When Jesus Returns

“We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NLT)

While these verses are very exciting and encouraging, they also raise some questions that deserve consideration. First, as we shared in yesterday’s article, to be absent from our earthly, fleshly body is to be present with the Lord in some spiritual form. Presumably we will be recognizable when we get to heaven, because Moses and Elijah had recognizable forms when they appeared to Jesus, Peter, James, and John on the Mount of transfiguration in Mark 9.

So, why are our ashes or rotting corpses raised from the graves on Resurrection Day? Following Jesus’ ascension, the angel of the Lord told those present: “As they strained to see Him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. ‘Men of Galilee, ‘; they said, ‘why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go!’”

Notice a few things. First, Jesus rose in a recognizable, bodily form. To the disciples His resurrected body appeared to be an exact likeness of the body in which their Savior was housed when He walked the earth as a man. Are we to assume then that our new, resurrected bodies will look very similar as well? My sense is we will.

Of course, Jesus was only 33 when He died, so His resurrection body looked strong and young. Again, my sense is, at least I’m very hopeful, that my old withered and worn body will look more like I looked when I was in my thirties. Don’t get me wrong, I may not have been “eye candy”, but I looked much better than I do now. Just saying! 😊 Whatever the Lord decides, my point is, we’ll be recognizable just as Jesus was when He ascended.

So, why resurrect the old bodies? We can speculate all day about “why,” but the main reason is, that’s how the Lord planned it (see verses above). Here again, my sense is just as those who are living when the Lord comes will be transformed in the “blink of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:52) into our new, eternal bodies, so will those former bodies of departed loved ones be transformed and reunited with their spirits from heaven instantaneously and without apparent notice. Those living won’t even notice or realize that their transformation is happening simultaneously with the transformations of those who died before us.

All we’ll know is that we’re all being escorted by our Savior to our eternal home, where, for all eternity we will be liberated from all sin and shame and clothed with an eternal peace that can’t be explained with human vocabulary. Just as our initial conversion is invisible to the human eye, but recognizable to the heart of God, so will our final transformation be, an act of God on our behalf.

So, the question remains: Are YOU ready for that day? If not, please tap this link and let Ron Huchcraft walk you through a simple, straightforward explanation of how you can give your life to the Lord and know with certainty that when the Lord returns or when you close your eyes in death you will open them in the presence of your risen Savior.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