Part X1.1 - Redemption Of The Body..

The Redemption Of The Body-The Resurrection

We have taken up the salvation of the spirit and the soul and this leaves the redemption of the body. A believer does not come into full salvation until the spirit, the soul and the body are saved. This day does not come upon death but when the Lord comes from heaven. Actually, nothing has to be done on the part of the believer for the redemption of the body. It will come in the resurrection and all of God’s people are destined for the resurrection. In this chapter, we will take up this matter and join it with some other issues surrounding the death of a saint with the purpose of trying to clarify some matters pertaining to the destiny of believers. It is important to have a clear understanding of these matters to properly understand the Kingdom. The Destiny And The Goal Of The Believer The ultimate destiny of every born-again believer in Christ actually is not heaven but the joy of living in the presence of God forever and residing in the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly Jerusalem, which will be in the heavenly realm during the Kingdom Age (Hebrews 12:22; Hebrews 13:14; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 3:12) and which will come down out of heaven and reside on a new earth for the eternal ages (Revelation 21:2-3; Revelation 21:9-27; Revelation 22:1-5). Eternity is not about heaven but about the New Jerusalem and being in God’s presence.

However, until the Day of Eternity, all born-again believers have a hope and a goal set before them. That goal is heaven, or more specifically, the heavenly places associated with this earth that are now occupied by the prince of the power of the air, Satan, along with the other fallen angels under his charge (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12). When the Son of Man comes to this earth to rule, these rulers of the darkness of this age will be dethroned (Revelation 12:7-9; Revelation 20:1-3; Revelation 20:10) as God’s King ascends the throne of the Heavenly Kingdom. When He comes and the disqualified rulers of this age are vanquished from the heavenly places once and for all, Christ will set up His throne in the heavenly places (in the New Jerusalem). In writing to the saints faithful in Christ, Paul said that we have been made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6NKJ). [The phrase heavenly places is not found in the original Greek; places has been inserted by the translators for readability. Heavenly means "above the sky"; therefore, we are seated above the sky in Christ.] This is the goal of every saint who is faithful in Christ. We must not forget that the most important part of this goal is to be with our beloved Lord Jesus, to be in His presence during His 1,000-year reign.

Peter encouraged the chosen who were scattered by writing to tell them that they were born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to {obtain} an inheritance {which is} imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5{ea}). Paul encouraged the saints and faithful brethren in Colossae with the hope laid up for them in heaven, sharing in the inheritance of the saints in light, the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:5; Colossians 1:12-13). At the end of his life, Paul could declare with full confidence: The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him {be} the glory forever and ever (2 Timothy 4:18{ea}). He was looking for the Reign of the Heavens, for the heavens do rule (Daniel 4:26ASV). The hope of Peter and Paul was not earth-bound, but heaven-bound. Thus, the hope of every Christian must be to be taken up to heaven to rule with Christ in the heavenly places, to be seated in the heavenly places in Christ during His millennial reign. The question that arises when we see this truth is: When do believers go to heaven? The gospel of the grace of God is often preached to the lost telling them that when they believe in Jesus, they will go to heaven when they die. But this view is not born out of Scripture. Later, Scriptures will be looked at that deal with where a believer goes upon death, but first we need to answer the question of when a believer goes to heaven. The Scriptures are very clear that heaven comes into view only when the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ comes from heaven. The believers in Thessalonica were waiting for God’s Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi that our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Php 3:20). If Christ does not come from heaven, then going to heaven does not come for His people. Further, if He does not come, then the Heavenly Kingdom [of righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17)] does not come. The coming of the Lord and His Kingdom are inseparably joined to His people of the faith going to heaven. This is a tremendous and glorious event that occurs at the end of Man’s Day, leading into the Kingdom Age. This day has not come yet, but it will come soon. The ResurrectionOfThe Dead The key to understanding when a believer goes to heaven is found in the resurrection, for Christ is the example of how everyone who follows Him will go to heaven. How did Christ escape this earth following His death? Through resurrection and ascension. However, the key is the resurrection; for without this, there would have been no ascension into heaven. In like manner, the believer’s ascension into heaven can come only through resurrection-the spirit and the soul must be clothed in a heavenly body which is in the likeness of Christ.

