“For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. And
thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort
one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17)
Nothing colors life like the
knowledge that “all die.” Therefore, nothing becomes more
precious to many than the Bible’s promise of eternal life.
The death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ are among the most proven facts of history. Since
Christians know this event actually took place, they can be
equally certain that the souls of the believers will be reunited
with Christ when He comes for them.
There is hope, not only for the
souls of those who died in Christ, but also for their bodies.
The bodies of the Christians who die will be resurrected just
before living Christians are caught up to meet the Lord in the
air. Jesus Christ at this very moment is sitting at the right
hand of God the Father in heaven (Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col.
3:1; Heb. 1:3). At a future time, He will leave this position
and return to the earth to fulfill His promise to take the
believers with Him to a place that He has prepared for them.
“Do not let your heart be
troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would
have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (Jn.
14:1-3)
The Dead Shall Rise First
Just how are the dead raised, and
what kind of body will they have? These are questions that Paul
was asked by the Corinthian church.
“But someone will say, How
are the dead raised up and with what body do they come? How
foolish! What is sown is not made alive except it die.” (1
Cor. 15:35-36)
Belief in the resurrection is
like belief in spring seed-planting and autumn harvest.
Although it cannot be completely understood, it is very real.
When planted, the seed actually dies before the life within
springs out. This is God’s way of teaching us that physical
death comes before real life begins.
The Resurrection Body is Superior
to the One that Dies
As God has the power to create
the physical bodies used by those of us in Adam’s human race, He
also has the power to create superior bodies for those who are
connected to the Lord Jesus Christ.
“And what you sow, you do not
sow that body that shall be, but a mere grain-perhaps wheat
or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases,
and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same
flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of animals, another of
fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies
and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is
one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is
one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star
in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body
is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in
weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body,
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and
there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:37-44)
A shiny corn seed, when planted
into the ground, does not remain a shiny corn seed. When it
breaks open, it produces a very beautiful plant. God has
designed a beautiful body to take the place of the Christian’s
physical body that dies. The new resurrected body will be a
perfect body. Why? Because God is the designer! If it pleases
Him, then it will be perfect.
The new resurrection body will
also be the only one of its kind. To each seed God gives its own
plant. To every body God will give a unique resurrection body.
Our resurrection bodies will reflect the uniqueness that our
physical bodies had while upon the earth. In the heavenly
realm, like on earth, there will be no one exactly like you.
God has obviously made the flesh
of man different from that of fish, and the fish different from
the birds. Likewise, He will give to the resurrected body a new
flesh, unlike any that we know of in this physical world. It
will be a flesh designed for eternity. It will be a body
crafted by God for a different world.
Each new body will shed light
upon the creative genius of God. Paul said that there is one
glory of the sun, one of the moon, and another of the stars. So
what about our heavenly bodies? They will be far superior to
those connected to this world.
Paul contrasts the physical body
connected to Adam the first and that which is connected to the
second Adam.
“So also is the resurrection
of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised
in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is
a natural body and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Cor.
15:42-44)
Our earthly bodies will die and
be planted in corruption, destined to physically decay. However,
the new body will be raised never to decay again. It will be an
eternal body. It will be sown in dishonor, disgrace, and
humiliation; but it will be raised to shed light upon the One
who created it. It is to be sown a natural body but raised in
power and glory with no limitations.
A Body like Jesus Christ
“And so it is written, ‘The
first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became
a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first,
but the natural and afterward the spiritual. The first man
was of the earth, earthy. The second Man is the Lord from
heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are
made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those
who are heavenly. And as we have born the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.”
(1 Cor. 15:45-49)
The first man, Adam, was of the
earth, and thus called earthy. He produced a civilization
after his “earthy” kind. It is a civilization born physically
alive but spiritually dead. It is born in union with old Adam,
using physical seed, cursed in Adam and possesses a strong
Adamic nature. It is part of an old birth, old physical life,
old physical body, old relationships, old earth and an old
heaven with an earthy citizenship.
But the second Man is the Lord
from heaven. He is at this very moment producing a heavenly
civilization after His kind. This second Adam's new civilization
is reborn in union with the body of Jesus Christ, made
spiritually alive and possesses a new nature given by God. It is
produced by spiritual seed, marked by a new spiritual birth and
new life, and is destined to possess a new heavenly body,
heavenly life, heavenly relationships, and to live upon a new
earth and heaven.
By faith in Jesus Christ,
believers have become citizens of a new world.
“For our citizenship is in
heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it
may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the
working by which He is able even to subdue all things to
Himself.” (Phil. 3:20-21)
Those Who are Alive and Remain
“Behold I tell you a mystery:
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed- in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:51-53)
What about Christians who are
alive on this earth when Christ returns? Paul says clearly that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
“Now I say this, brethren,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor
does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Cor.
15:50)
The dead “in Christ” will be
raised first and then the living will be instantaneously
transformed. Like the dead, the living will exchange their
physical bodies for their glorified bodies; but this will occur
while they are physically alive.
Christians today call this
mysterious transformation “the Rapture.” Though the word
“Rapture” does not occur in Scripture, the truth that it
represents certainly does.
“Those who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the
air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess.
4:17)
This supernatural transformation
is the believer’s great hope. We pray that we will be alive when
the Lord returns in order that we may be instantly caught up.
But either way, whether by death or by life, we will all be
changed and we will all be with the Lord.
“So when this corruptible has
put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your
sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death
is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to
God, who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus
Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:54-57)
The tragedy of the fall of man in
the Garden of Eden and the seeming gloom of Calvary’s cross were
both reversed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death came
through the disobedience of the first Adam, but life came
through the obedience of the last Adam (Rom. 5:18-19). Upon
faith in Christ, life comes to the believer along with victory
over the grave and the promise of a new beginning (1 Cor.
15:23).
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