A Mystery

 

This article is a teaching that I have written from First Corinthians. In it, the apostle Paul reveals one of the many mysteries of the kingdom of God to encourage people that have dedicated their life to follow the Christ. First century believers, like today’s contemporary church, often wonder what happens next. They wonder what happens to the believer in the future. Is following the Christ on earth all there is? What happens to the believer in the future after they are dead and buried? Paul tries to shed some light on what happens in the future for those that have and are following their Savior. I hope this information gives you hope and excitement for what the near future holds for those that have and are now following the Christ.

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not 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, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:50-53, ASV[1]).

Paul indicates that the flesh and blood of man, earthly bodies, cannot inherit or come into possession of the kingdom of God; meaning ascend into heaven, or enter the eternal realm (15:50a). He adds, that corrupt or decaying earthly bodies cannot come into possession of the place where there is no corruption or decay (15:50b). In heaven there is no corruption, it is a perfect place, there is nothing that perishes or sees decay in that realm. Nothing ceases to exist in heaven. So, a body of flesh and blood cannot ascend into the eternal realm because an earthly body will eventually die. And nothing dies in heaven, but rather anyone or anything in heaven lives forever. That is why flesh and blood cannot take possession of heaven. Although, God has seen to it that his new creation (the body of Christ) will take possession of the kingdom of God in heaven one day – a very important day indeed.

God has made provision for the sons of God to inherit his kingdom in heaven on a certain day. The apostle reveals to the body of Christ a mystery (15:51a), something that was unknown and is still unknown to those without the following revelation. First, when the last trumpet sounds, those that have already passed away in-Christ, the faithful followers of the Lord, will be raised to life again in a new body, a glorified body that will never perish (15:22-23; 52b; 1 Thess. 4:13-16). When a believer passes away their spirit/soul goes to heaven (Ecc. 12:7; Acts 7:59; 2 Cor. 5:8), in a place between physical death and the future resurrection of their earthly body – Author, Don Stewart, a contributor to the Blue Letter Bible website, calls this the “intermediate state.” Their earthly body is left on the earth to experience decay, but the spirit/soul portion of their existence is taken into heaven waiting for the day when their earthly body will experience the resurrection (the same cannot be said of those who pass away who are not spiritually connected to the Christ). Then, when the dead-in-Christ are resurrected, we who are still living will be transformed (15:51b, 52c; 1 Thess. 4:15ab, 17) and be given new bodies also, glorified bodies that will never see corruption. All this happens the moment the rapture of the body of Christ occurs. God has made provision so that the believer can inherit the kingdom of God in the eternal realm, by giving each one a gloried body once the rapture occurs. And like I said, the provision has already been made for this certain day, which bears repeating, the day and hour when the rapture of the church occurs (Matt. 24:36-44). This event is the final process in the salvation of the believer-in-Christ. The final transformation will happen in less than a nanosecond, the time it takes for an eye to blink (15:52a). The moment the rapture occurs the believer’s corruptible flesh will be changed in the twinkling of an eye so that they can enter the eternal realm (15:53a). The believer’s mortal body will be clothed with immortality, meaning a supernatural body, so that they can live in eternity forever (15:53b).

Picture: Afterdeathsite

https://afterdeathsite.com/tag/glorified-body/

[1] ASV – American Standard Version