The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Pamphlet #5141 KC1Thes6-2
When
a person dies, only their flesh dies, so when they return home to the Father
what kind of body do they have?
If people would just take the
time to understand the difference between
the resurrection of the body
and the resurrection of the soul to immortality,
much
confusion and "mystery" in the minds of Christians would be made clear
and solved!
To fully understand 1 Thes. 4:13-18 it would also help if we understand about the two bodies.
Did you know you have two bodies?
Let's start with these two questions
Paul asks and then answers:
1 Cor.
15:35
But some man
will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
OK, we know that when a person
dies only their flesh dies and they return home to the Father.
How is that done and what kind of
body do they have?
The answers to these questions are
extremely important in order to place what Paul speaks of in 1 Thes. 4:13-18
in proper context, so let's cover them.
1 Cor.
15:36
Thou fool, that
which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
The first thing is that your
flesh body must die first.
It is just like a seed which can
sit on the shelf for a long time, but it will not sprout into a new plant
or tree until it is buried in the ground and rots.
And the seed (analogous to the body)
which you plant is not what will come out of the ground, right?
You take a little old seed and bury
it and instead of that seed coming up you get a beautiful flower to "raise-up"
out of the ground.
So far this is a no-brainer.
[37]
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but
bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
Paul goes on to explain in
detail that there are different types of bodies which "arise" from different
seeds according to God's perfect design.
One thing IS for sure then that
you can point out to those vain philosophers who attempt to teach there
are no absolutes.
You will NEVER get a watermelon
to grow from a corn seed!
[38]
But
God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own
body.
[39] All
flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another
flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
So there are different types
of flesh in the physical creation.
BUT, there are also heavenly
bodies, i.e. spiritual bodies!
1 Cor.
15:40]
There are also
celestial
bodies, and bodies terrestrial:
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another.
You cannot even begin to compare
the beauty of the glorious spiritual body with the crude-by-comparison
flesh body any more than you can compare the beauty of a magnificent flower
to its plain blah seed.
Believe this on the analogy Paul
is giving us here: You WILL NOT want back
in this flesh thing after you have blossomed into your spiritual body!
Nor will you miss any "excitements"
some worry about missing out on because Christ said they do not "marry"
in heaven!
[41]
There
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory
of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
A deeper thought: Stars
are symbolic of God's children whose garments are made up of their righteous
acts, and so one star differs from another star in glory.
[42]
So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised
in incorruption:
It should now be easier to
understand what happens when a person dies.
They are "raised" into their spiritual
bodies!
Here it is spelled out in such simple
language that it cannot be misunderstood, especially after understanding
the simple analogies Paul gave us:
1 Cor.
15:44
It is sown
a natural body;
it is raised a spiritual body. There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
There are TWO BODIES!
A physical flesh one that you are
"tied into" until it dies, and a spiritual one that you receive when the
silver cord is parted!
But now it is MYSTERY TIME!
Would you like to know a secret
or a mystery?
The apostle Paul is about to show
us one.
Oooh, this is exciting!
1 Cor.
15:51
Behold, I shew
you a mystery;
"Behold" means "Pay
real close attention here!"
This is a mystery (Gk.= musterion,
secret
or mystery) to most people, but not to you if you open your eyes
and ears!
Here is the mystery REVEALED!!
We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
That's it?
Yes, that is it!
Isn't that cool?
Do you understand what Paul just
said?
Here's how Dr. Moffat translates
it:
1 Cor.
15:51 (Moffat)
Here is a secret
truth for you: not all of us are to die, but all of us are to be changed
-
Why aren't we all going to
die?
(Paul is talking about the flesh
here!)
We are not all going to die BECAUSE
some of us will be standing here, alive in our flesh bodies, when the 7th
Trump sounds and Jesus Christ returns with ALL the saints Paul said were
coming with Him back in chapter 3 verse 13!
Remember?
And HAVING ALREADY DIED in the flesh,
we now know that they are ALREADY in their spiritual bodies!
He will drive that point home in
the remainder of chapter 4.
Well then, what happens to our flesh
bodies at that time?
Isn't this fascinating?