[The only exception to the resurrection is that those who are alive and remain when He comes will be translated to heaven without seeing physical death (1 Thessalonians 4:17). One might wonder if this contradicts Hebrews 9:27 : And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this {comes} judgment. The seeming contradiction is easy to explain. When we believe on Jesus, we come into the death of Christ. As Paul wrote to the Romans: Our old man was crucified with Him; we died with Christ (Romans 6:6; Romans 6:8). Paul wrote to the Colossians that we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Thus, everyone who believes on Christ has died with Him, just as they now live with Him. On our behalf, Christ took the required judgment of sin and the appointment with death. When He died, we died. Again, this is a finished work. There is no contradiction for those who are alive, for all, whether dead in Christ or alive in Christ, were crucified with Him. Because of this, when He comes a second time, He will come apart from sin. In other words, He forever has dealt with our sins. When He came to this earth the first time and died, He took on the sin of the world, even becoming sin (2 Corinthians 5:21); but when He comes the second time, He will come to those who eagerly wait for Him without reference to sin. This truly is good news.] In type, we can trace the resurrection to Abraham and his son Isaac when the faith of Abraham was tested. God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants through Isaac, so by faith he placed his only begotten son on the altar. In that day, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice, knowing that God would raise Isaac from the dead. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten {son}, {it was he} to whom it was said, "In Isaac your descendants shall be called." He considered that God is able to raise {men} even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type. (Hebrews 11:17-19)

God is able! This is the declaration of one who is walking by faith. Abraham saw that even if his only begotten son went into the grave, God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. Isaac is a type of Christ who came to die for the sin of the world and was raised from the dead. God received His only begotten Son back from the dead. So it is here that the seed was planted in the Word that a resurrection of the dead is not only possible for God but that it is imminent. Although our bodies might go into the ground, God is able to raise us up out of the grave; and He will do it to His glory.

Amongst the Jews, there was an understanding that one day there would be a resurrection of the dead. The prophet Daniel was told that there would be a resurrection of his people (the Hebrews) when many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake to everlasting life (Daniel 12:2). In reference to her brother Lazarus’ death, Martha told Jesus that she knew that her brother would rise again in the resurrection on the last day (John 11:24). Amongst the Jewish elite in Jesus’ day, the Sadducees proclaimed that there is no resurrection while the Pharisees acknowledged there is a resurrection (Acts 23:8). When Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection, it was considered a strange teaching to some (Acts 17:18-20). At the end of his life, Paul warned Timothy to beware of some who were overthrowing the faith of others by teaching that the resurrection is already past (2 Timothy 2:18NKJ).

Further, early in church history, there were believers who were questioning the resurrection. Paul was faced with this challenge amongst some of the Corinthian believers who said that there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12). In response to this controversy, Paul wrote the most comprehensive defense of the resurrection contained in the Scriptures, and it is all based on the resurrection of Christ. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found {to be} false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (1 Corinthians 15:13-18)

Paul painted the most dismal picture if Christ was not raised from the dead. If He was not raised, then we who say we believe really have no hope. Why? Because our hope is in the fact that Jesus’ soul is not in Hades and His body is not in the tomb. Our hope is in His resurrection and ascension. All of the Christian faith rests on this fact. Take it away and we have no faith or hope on which to hold. We are to be pitied if His resurrection is not true. Praise God; Christ was resurrected, for He was seen by many, last of all by Paul when he was on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9; 1 Corinthians 15:8). Paul declared with full confidence: But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Death came by a man; but by the Man also came the resurrection of the dead, for in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). He took on the form of a bondservant and was found in appearance as a man. He died on the cross as a man and now He is the first fruits of the resurrection. No man had ever died before and broken through the cords of death to rise and ascend to the throne of God, and no man has done this since His departure. The Son of Man had to be first amongst the new creation. He is the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:18), to have the preeminence in all things (NKJ). He is the Head of a new race that will rise in the air in the resurrection, but there is an order and a timing to the resurrection. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming (1 Corinthians 15:23). This truly is exciting news. It is good news. To understand the resurrection, we need to understand what transpires at the resurrection of the dead and what it means to every believer who falls asleep in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:14). The Redemption Of The Body When man was created from the dust of the earth and life was breathed into him (Genesis 2:7), he was created as a complete man with a spirit, soul and body, pure and free of defilement. We could say that man had all the potential of coming into the blissful state of incorruption (immortal, unending existence). The first man, Adam, was innocent, knowing no shame; but when Adam sinned, he found himself naked and in need of clothing to cover his shame (Genesis 3:10-11; Genesis 3:21). In that day, he brought death upon his race and corruption (decay, ruin) took hold of man’s body. If Adam had obeyed God, he and all of his race would have lived in incorruption, partaking of the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24) and reigning with God forever. Man’s physical body would not have seen corruption (death), for man would have been a complete, spiritual man clothed in the glory of God forever. Unfortunately, from that day forward, the body of everyone born of Adam’s race (all of us) was and is destined for the grave, to decay into dust. The earth became a coffin of death from which man could not escape. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, His body was placed in the tomb (grave); but according to the Scriptures: His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption (Acts 2:31NKJ). After three days, He arose from the grave, breaking the chains of death, bursting open the coffin that had a mighty grip on man. In His resurrection, Christ’s soul was reunited with His incorruptible body. When He ascended back to His Father in heaven, He entered into glory, birthing the new creation in Christ. He is the Man in glory (Acts 7:55-56), the complete, perfect man-spirit, soul and body. The Creator Himself became the man that Adam was intended to become. However, He is greater than anything Adam could have become because Christ is both God and Man.

