THE TRUE RAPTURE part 3

                         Here read II Corinthians 5:17 Colossians 3:9-10

This same pattern of God destroying sinful systems and replacing them with recreated ones is repeated in God's system of spiritual renewal called being "born again." Jesus stated in John 3:7 that "Ye must be born again." This "born again" experience constitutes a miracle in which God does not attempt to reform the old sinful, dead spirit and soul of the believer, but He actually creates a new spirit and soul for the believer at the moment that a sinner repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It seems unreasonable that God's pattern would be broken in the Rapture of the living saints. Surely, true to His pattern, God will not try to reform the old, corrupt bodies of the living saints, but rather He will create a new "spiritual-body" for them. They will put off the old body and leave it behind, and "put on" the new body which God will bring with Him. Further evidence that this pattern holds true is borne out by a careful study of the descriptions of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15:20-23, I Corinthians 15:35-50 and II Corinthians 5:1-5.

         Here read I Corinthians 15:20-23 I Corinthians 15:35-50 II Corinthians 5:1-5

In II Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul writes about an "earthly house" and a "house which is from heaven." Clearly, the use of the word "house" is a metaphor for the believer's earthly body and his heavenly body. The heavenly body has been created in heaven, and the believer "groans;" that is, yearns to unclothe himself of his earthly body and to be clothed with his heavenly body.

This description of the resurrection comports perfectly with Paul"s description of the Rapture in which he uses the verb "put on" in I Corinthians 15:53, which means to change as if changing one's clothes. The meanings are the same; the old, corrupt body is left behind on the earth, and the believer rises clothed in his new body created in heaven.
Moreover, Paul's use of the phrase"that mortality might be swallowed up of life" in II Corinthians 5:4 is similar to his phrase "Death is swallowed up in victory" in I Corinthians 15:54. These similar phrases must be Paul's poetic way of saying that death will be left behind, as though swallowed up like water, and that new life will emerge victorious. This description reminds one of both the Rapture and the symbolism of water baptism.

God's Word must be true. Since His Word clearly states in I Corinthians 5:22: "For as in Adam all die," then all men must die a bodily death because of the curse of Genesis 3:19. There can be no exceptions.

This truth is further enforced by Paul's description of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15:35-50. Throughout his description, Paul refers to the "natural body" and the "spiritual body." He refers to the first as being "earthy," and to the second as being "heavenly." He relates that the "earthy" results from Adam's fall, and that the "heavenly" comes from the "quickening" power of the "Lord from heaven." "To quicken" means to make alive. Since, according to I John 3:2, the "spiritual body" must be like Jesus' resurrected body, then clearly the "spiritual body" must be a recreated body and not the old body made over. Jesus' physical body is the only human body that could ever be transformed into a "spiritual body" because His body was completely pure and free from original sin. Throughout Paul's writing, the "natural body" and the "spiritual body" are kept strictly separate as being two different entities.

                                   Here read I Corinthians 15:50

This verse demonstrates that God's pattern throughout scripture of always destroying or discarding sinful systems, and creating righteous systems to replace them holds true for the Rapture as well. This "earthy" body, having been corrupted by sin, cannot inherit the "kingdom of God." It must be destroyed by a "return to dust" as Genesis 3:19 demands. Just as God creates a new spirit and soul for the believer, He will also create a new "spiritual body" for the believer and give it to him in the Rapture and leave his old body behind.

Nevertheless, I Corinthians 15:35-41 seems to indicate that there must be some connection between the old and new bodies since Paul equates the old body to a "seed" which produces a new creation of something beautiful and useful such as "wheat." Could this word "seed" refer to the DNA of the believers' bodies which God will use to create their new bodies? Since God keeps a record of the number of hairs on every believer's head, does it not stand to reason that He would keep a record of each believer's perfect DNA in heaven and use this as a pattern to create each saint's new body? God would not use the "earthy" DNA since this also has been corrupted by original sin as genetic defects prove. One cannot answer these questions for sure since the Bible is not explicit about these matters, but one can surely ponder.