Here is Paul's answer (Pay
close attention because we have to think about all the clues in mysteries,
right?):
1 Cor.
15:52
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.
First, the moment in time is
revealed.
It is at
the LAST TRUMP and NOT
BEFORE!
Be sure to check out this clue:
The Greek word for "last" is eschatos and it means
the VERY LAST EVENT!
eschatos, es'-khat-os,
Greek 2078; a superlative probably from Greek 2192 (echo) (in the sense
of contiguity);
farthest, final (of place or time)
:- ends of, last, latter end, lowest, uttermost.
The 7th Trump is the very
last event that takes place in this FLESH AGE!
It is the return of Jesus Christ
as King of kings and Lord of lords at which time He destroys the crowd
who has gathered at Armageddon along with the army at Hamon-gog* (See Ezek.
38-39) and establishes the Kingdom of God on this earth!
There shall be NO ONE who will remain
ALIVE IN THE FLESH because as Paul states
in 1 Cor. 15:50, flesh and blood cannot
enter into that Kingdom, which is the Millennial reign of Christ!
So whether they are among the dead
carcasses left in the valley of Hamon-gog at the 7th Trump, or the spiritually
dead, or God's elect, it doesn't matter!
The flesh age ENDS when Yeshua returns
with the shout at the sound of the 7th Trump!
Note: Paul was a Hebrew scholar
and he would have been very familiar with the Book of Ezekiel which brings
a point to mind. One cannot understand a mystery by reading just a single
chapter of a book or watching one episode of a series, can he? And speaking
of EZEK-I-EL, whose name means "God is (my) Strength" or "Whom God Strengthens",
he was instructed by our Father to "eat the whole roll [i.e. scroll]" which
is the entire Word of God and then digest it in his bowels, i.e. understand
it and absorb it into his very being. Ezekiel 3:3 "And He said unto me,
Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll
that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for
sweetness." Want to please your Father and
taste the sweet hidden manna in the Word of God? Then
go thou and do likewise! "Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)"
So at the sound of the last Trump,
the 7th and final one, "we who are alive and remain (in the flesh) unto
the coming of the Lord" will be INSTANTLY changed from our flesh bodies
INTO our spiritual bodies!
"It is so simple", which is what
we often say when a mystery is solved.
"Why didn't I see that before?"
Let's read one more verse in 1 Cor.
15 to complete our background for the remainder of 1 Thes. 4.
1 Cor.
15:53
For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Behold, there are two
separate things which occur when Jesus Christ returns at the last trump.
The first,
which applies to everyone, both the good and the bad, is that we are ALL
"raised up" or "changed" from flesh bodies to spiritual bodies, i.e. from
corruptible flesh to incorruptible spirit. AND, the
second thing that occurs is called
the First Resurrection to eternal life.
That is where the saints who are
now in their spiritual bodies are "raised", "resurrected" to the status
of IMMORTALITY!
If people would just take the
time to understand the difference between
the resurrection of the body
and the resurrection of the soul to immortality,
much
confusion and "mystery" in the minds of Christians would be made clear
and solved!
It is so easy to document that people
who do not "make the cut" at the First Resurrection to eternal life when
Jesus returns will remain in their spiritual bodies throughout the great
time of teaching known as the Millennium and face the throne of judgment
where they will either receive the same death sentence as Satan or be resurrected
to immortality.
This is called the Second Resurrection,
or the second time one can receive eternal life.
There are only two times.
However, those who are part of the
First Resurrection to eternal life, which is granted when Christ returns, will receive
greater blessings and since they will now be "holy" they will NOT be subject
to the Great White Throne judgment because the second death, which is the
death of the soul, no longer applies to them.
Why?
They already have been resurrected
(raised) to immortality!
Rev.
20:6
Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
Yes, the mystery is solved!
We are not all going to die a natural
death.
"In a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the sound of the last trump" we who are alive and remain shall
Bloom instantly into our beautiful spiritual bodies!
You could say that we Baby Boomers
will become Baby Bloomers!
Also read #5142> While
we are down here "walking under the sun" in these flesh tabernacles we
know we are only temporarily absent from the Lord.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
1 Corinthians
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the
ancient Israelites} for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
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