We don’t know when Christ will return, but we do know that we are 2,000 years closer than Paul was. If it was important to be right with God in Paul’s day, it’s that much more important to be right with God today.
What exactly did Paul teach about that time? Most people today know more about the “rapture” from movies and the Left Behind series of novels than from Scripture. So today, I’m going to share exactly what Paul wrote…
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep (die), or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
That’s Paul’s teaching on the rapture. We can be sure it will happen. We just can’t be sure when it will happen. So live to please God more and more, and love each other more and more. Because you don’t want to miss this!
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