| Subject: The Resurrections Post #7 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 18:59:34 02/22/10 Mon
The Seven Resurrections
Resurrection 4: The resurrection of the Church.
The all important (to us) resurrection of the Church age Saints. We see Paul has written in 1 Corinthians 15:49-55 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
As the first and second resurrections we looked at correspond with the "firstfruits" this one will correspond with the main harvest and it is a physical resurrection just as the first two were It is known by the term "rapture of the Church" and also as "the translation of the saints". It is the resurrection of all Church age saints. It has two aspects of it that combine into one resurrection. The dead in Christ shall rise first (1Ths. 4:16) and then those who are alive at the coming of our Lord will be caught up with the dead. (1 Ths. 4:17). The second aspect of the living being instantly changed and caught up into the air is where we get the word "rapture". (The word rapture is defined as: A state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion. Synonym: ecstasy, exaltation, raptus, transport. Hypernym: emotional state, spirit.) This event is pre-figured in the Old Testament with the translation of Enoch. Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. We see then that the coming "rapture" or if you prefer "translation of the Saints" is two fold in nature. The dead will be raised and changed and then the alive will be changed without tasting physical death.
Jesus hinted at the two-fold nature of this resurrection when talking to Martha about her brother Lazarus whom he was about to raise back to life from the dead: John 11:21-26 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (here you have the dead in Christ) 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Here you are presented with someone who will never die. The context is the resurrection at the 2nd coming of Jesus at the last day. Notice again the two groups that Jesus alludes to. The dead of verse 25 and those who are alive in verse 26. This is in perfect agreement with what Paul has told us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4:16-17.
This "rapture" of living saints is prefigured in the Old Testament by the translation of Enoch to heaven without dying. The scriptures states of this event: Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
The resurrection and translation of the "Bride of Christ" involves receiving a new body "fashioned like unto His (Christ's) glorious body." (Plp. 3:21) Much of Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians 15 is aimed at detailing the change that will come to the resurrected Christian. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Think about it! A body that won't grow old nor decay. A body that it is impossible to corrupt with sin. A body that will not and indeed cannot die. This is the type of body that Jesus has and this is the type of body we are to be robed in one day soon.
This rapture or translation of the saints could also properly called the adoption. Paul wrote in Romans8:14-23 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Notice the present tense. It is a present fact) 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Again notice the present tense of the statement)17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,(see Gal. 2:20, 6:14,Rom. 6:3) that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. So we see the adoption is the redemption of the body. The soul of the saved man is redeemed now and is a son of God. The body is waiting for the glorious event when it too shall be redeemed which will take place at the resurrection/rapture.
This "adoption" then is the redemption and glorification of our earthly body. As Jesus came forth from the tomb in a spiritual body so shall we receive a spiritual body in the resurrection. This is the thrust of the verse in 1 Cor. 15 and 1 Thess. 4. When we receive the adoption our standing in Christ will be complete. We will not only have the resurrected inner man as we saw in the third resurrection but we will also now have a flesh and bone body (see Luke 24:36-43) like Jesus and we will stand complete in His presence.
Corruption to incorruption. Mortality to immortality. What a wonderful prospect awaits us. Not only do we raise to a glorified body like Jesus' body but notice the word "incorruptible" in verse 52. "The dead shall be raised incorruptible". That means the body once changed to an incorruptible body cannot be changed back. It is incapable of corruption. Unlike the bodies of Adam and Eve which were created without corruption and became corrupted through sin, our immortal bodies will never see corruption again.
As to the timing of the "rapture" we can look to a few verses that show it will come before the tribulation or 7 year period of the anti-Christ and God's wrath. 1 Thessalonians 5:5-10 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
In these verses in 1 Thess 5 above we should notice that the night and darkness are equated with the "wrath" of verse 9. This wrath is the tribulation period and will be the darkest hour the earth has ever seen or will see. As we are not appointed to this darkness and wrath we fully expect the church to be delivered from that "night time". Those of us who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture and resurrection point to Rev. 4:1-2 where the elements of the rapture as given in 1 These. 4:16 are shown. Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and, be hold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. We have the voice, trumpet and the call to "come up hither" and the immediate transformation. We should also take note that John was immediately in the presence of Jesus. All this takes place immediately after the letters to the seven churches. We understand the letters to the 7 Churches display the spiritual condition of the Church throughout it's history from it's being brought forth from Christ's body after His resurrection (Jn. 20:22) until the rapture. Interestingly in 1 Ths. 4 13-17 we have the rapture and in 2 Ths. 2:1-4 the "man of sin" whom we know to be the anti-Christ shows up. The Church at Thessalonica is the 7th Church Paul writes to in his series of letters to the Churches. If this truly is a hint from God as to His timing then we see the church going up before the man of sin shows up or is revealed. This agrees with Revelation where we have the 7 Churches, the rapture in type in Rev. 4:1-2 and John being immediately in the presence of God. After we see the events in heaven written about in Rev. 4 and 5 the man of sin shows up in chapter 6 as a king on a white horse. This is the counterfeit Christ or the anti-Christ. The evidence then is that the Church is in heaven while utter chaos and destruction is carried out on the earth at the hand of the anti-Christ and also at the hand of God as He pours His judgments on the earth.
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