TUESDAY August 29, 2023

The Rapture of the Church

...I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

In his letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul established the doctrine of the Rapture of the church. He made known to the believers that those who do not have Christ do not have hope; but those who have Christ have hope. Why? Even in our sorrow, when someone we love dies, and they knew Christ, we shall see them again. There is life after death; we do not just become non-existent. We have hope in eternal life.

The believers in Thessalonica asked Paul, “When a person dies, what is going to happen at the coming of the Lord? Are they going to come with Jesus, or are we going to them?” Paul answered this important question. He gave them a promise. Those who have died in Christ, those we greatly miss, we shall one day, meet again.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [dead]. 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 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Paul also taught that at the coming of the Lord, there will be a generation that will not die! They will disappear because the Lord will come, and at the sound of the trumpet, they will be snatched away. Paul assured the Thessalonian believers of the reality of the coming of the Lord.

Are you ready for the coming of the Lord? The world is so messed up, how much longer can it continue? Jesus will come again!

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 trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
~1 Corinthians 15:51-52~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!