Social media is abuzz with talk about the rapture these days. People notice that the world is spinning out of control, and they have questions about eternity and “the end of the world.” I believe the Holy Spirit is also working in the hearts of unbelievers who are not ready to step into eternity, because God does not want anybody to perish, but to have everlasting life.
It is astounding to see how the world embraces lawlessness, doing the very things that the Bible says will happen in the last days. They follow the Script without having read it. No doubt the great delusion that the Lord promised to send on those who do not love the truth, has taken root and is flourishing.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
We live not only in the last days, but in the last hour. A spiritual war is ramping up in the heavens, and its impact can be seen and felt on earth. Words fail to describe what we see around us, much of it not shown on television. Many among us now sense the urge to stop this flood of senselessness by engaging in spiritual warfare. However, without being pessimistic, I don’t believe the world will return to what we have known as normal. We have crossed the point of no return, and it is high time to understand that we don’t have a future here. If life on earth is too cozy, nobody would want to leave.
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And 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. John 14:1-3
How will this happen? A day will surely come when Jesus will make good on His promise to take us to His Father’s house, and it will happen in the twinkling of an eye.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 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 15:50-52
This body that you now live in will not go to heaven, and that is a good thing! It is corrupt and subject to entropy from the day you were born. It is not only susceptible to all kinds of illnesses, but sin took up residence there to buffet us with temptations that strain fellowship with our Father. We look forward to the sound of the trumpet that only the saints will hear, and we will be changed. Before that happens, believers that died will rise first with brand new resurrected bodies, and then all of us will meet the Lord in the air together.
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 2:16,17
What will this new body be like? It will never be sick again, it will never die, and sin will have no power over it. Best of all, it will be like the resurrected body of Jesus Himself, and that is something to be excited about!
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2
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. Philippians 3:20,21
We will be like Him – His resurrected body! As new creation beings we will be in a totally different class than those who remain on earth. And we will need to be like Him, because we will rule and reign with Him over the earth for 1000 years. Just imagine: Jesus could appear in a locked room without using the door. (John 20:24-26) He could translate from one place to another without physically travelling there. He could change shape so that the disciples who went fishing again after His resurrection didn’t recognize Him when He stood waiting for them on the beach. (John 21:1-9) The millennium reign of Christ is going to be something else. Sinners who make life miserable now will have no chance to escape the rule of Christ and His new creation followers!
Before Jesus comes back to reign, we will be judged and receive rewards based on how we served Him and conducted ourselves while on earth. It will not be a judgment of sin, because God already judged Jesus on the cross for our sins.
But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but 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 men, another 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 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 Corinthians 15:35-44
While the world mires in its own filth, we have something to look forward to. Instead of looking around, let’s look up to where our redemption will come from. Whether your body will be resurrected or changed, let’s be rapture ready. Nobody’s tomorrow is guaranteed.
When I was a child we used to sing an adapted version of an old song:
Jesus may come in the morning,
Jesus may come at noon,
Jesus may come in the evening,
So keep your hearts in tune.
You cannot go wrong by staying ready to meet Him!
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