. But if we do, we see it is the wicked who are taken out and the righteous been left behind. So just by the use of basic English grammar Matthew 24 isn't talking of the rapture.

If you look at the picture of the last day and after, from all over scripture and you will find an overall picture of Christ coming to restore all things. In other words to reverse the curse. Also if you accept that Christ comes to reverse the curse, How does he do it if people are caught up to heaven where there is no curse. We need to understand that Christ comes to recreate the earth and restore all things by reversing the curse by His work of recreation.