This will happen to all those who are "in
Christ", the dead and those alive, when the Lord
Jesus Christ comes the second time.
32D.1
What does the Holy
Scripture say regarding the "dead in Christ" and
those that are "alive in Christ" at His second coming
or on Judgment Day? What shall become of
them when they were taken up from the earth
to meet the Lord in the air?
In I
Corinthians 15:51-53, Apostle Paul revealed
the truth:
51. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed
52. 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.
53. For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality. (NKJV)
The same
verse in another version of the Bible:
51. Listen, I will tell you a
mystery!
We will not all die, {Gk
[fall asleep]} but we will all be
changed,
52. in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead
will be raised imperishable, and we
will be changed.
53. For this perishable body must
put on imperishability, and this
mortal body must put on immortality.
(NRSV)
"Not
all are to die but all are to be changed".
They will be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet
call. For the "dead in Christ" will be
raised imperishable and those who are "left
alive in Christ" will be changed.
For the
ordinary human body or earthly body is
perishable (will decay and turn to dust)
and mortal (will die), must be
changed to become imperishable (will not
decay) and immortal (will not die).
36D.2
What kind of
transformation will be expected to the "lowly
bodies" (perishable and mortal) of those who are in Christ? And why?
In
Philippians 3:21, this is revealed to us:
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. ( NKJV)
Our Lord
Jesus Christ will transform their "lowly
body" (perishable and mortal) , so that it may conform to
our Lord's "glorious body".
Why is this transformation to conform to
Christ's "glorious body" necessary?
I tell you this, my brothers: an
earthly body made of flesh and blood
cannot get into God's Kingdom. These
perishable bodies of ours are not
the right kind to live forever. (1
Corinthians 15:50, LVB)
Because our "lowly body or earthly body"
(perishable and mortal) consisting of
flesh and blood is not fit for life in
heaven, thus, it will be transformed to
a "glorious body" (imperishable and
immortal) suitable for eternal life
in the kingdom of God in heaven.
32D.3
When all has been done —
the "lowly body or earthly body"
(perishable
and mortal) was already transformed to a
"glorious body or heavenly body"
(imperishable and immortality) — what
scripture would come true?
In I
Corinthians 15:54, it is revealed:
53. For our earthly bodies, the ones we
have now that can die, must be
transformed into heavenly bodies that
cannot perish but will live forever.
54. When this happens, then at last this
Scripture will come true--``Death is
swallowed up in victory.'' (LVB)
``Death is swallowed up in victory.''
And, what the Lord Jesus Christ said in beginning
when He established His Church will also come true.
"And I say to you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build My
church, and the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it." (Matthew
16:18,NKJV)
Indeed
"the gates of Hades or the powers of death"
shall in not prevail against Christ's Church.
For the "dead in Christ and those alive in
Christ" will have been transformed to
immortality and they will never die anymore.
___________________
It is indeed His
Body — the Church, that will be saved by the
Savior Jesus Christ. The powers of death or
Hades is indeed powerless against His Church
because He will resurrect and transform the
bodies of the members of His Church (dead or
alive) from their "lowly or earthly bodies" to a
"glorious or heavenly bodies" that cannot perish
but will live forever in God's Kingdom in
heaven.
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