Whatever your end-time beliefs might be, I can assure you of this: God is not going to end this age with a whimper and on a note of defeat. Instead, He will bring His grand plan to pass with a climax – a climax of redemption and outpouring and salvation.
I personally hold to what is known as historic premillennialism. This means that I do not believe in a pre-trib rapture (see here for a book I co-authored with Prof. Craig Keener on the subject).
But I do believe that Jesus will literally return in the clouds of heaven.
I do believe we will be caught up to meet Him in the air, descending in triumph with Him.
And I do believe that He will rule and reign for a thousand years on the earth during what we call the millennium.
You may hold to similar beliefs or to very different beliefs. But either way, to say it again, God is not going to end this age with a whimper and on a note of defeat...