God descended from heaven to earth in the bodily form of his holy son Jesus, as Isaiah, God’s prophet foretold. (Isaiah 7:14) And it’s repeated by the apostle Matthew. “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)
When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, Thomas was doubtful that it was really Jesus until the Lord said to him, “reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” (John 20:27-28)
The apostle Paul said, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) The voice of the archangel, the trump of God, is of the highest authority, God’s own word. And Jesus was the word made flesh. (John 1:14) “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13)
Jesus came to this earth with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God; it’s called the “everlasting gospel.” (Revelation 14:6) A shout that still reverberates around the world today. The voice of Jesus spoke it, and his servants carried it far and wide. How loud is the shout? “Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” (Romans 10:18)
The power of the gospel awoke the dead in Christ first. They died with the hope of a coming savior in their heart, according to the words of the prophets. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.” (Matthew 27:52) With what body did they come forth? “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:44)
Some that died under the law, (the saints) had to sleep in their graves for a long time, others not so long. But we will not have to wait in the grave when we die. “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,” (the graves were opened, Matthew 27:52) “and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
How shall we be changed? “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8) When will this change take place? “For he must reign,” (Christ in you) “till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26) If you are still in your body of flesh, the last enemy has not yet been destroyed. How long will the change take? “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) “We which are alive and remain”, how long? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)
Caught up together with them in the clouds. Why the clouds? As Jesus was taken up, “and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9) So the saints of God are received out of sight. Who has seen the passing of the spirit from earth to heaven? The saints of old were caught up after his resurrection, and we are caught up together with them when we die. At that instant, our spirit is released to be with the Lord, forever.
Why do so many people struggle with these scriptures, trying to build a doctrine for “the rapture” of their flesh? It’s because they don’t hear and neither do they understand. Jesus said plainly, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) The natural man with his earthly thinking cannot see and understand the spiritual revelation of God’s word.
Paul said, “but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.” (I Corinthians 2:7) Why is the word of God written in a mystery? Jesus said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” (Matthew 11:25) The wise and prudent build their religion according to their knowledge of earthly things, and base it on the commandments of men. They feel that they need nothing more. Babes, on the other hand, know that they need all things from the Father. “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive.” (John 14:17) They desire that “hidden manna” of the word. (Revelation 2:17). And it pleased the Father to reveal the mystery to them. (Colossians 1:26)