Adam was flesh and blood (and so is all of mankind); but according to Paul, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:50). The blood is what energizes or gives life to the body (Leviticus 17:11), but the blood is corruptible. However, the second Man is flesh and bone (Luke 24:39), not a spirit but energized by the Spirit which is incorruptible. When the risen Lord appeared in the midst of His disciples, they became frightened, thinking He was a spirit. But the Lord spoke to them: "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39). He is the true spiritual Man and this Man has a glorified body. Praise God! The second Man is far superior to the first. To enter the Heavenly Kingdom, every believer must be like Christ, which means we must have an incorruptible, glorified body. We must be a complete man in Christ (Colossians 1:28)-spirit, soul and body-and this completeness only comes when He comes. When he wrote to the Philippians about eagerly waiting for the Savior who comes from heaven, Paul reminded them that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself (Php 3:20-21). This power comes at the resurrection and rapture into heaven. [The word rapture, which is commonly used by Christians, is not found in the Scriptures but is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where Paul declared that we shall be "caught up." This phrase comes from the Greek word harpazo which means "to seize" or "to take by force." In that glorious day, the Lord will seize His people into His presence. Perhaps a better term is "the seizing."]

Paul encouraged the Colossians: When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4). To the Thessalonians who were being persecuted, Paul declared that when Christ comes in the glory of His power, He will be glorified in His saints on that day (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10). John, who was continually abiding in the truth, wrote: Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2). Jesus Himself said, "I AM the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25{ea}). It is His very life that will raise up His people. Our spirit is saved when we first believe. Our soul is to be saved while we are living in these bodies. We are exhorted to lose our soul-life to gain it in the Kingdom, and we do this by working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12). But our bodies will be saved when He comes. In that day, we shall receive a house not made with hands (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). This is our hope. Paul explained the redemption of the body to the believers in Rome. Notice how he joined together suffering, glory, sonship, redemption of the body and hope-all essential matters for receiving an inheritance in the Kingdom. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:18-19) And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for {our} adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:23-25) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined {to become} conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

Paul started with suffering, for without suffering there is no glory. This was the path the Lord trod and it is the path of every true disciple of Christ. The sons of God are the ones who will be revealed in glory, and they are the ones who are destined for the throne to rule with Christ. As we have seen previously, only sons of God will rule in God’s Kingdom, for sonship is rulership. As believers, we must receive the adoption as sons, which means that we must be placed as sons in the Kingdom. But notice that sonship is intimately joined with the redemption of the body. This is to be our hope. To be a son, we must have a redeemed body, one which is like our Lord’s. If this is our hope, we are to persevere, eagerly waiting for that day. Oh, there will be many days of groaning in these earthly tents, but the day is coming when we will shed these limited bodies and take on a glorified body, conformed to the image of Christ: For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17). Whom God has predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, God shall also glorify. He will give us a heavenly body that is able to hold all the weight or the full measure of glory and enter into the Kingdom and Glory. Hallelujah!

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable {body} it is raised an imperishable {body}, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual {body.} So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam {became} a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:41-49)

Today, our image is earthly; but the day is coming when we will bear the image of the heavenly, for our Lord is coming from heaven to take us to heaven. We are being offered the right to receive an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven; and when we fall asleep in Jesus, we must await the resurrection to come into the glory of the Kingdom. This is to be the goal of every child of God who is being called into sonship. The ResurrectionFromThe Dead

