The Resurrection of Life Pt. 1

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 KJV

By David Berg Sep 22, 2014

“The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voiceand come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life.”—John 5:28–291

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”—1 John 3:22

When Jesus comes, a wonderful miracle takes place—the Resurrection. All of those who belong to Him, all the saved, will then have a glorious resurrection—either from the dead or instantly changed and raised from the very face of the earth, from the living. Then we will all go to be with the Lord to have the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, while the Wrath of God is being poured out upon those who remain on the earth.

His return and our consequent resurrection are spoken of many times throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Many times we’re told in various ways of this great, apocalyptic event. Although the word “rapture” itself is not found in the Scriptures, it is a handy little word because it sums up the coming of the Lord in the clouds, the sounding of the trumpet, the dead being raised, the living saved being translated, and all of us being gathered together to be with the Lord.

The apostle Paul gives a very revelatory insight into this marvelous event in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”3 He says, “I don’t want you to be so ignorant that you don’t know what’s going to happen when Jesus comes. I don’t want you to sorrow over death, not realizing there’s going to be a resurrection.”

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”4 Those who are asleep in Jesus is an oft-used expression and it means “the dead in Christ,” as explained in verse 16 of this same chapter—those who have died in the Lord, born-again Christians who have already gone on to be with Jesus. All of our dear loved ones who have departed from this life are already with the Lord. Their bodies, you might say, are asleep and have gone back to dust if they’ve been there long enough. But they themselves, their spirits, are not sleeping in the grave. They’re with Jesus. “For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”5 They’ve “departed to be with Christ, which is far better.”6

Jesus will come back with the spirits of all these departed saints so that they can pick up their new resurrected bodies. God wants to prove that He can raise the dead, so He’s going to raise them from the dead, literally, but in a new body—a new resurrected body like the one He had when He rose. That’s going to be beautiful! Their new, glorified, supernatural, resurrection bodies are going to rise and are going to get together with their spirits at the moment of Christ’s coming.

So the dead in Christ are going to come back with the Lord, and He says that “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord”—those of us who are still living when Jesus comes—“shall not prevent them which are asleep.”7 The literal meaning here is that they which are alive will not precede or go before them which are asleep. The Lord says He’s going to let them be resurrected and rise first. Those who have died in the Lord and have gone on to be with Him go first.

1 NKJV.
2 Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible verses are from the King James Version.
3 1 Thessalonians 4:13.
4 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
5 2 Corinthians 5:8.
6 Philippians 1:23.
7 1 Thessalonians 4:15.






Anchor TFI