Loyal
When do we rise and go to be with Jesus? Some say immediately when we die, but many do not.
John 6:39; "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
John 6:40; "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:44; "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:54; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 11:24; Martha *said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
John 12:48; "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
Most of the verses in the New Testament that talk about the resurrection, seem to indicate that it will happen "on the last day". Whatever that is.
But whatever it is, it seems to be a one time event. Not something that happens individually for each person.
John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
It seems "an hour" is coming. Not many hours for many different people, but a specific hour for everyone.
1 Thes 4:13; But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
1 Thes 4:14; For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thes 4:15; For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1 Thes 4:16; For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thes 4:17; Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thes 4:18; Therefore comfort one another with these words.
It seems that whenever the rapture or second coming happens, that is when the dead will rise. In fact, it says the "dead in Christ" (who have fallen asleep)
..i.e. - they are dead. Will not rise until this time.
There is one passage that seems to say otherwise, and many people take it a couple of different ways.
2 Cor 5:6; Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
2 Cor 5:7; for we walk by faith, not by sight—
2 Cor 5:8; we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord
So the question is, are we absent from the body when we die, or does the soul stay with the body. Some people believe the soul is resurrected, but not the body.
Other's believe the soul goes to heaven immediately, but the body gets resurrected later. There are a few problems with this.
First of all this earthly fleshly body is never resurrected, it returns to the dust from which it came.
Job 34:15; All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.
Psa 90:3 You turn man back into dust And say, "Return, O children of men."
However we do get new bodies (more about that later).
Depending on how literally you take Revelation 20, the "first resurrection" does not happen until after the end of the 1,000 year millennial reign.
It is possible that only those saints who were beheaded during the tribulation will reign with Christ, the "rest of the dead" don't get resurrected until later.
Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Another argument that you hear sometimes, is that John 5:28-29; is talking about those who rose out of the tombs when Jesus was crucified.
Matt 27:52; The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
Matt 27:53; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
However this could not be "the" resurrection because...
2 Tim 2:18; men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.
When Paul wrote Timothy (much after the book of Matthew was written) he makes it clear the resurrection hasn't happened yet.
... to be continued ...
John 6:39; "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
John 6:40; "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:44; "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:54; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 11:24; Martha *said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
John 12:48; "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
Most of the verses in the New Testament that talk about the resurrection, seem to indicate that it will happen "on the last day". Whatever that is.
But whatever it is, it seems to be a one time event. Not something that happens individually for each person.
John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
It seems "an hour" is coming. Not many hours for many different people, but a specific hour for everyone.
1 Thes 4:13; But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
1 Thes 4:14; For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thes 4:15; For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1 Thes 4:16; For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thes 4:17; Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thes 4:18; Therefore comfort one another with these words.
It seems that whenever the rapture or second coming happens, that is when the dead will rise. In fact, it says the "dead in Christ" (who have fallen asleep)
..i.e. - they are dead. Will not rise until this time.
There is one passage that seems to say otherwise, and many people take it a couple of different ways.
2 Cor 5:6; Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
2 Cor 5:7; for we walk by faith, not by sight—
2 Cor 5:8; we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord
So the question is, are we absent from the body when we die, or does the soul stay with the body. Some people believe the soul is resurrected, but not the body.
Other's believe the soul goes to heaven immediately, but the body gets resurrected later. There are a few problems with this.
First of all this earthly fleshly body is never resurrected, it returns to the dust from which it came.
Job 34:15; All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.
Psa 90:3 You turn man back into dust And say, "Return, O children of men."
However we do get new bodies (more about that later).
Depending on how literally you take Revelation 20, the "first resurrection" does not happen until after the end of the 1,000 year millennial reign.
It is possible that only those saints who were beheaded during the tribulation will reign with Christ, the "rest of the dead" don't get resurrected until later.
Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Another argument that you hear sometimes, is that John 5:28-29; is talking about those who rose out of the tombs when Jesus was crucified.
Matt 27:52; The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
Matt 27:53; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
However this could not be "the" resurrection because...
2 Tim 2:18; men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.
When Paul wrote Timothy (much after the book of Matthew was written) he makes it clear the resurrection hasn't happened yet.
... to be continued ...