Up to this point, we have been using the phrase the resurrection of the dead; however, the resurrection of believers is actually the resurrection from the dead. All the dead who are in the dust of the earth will be resurrected, but not all at the same time, on the same day. Paul said that there is an order to the resurrection, with Christ being the first fruits of the resurrection and then those who are His when He comes. When Jesus came down from the mount following His transfiguration in glory, He gave an order to the three disciples who were with Him not to relate to anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man should rise from the dead (Mark 9:9). The disciples were caught by this statement, for it was new to them: And they seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead might mean (Mark 9:10). Like many Jews, they thought that all the dead, the just and the unjust, would be resurrected at the same time on the last day (John 11:24). However, the Lord was presenting a new truth that could be understood only in the light of the new creation in Christ that was about to be birthed at Calvary. Not all the dead will be raised from the grave at one time. Only those who are the Lord’s will be raised when He comes; they will be raised from the dead. This is the first resurrection, with a second resurrection to follow the millennial reign of Christ, which will bring the Kingdom Age to a close. The First Resurrection In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John wrote: 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 (Revelation 20:6). It is vital that we see that this statement is made at the dawn of the Kingdom Age. The Great Tribulation finally will have come to a close and the King of kings will have appeared in heaven on a white horse. In that day, He will ride to earth in all His regal splendor. His glory will fill the whole earth. What a glorious day that will be! He will come to this earth, having defeated all His enemies, even Satan, who will be bound and cast into the abyss for 1,000 years. However, during the events that are unveiled in the Revelation, multitudes of people will be killed, both the just and the unjust.

Praise God; there will be a multitude from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues who will come out of the Great Tribulation, clothed with white robes, made white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-17). Later, John described these ones again: And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God (Revelation 15:2). These are the martyrs who will come out of the Great Tribulation for they overcame him (Satan, the accuser of the brethren) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death (Revelation 12:11). When He sits upon the cloud and thrusts forth His sickle to reap the earth, the Son of Man will send forth His angels to reap all those who will have died for His sake (Revelation 14:14-16). This will be the last trump of the first resurrection.

All that will have transpired during the seven-year Tribulation and the advent of the Kingdom is concluded by John’s vision of these martyrs for Christ. And I {saw} the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the 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 upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:4-5) With the resurrection of the Great Tribulation martyrs, the first resurrection will have been completed. There will be no more resurrections until the end of the 1,000-year Kingdom Age.

Now, this poses a question: If these martyrs are part of the first resurrection and this obviously occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation, where are the saints who have died in Christ prior to the Tribulation? In the Revelation, we see the multitudes before the throne who come out of the Great Tribulation, but there is no mention of those who died in Christ before the last seven years of Man’s Day. Why are they not in view in the Revelation, along with the martyrs? There only can be one answer. The Lord will have already resurrected those who have fallen asleep in Him.

[In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Church is seen in chapters 2 and 3, after which there is no reference to the Church until the very end (Revelation 22:16). It is not until the end of the Great Tribulation that a shout goes up from a great multitude, declaring: "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:6-7). However, there is one other possible reference to the Bride of Christ. In Revelation 20:4, John saw two groups: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I {saw} the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus. Apparently, John saw two groups who will reign with Christ for 1,000 years. The first group was sitting on thrones and judgment was given to them. Paul clearly tells us who they must be. He reminded the Corinthians: Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). Who are the ones on the throne? The saints. Clearly, John saw the Bride of Christ on the throne and then He saw the ones who were beheaded during the Great Tribulation.]

All confusion is cleared up if we see that the first resurrection is made up of more than one resurrection. In fact, before the Kingdom comes, those who are Christ’s when He comes will be resurrected; the two faithful witnesses will be resurrected (Revelation 11:7-12); and even Old Testament saints will be resurrected (Daniel 12:2). All of this must be part of the first resurrection because this resurrection pertains to those who will go into the Kingdom, whether occupying positions in the heavenly places or on the earth. All who will have no part in the Kingdom because they died without faith in Christ, will be raised in the last resurrection to appear before the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11). They will be judged for their works, and if their names are not recorded in the Book of Life, they will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is the second death (Revelation 20:12-14). [Many people assume that only the lost will appear at the Great White Throne, but we are not told that this is so. People will die during the Kingdom Age. Also, the Lord told those who had blasphemed the Holy Spirit that they would not be forgiven for that age nor the age to come (Matthew 12:32), which would mean that they would suffer for the remainder of Man’s Day (this age) as well as during the Kingdom Age (the age to come). Does this imply that they will enter the eternal presence of God in the Day of Eternity? Most likely.]

However, as believers, our focus should not be on the second death but on the resurrection of those who are Christ’s at His coming (1 Corinthians 15:23), and our need to overcome and be prepared to appear in the presence of the Son of Man. In the Greek, the word coming is parousia which means "being near," and it implies His near presence over a period of time. In other words, His coming is not a single event, but a period of time. When He comes, He will first come to the air over the earth. This is the beginning of His coming or parousia. We actually see proof of this when the Son of Man will sit upon a white cloud to reap the earth (Revelation 14:14). Obviously, at this point the Son of Man will be near the earth, in the air, but He will not be on the earth. However, even before this harvest, the Lord will arrive in the air to receive His people who have fallen asleep in Him, along with those who are alive and remain when He comes (again, the word parousia). Paul taught the Thessalonians about this resurrection and "the seizing" to follow. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming (parousia) of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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 shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) This describes the resurrection from the dead and "the seizing" of these resurrected ones along with those who are alive on the earth at His parousia. Both groups will be translated into heaven. According to the Scriptures, this is when the believer "goes to heaven."

