THE TRUE RAPTURE part 1

Here read KJV Philippians 3:21 I Thessalonians 4:13-18 I Corinthians 15:51-57 I John 3:2 Luke 21:34-35

When considering how the Rapture of the church will happen, these five main references to the actual Rapture must be studied in connection to each other. When so studied, a true picture of the Rapture emerges which is quite different from the one portrayed in many books and movies. Those who consider themselves to be Fundamentalists should strictly believe and trust in the actual words of the KJV, and not in how books and movies often misrepresent the Word of God.

As depicted in the movies, the saints' bodies suddenly dissolve into thin air and are gone. In books we read that cars will crash and airplanes will fall because their drivers and pilots will have disappeared. This erroneous view of the Rapture seems to have emerged from reading the phrase "in the twinkling of an eye" as referring to the entire Rapture.

A careful review of these five main references to the Rapture clearly shows that the actual Rapture happens as a process in time that leads up to the sudden "twinkling of an eye" transfer of the living saints into their new spiritual bodies. Many passing references to the Rapture occur in both the Old and New Testaments, but these five references will suffice to reveal a true picture of the Rapture as a process that takes time to complete.

First, " the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel." Christ will appear in the air above the earth and shout so loud that the whole world will hear Him. Why He borrows the voice of the archangel is not revealed, but perhaps because God gave the archangel the loudest voice in the universe. The whole world will hear this shout, and not just the church. We know this because Luke 21:35 clearly states: " For as a snare shall it (the Rapture) come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." The "it" must pertain to the Rapture because v.36 refers to the "escape" of believers from the coming tribulation. When Jesus shouts ( believe this) the whole world will come to a complete stop. All cars will stop, and all planes will land. There will be no crashing cars or planes. Everyone in the world will be looking up at Jesus.

Second, a trumpet will sound to announce that the "dead in Christ" will rise first. Their resurrections will precede the translations of those that "are alive and remain." Both Jesus and Paul constantly referred to the "dead in Christ" as the church that is "asleep."
In the 11th chapter of John's gospel, Jesus first tells His disciples that: " Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." Jesus was trying to teach His disciples that He had power over death. His disciples misunderstood and thought that Jesus merely spoke of Lazarus being asleep. Then Jesus plainly told them: "Lazarus is dead." By associating "sleep" with "death," Jesus made His disciples somewhat understand that Jesus could awaken Lazarus from death, similar to awaking someone from sleep. But to be precise, Jesus did not resurrect Lazarus. He simply resuscitated him by bringing his departed soul and spirit back into his old body. The true resurrection happens when God creates a new "spiritual-body" that replaces the old dead body of the believer.

                                   Here read John 11:25-26

In His first answer to Martha's statement about the resurrection, Jesus describes His complete power over life and death. Jesus Himself is the resurrection since He can create a new spiritual-body for every dead believer. This spiritual-body will be the same kind of body that Jesus acquired with His own resurrection.

                                 Here read Philippians 3:21 and I John 3:2

In His second statement to Martha, Jesus reveals that none of His believers actually ever dies. God creates a new and everlasting spirit and soul for every believer at the moment they believe.

                                 Here read John 3:3 and II Corinthians 5:17

Even though the bodies of all men must die, the living saints; that is, the born again believers never die because God creates new souls and spirits for them at the moment they believe. Here read John 3:15-16. When a believer's body dies, his living soul and spirit departs to heaven to be with God. Here read II Corinthians 5:8.

                                Here read II Corinthians 5:2 and I Thessalonians 4:14

In addition, believers are never dead to God because He has created a new body for them which He will bring with Him at the Rapture. He will clothe His saints, dead and alive, with this new body. Therefore, at the Rapture of the church, every believer whether "dead in Christ" or those that are "alive and remain" simply await the completion of their salvation by acquiring their new spiritual-body which God has created for them. Every believer will be saved in body, soul and spirit. The only difference is that God creates a new soul and spirit the moment any believer accepts Christ as his Savior and is born again, but God does not save his body until the Rapture.