Having been given some evidence that the first resurrection is made up of more than one resurrection, some might object to this thought based on Paul’s defense of the resurrection presented to the Corinthians.

Behold, I tell 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 trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) The Thessalonians were told that the trumpet of God will sound and the dead shall rise. On the other hand, the Corinthians were told that at the last trumpet, the dead shall be raised. The question is whether this is one and the same trumpet call. Some people believe that they are one and the same, which leads them to believe that all the dead in Christ are raised all at once at the end of the Great Tribulation. But are they one and the same trump? Could there be a trumpet call for each group that is raised in the first resurrection? When the number of the martyrs is completed at the end of the Tribulation (Revelation 6:9-11), it would make sense that the last trumpet would sound and the last of the first resurrection would come forth. To the Thessalonians, Paul emphasized the order (the dead in Christ first must rise) and then "the seizing" (being caught up to the Lord) of the resurrected and those who are alive and remain when He comes. To the Corinthians, he emphasized the resurrection and "the change," going from corruption (perishable, mortality) to incorruption (imperishable, immortality). Paul did not emphasize the order, although he clearly acknowledged that we all shall be changed (dead and alive in Christ).

If we look at the context of Paul’s defense of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, it would appear that he was unfolding the entire matter of the resurrection in the light of the coming Kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:24-28; 1 Corinthians 15:50). It would make sense that Paul would include everyone who will be resurrected, even though he did not use John’s term, the first resurrection. Paul included everyone when He said: But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming (1 Corinthians 15:23). All those who are Christ’s at His coming is all encompassing, for it must include those who are His during His entire parousia, from the beginning to the end, including those who will become His during the Tribulation. This could explain why Paul wrote to the Corinthians that we shall all be changed, but to the Thessalonians he made no such assertion. He merely stated that we who are alive and those who sleep in Jesus. There was no use of the inclusive all. When he wrote to the Thessalonians of the resurrection and "the seizing," Paul had a very specific group in mind. These dear brethren were in persecution, overcoming their trials, and they were waiting for Christ to return. They were concerned that those who died in Christ would miss the Kingdom. Later, they themselves became fearful that they had missed it, as well, because some were telling them that the Day of the Lord had come, which would have meant that they had entered the Great Tribulation and had missed "the seizing" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2). He had taught them that the Day of the Lord (Tribulation) only comes when the lawless one is revealed, so Paul wrote them a second letter to remind them of the order of events as he had taught them (2 Thessalonians 2:3-7). Given these thoughts, Paul’s teaching concerning the resurrection and "the seizing" as presented to the Thessalonians, who are representative of all who are eagerly waiting for the Lord’s return, must be the first of the first resurrection that occurs at the very beginning of the Lord’s parousia. On the other hand, some of the Corinthians obviously were not waiting for the return of the Lord, since some were accepting this false teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead. There was no need to make a personal appeal to them, but rather to lay out the facts; and this is exactly what Paul did. Thus, it is just as feasible to conclude that Paul was including all that would be resurrected before the advent of the Kingdom. The mystery is that we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51). [This does not refer to everyone going up at once, but to the thought that the change of corruption (mortality) to incorruption (immortality) will occur with great speed. Can you imagine that in one twinkling we are changed into glorified bodies?] When the last trumpet is sounded, the all will have been completed, for the parousia will have been completed as well, for Christ then will appear for all to see. The first resurrection will have been completed, and everyone who will enter the Kingdom Age will have been raised from the dead, along with those who are alive and remain. There is no more trumpet call when the complete number has been brought into the Kingdom.

Thus, the destiny of every born-again child of God is heaven, the day when the Savior comes from heaven and calls His own possession up in the air to be with Him. As we live in increasingly dark days, let us comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

Christ’s Present Ministry-High Priest

Having established when we go to heaven, we now can address the question: Where do the dead in Christ go when their bodies are placed in the grave? No place in the Scriptures are we told that the dead in Christ "go to heaven" when they die. As we have seen, those who are Christ’s at His coming do go to heaven, but it is when the Lord comes from heaven, and with a shout, raises from the dead all those who died believing in Him. In fact, no man can go where the Lord is ministering today in light of Christ’s present ministry.

Now the main point in what has been said {is this}: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. (Hebrews 8:1-2) Our Lord has entered the Most Holy Place once for all, and He stands to minister for His people (Hebrews 9:12). He is our High Priest who has passed through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14), and He now is ministering in the heavenly sanctuary on our behalf. He is our Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1), the Paracletos, the One who comes alongside to help, the Intercessor: Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). This is the present ministry of our beloved Lord. Today, He is our High Priest, and soon He will come as our Judge and King.

We need to be clear that no man can be with Him in the heavenly sanctuary. "And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, {even} the Son of Man" (John 3:13). Only the High Priest can enter the Most Holy Place. The fact of the matter is that the type given in the Old Testament forbids any man from being there while the High Priest is ministering: When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out (Leviticus 16:17). As long as our High Priest is in the sanctuary, the Holy Place, no man can enter. This is His ministry alone in this day of grace.

He is the Son made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:28) who has entered heaven itself for us: For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a {mere} copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24). Notice that He appears for us, not with us. He is the glorified Man, and no man can enter into the presence of the Father in heaven without being clothed in glory. Today, we are clothed in mortal bodies, but a day will come when we will be clothed in immortal, glorified bodies in the likeness of our Lord (Romans 8:21; Php 3:21; 1 John 3:2): For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life (2 Corinthians 5:4). The mortal body that is our tent in this life must put on immortality, and this comes when Christ raises His people in glory at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-57). In that day, His ministry in the sanctuary will have ended; Christ will come out of the sanctuary and begin His descent to the earth. Just the thought of this glorious day should bring joy to the heart of every child of God. At this point, it appears that the Scriptures exclude heaven, at least where the throne of God and the heavenly sanctuary are located, as the abode of the dead in Christ; but the question of where the dead in Christ go is still unresolved. So what do the Scriptures tell us? In answering this question, we must recognize that every question we might have regarding this homecoming event is not answered in the Scriptures. In His wisdom, God has not revealed all that transpires between death and the resurrection. The best that we can do is to search the Scriptures and see what information they yield to us.

Asleep And With The Lord When Stephen, the first martyr of the pilgrim church, was stoned to death, it is recorded that "he fell asleep" (Acts 7:60). Saul (later, Paul), the one who would later meet his Lord on the road to Damascus, stood and witnessed Stephen "falling asleep" for his testimony. It is Paul who described the dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16) as "fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20NKJ), "those who sleep in Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 4:14NKJ) and "those who are asleep" (1 Thessalonians 4:15NKJ). The word asleep has the meaning of "to put to sleep."

There is a wonderful thought attached to these words-Jesus puts to sleep His own people. What a wonderful thought! When our day of departure comes (if He does not come in the air first), it is our beloved Lord who puts us to sleep. It is like loving parents tucking their children into bed at night and kissing them good night. In the morning, they awake once again to the parents’ loving care. This is as it will be with the death and resurrection of a saint.

What does asleep mean? It means that our mortal bodies are put to sleep, that is, they die. We need to be reminded that the spirit and soul do not die. It is the body which has to put on immortality. However, until that day, it is Paul who informs us that being absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. In other words, our spirit and soul, which cannot die, must go to be with the Lord.

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-for we walk by faith, not by sight-we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:6-9{ea})

We could say that Paul was torn between two worlds. On the one hand, he knew that there was still much work for him to do in dying daily for the church (1 Corinthians 15:31). Yet, on the other hand, he had one passion, and that was to be with his beloved Lord. To be at home with the Lord, he had to be absent from his mortal body. Absent from has the meaning of "emigrating" or "vacating." Paul desired to emigrate from this earthly life and this only comes by vacating the body through death. Death or falling asleep was not an end to Paul but a glorious presence with the Lord. Being at home with the Lord (some translations state "to be present with the Lord") has the meaning of "being in one’s own country." This is the heart of a stranger and exile, along with all the saints who died in faith, for theydesire a better {country} that is a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:13-16). When he was martyred, Paul did not enter that heavenly country; but he knew that his home was in the Lord, for He alone would preserve him for His Heavenly Kingdom. To the Philippians, Paul poured out his deepest passions for Christ. He lived for Christ. In fact, he saw his entire life in Christ. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if {I am} to live {on} in the flesh, this {will mean} fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both {directions,} having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for {that} is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. (Php 1:21-24{ea})

Death to Paul was not loss but gain, and his one passion was to depart this life and be with Christ. This should be the passion of every disciple of Christ. Many people continue to fear death after they are saved, and yet, the death of our physical body is the portal into the presence of the Lord. How much better it is to be with Christ! This does raise the question: How can it be that when believers die, they go to be with the Lord but they do not go to the throne in heaven which is where Christ is? The answer is simple. Our Lord is not limited by time and space as we are. After the Lord was raised from the dead and before His final ascension to the throne, He appeared to His disciples, not by walking through doors but by simply appearing. He could make Himself visible or invisible at will. One minute He was in a place, and in the next instance He was in another place. Further, in speaking of His Church, the Lord said, "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst" (Matthew 18:20). In other words, He has made a promise to His people on earth that He will be in their midst when certain conditions are met. In like fashion, He can be where His people are when they have departed the body. Therefore, we can state with full assurance that wherever the departed dead in Christ go, the Lord will be there, for He will never leave His people nor forsake them.

Paradise And Hades As we continue our search of the Scriptures, we discover that in the Old Testament times, it was generally recognized that the dead went into the earth, into Sheol, which stood for the grave or the world of the dead. When Jacob learned of the disappearance of his son Joseph, he cried out: "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son" (Genesis 37:35). In another instance, Saul went to a woman who was a medium to ask her to raise up Samuel from the dead. In reporting to Saul, the woman said, "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth." They saw a form of an old man wrapped in a robe. Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage. Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" (1 Samuel 28:13-15). In this account, we are given a clear indication that the soul of the departed went into the earth, for Samuel had to come up.

Now, when we come to the New Testament, instead of the word Sheol (or grave), we find the word Hades used to describe the place of the dead. We also discover the words Paradise and Abraham’s bosom. When the Lord was on the cross, one of the thieves that also was being crucified said to the Lord: "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:42-43). However, the Lord’s words raise a question: Did He mean that the thief would be with Him on that day or on a future day? The translators of the Scriptures have placed the emphasis on the thief being with Christ on that day because of the placement of the comma (before today). If the Lord meant that on that particular day the thief would be with Him, then this means Paradise is where the Lord went on the day that He died. Let us look at this possibility first.

What happened on that dark day at Calvary? On the cross, at the end of those three dark hours [sixth hour to the ninth hour (Mark 15:33)], the Lord cried out with a loud voice: "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." And having said this, He breathed His last (Luke 23:46). As a man, Jesus released His human spirit to the Father. His broken body was then placed in the tomb (Luke 23:53). Solomon, who was given wisdom from God, wrote: The dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This is the path given to every man, and Jesus as the Man had to go this same way. But where did His soul go? It went into the depths of the earth for three days. He did not ascend to the throne immediately upon His death, for He had to spend three days in the earth. We see this in type with Jonah who spent three days in the fish’s belly. Jonah cried: "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried"(Jonah 2:2NKJ). To the scribes and Pharisees who wanted to see a sign, Jesus responded: "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and {yet} no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40). So Jesus Himself has left the proof that He descended into the earth. Paul also confirms this fact in his letter to the Ephesians: (Now this {expression,} "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things) (Ephesians 4:9-10).

It is Peter who, quoting David on the day of Pentecost, explained the Lord’s death and resurrection.

"For David says of Him, ‘I was always beholding the Lord in my presence; for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope; because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to hades, nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy presence." "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat {one} of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:25-32)

David spoke prophetically of a day that was to come many years after his death. He looked ahead and spoke of the Lord’s death and resurrection. Peter confidently declared that David has not been resurrected (even after the Lord’s resurrection) and that his soul and body are still in the earth. However, the Lord, whose soul descended into the earth, was not left in Hades nor was His body left in the tomb. He did not undergo decay. Why? Because He was resurrected. This Jesus God raised up again, and this was the way of departure for the Lord to ascend into heaven. Since Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection, it only follows that His people must follow that same path. However, do the Scriptures bear this out through other examples? It appears they do, as seen in the first recorded death following the Lord’s ascension. When Stephen was martyred, it is recorded that he called upon God: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He fell asleep and then some devout men carried Stephen’s body to his burial. The One who is at the right hand of God in glory put His servant Stephen to sleep (Acts 7:59-60). What comfort this should give all of the Lord’s people. Whether a saint dies a violent or a peaceful death, the Lord Jesus is ever faithful to put His loved ones to sleep when His perfect time comes for them. However, the point that needs to be understood is that Stephen’s spirit was released to the Lord and his body went into the grave. We can only assume that his soul followed the same course as His Lord’s and it went to the place of the dead in Christ.

Based on this explanation, it appears that the dead in Christ go to a place under the earth in a compartment of Hades. It is possible that this place is called Paradise.

However, is Paradise the place where the dead in Christ, in fact, go? Earlier the question was raised if the Lord meant that the thief would be in Paradise in the future, not on that day. To study this question, we need to look at the other references to Paradise.

Paradise is mentioned three times in the New Testament. The first time has been reviewed already. The second place that it is mentioned is in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

I have known a man in Christ, fourteen years ago-whether in the body I have not known, whether out of the body I have not known, God hath known-such an one being caught away unto the third heaven; and I have known such a man-whether in the body, whether out of the body, I have not known, God hath known,-that he was caught away to the paradise, and heard unutterable sayings, that it is not possible for man to speak. (2 Corinthians 12:2-4YLT)

There are different interpretations of these verses, with some believing that the third heaven and the paradise are one and the same place. Others explain that they are two different events and places. If they are the same, then the paradise must be a future place of abode, for as we have seen, going to heaven is a future event. If they are different, then the paradise could be any place. The phrase caught away is harpazo which means "seized" and is the same word from which the word rapture is derived. This has led some to believe that this is a picture of the rapture; however, this conclusion cannot be made from this verse. According to the structure of the sentence, Paul gave no direction of his being caught away. This is further emphasized in that he did not know if he was in or out of the body. The rapture that Paul explained to the Thessalonians is in a resurrected body and it is up. Paul made no reference that his being caught away was like the rapture that will come when Christ comes. All we know from Paul is that in the paradise he heard things which a man is not permitted to speak. The third time that Paradise is mentioned is when the Lord Himself spoke to the angel of the church in Ephesus: "To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7). All the promises to those who overcome in Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22 are rewards in the millennial Kingdom; therefore, the Paradise of God, as spoken by the Lord, is a future reward, not a present promise for those who die in Christ.

Paradise means "park" or "an Eden, a place of future happiness." The Bible begins with the Garden of Eden which was a place of happiness; however, it turned into a place from which man was barred. At the end of the Bible, Eden appears once again as the New Jerusalem which is a place of great joy and happiness in the presence of God and to which man will have free access. It is the Paradise of God. When Paul saw Paradise, we can only conclude that his life was never the same, and this is as it should be with every born-again child of God. We haven’t been caught away like Paul was, but our Lord has made a promise: "You shall be with Me in Paradise." "To him overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God."

Whether the thief is in Paradise today along with all the dead in Christ or whether Paradise is solely a future home awaiting God’s people, the reader is left to discern under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. However, we do know that being with the Lord is a place of happiness, wherever it is.

Now, let us consider one more account given to us in the New Testament, and it is the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

Abraham’s Bosom

Jesus stood in the midst of the Pharisees and spoke many things to them. On one occasion, He said: "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him (Luke 16:13-14). Jesus responded with some comments about the Kingdom and divorce and then spoke a parable about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man cared not for the poor man, who was placed at his gate, hungry and covered with sores: "Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom" (Luke 16:22-23). The rich man was in a place in Hades which was separated from Lazarus by a great chasm that had been fixed (no one could cross between the two places) and which was in a lower place (he had to look up). He was in torment, a place of punishment until the Day of Judgment (2 Peter 2:9). On the other hand, Lazarus was being comforted in a place called Abraham’s bosom.

We are not told where this place was but we are given a clear indication that it too was in the earth. The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to warn them lest they too would end in the place of torment. "But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them’" (Luke 16:29). This statement was included as an obvious reference to the Pharisees who loved money and who were listening to this parable, for they boasted that they had Moses [they sat in Moses’ chair (Matthew 23:2)] and the Prophets; but they rejected Christ, of whom Moses and the Prophets spoke. The rich man continued to beg Abraham: "No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!" To this Abraham responded: "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:30-31).

Thus, we are not told directly where the place of rest was for Lazarus, but there is an indication that it was below, for it would have been necessary for Lazarus to be raised up. What we do know is that it was in view of the place of torment in Hades, it was a place of rest and comfort, it was in Abraham’s bosom (those who died in faith, e.g., the saints recorded in Hebrews 11:1-40) and it was the angels who brought people to this place (notice that the rich man was buried with no reference to angels).

It should be added that this parable was spoken to the Jewish elite who had rejected the offer of the Kingdom of Heaven. In some ways, it is similar to a warning the Lord gave to the same class of Jews who would miss the millennial reign of their Messiah.

"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out. And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline {at the} table in the kingdom of God." (Luke 13:28-29)

Whether this parable applies to the dead in Christ today, we are not told; so again, we leave this thought for the reader to consider in the light of Scripture and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

However, there is one more set of Scriptures that brings us closer to answering the question of where the dead in Christ go. It is found in the same Scriptures previously cited in Paul’s defense of the resurrection.