Rapture Resurrection

The first purpose of Jesus’ command with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God is the resurrection of the dead in Christ, that is, all who have believed in Him. What is this resurrection "from the dead" based on, and what happens to the dead who did not believe in Jesus?

First of all, with the resurrection of all believers, Jesus fulfills the promise He made to all who would believe in Him:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternity and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24)

And:

"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, though he were dead, will live." (John 11:24)

The resurrection of the dead is a unique teaching of the Bible. Only religions based on the Bible, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have a resurrection of the dead. And of those religions, only Christianity attaches absolute importance to the resurrection of the dead—not to life after death, but to the resurrection of the dead.

 

Contrary to popular belief, not all the dead rise simultaneously. This only came to light with the coming of the Son of God to earth. Believers in ancient Israel before Christ knew about the resurrection of the dead, but not about the different times when it would occur. They believed that all the dead would rise on "the last day," as evidenced by a statement by Martha of Bethany (John 11:24). The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by 'rising from the dead' (Mark 9:10). They knew about the resurrection "from the dead," but not that the dead would rise from among the other dead.

Generally speaking, there are two types of resurrection: a resurrection "to life" and a resurrection "to judgment." This can be read in the fifth chapter of John:

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28)

 

In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus explains what is meant by “doing good,” which gives people a share in “the resurrection of life”:

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29)

The resurrection of life occurs much earlier than the resurrection of judgment. The resurrection of judgment only occurs when the present creation passes away. The resurrection to life has already taken place since the resurrection of Jesus Himself.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives a bird's-eye view of the resurrection of the dead in its various stages (numbering mine):

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: (1) Christ the firstfruits, (2) afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. (3) Then comes the end when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy, death, will be abolished.”

 

(1) With the death and resurrection of Christ, may believers from ancient Israel also rose from their graves: “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." (Math.27:52,53)

The word for 'appeared' = emphanizō in relation to a person 'appearing' is only used for Christ after his resurrection (John 14:21, 22, Hebr.9:24). One might therefore conclude that this was a resurrection with immortal 'resurrection bodies'. There are however two views. See this video.

 

(2a) The dead in Christ at his coming to take his Church are raised from the dead by Jesus at the moment of the rapture of the Church, the descent of Christ with his command, the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. The believers of Ancient Israel before Christ also belong to this group. After all, they too are “of Christ” or “asleep through Jesus” or “dead in Christ.” Their righteousness, too, is derived from redemption in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24, 25). They, too, are justified by faith (Rom. 4:3, 6, 5:18).

 

(2b) The dead in Christ at his coming in glory, after the moment of (2a), have repented and been put to death in a 3.5-year great tribulation. They will be resurrected after this great tribulation and will reign with Christ in His millennial kingdom (Rev.20:4).

The resurrection up to this point is called “the first resurrection.” (Rev.20:4)

 

(3) The remaining dead will only be raised again after the millennial kingdom, when Jesus has destroyed all enemies. Heaven and earth will pass away, and the last enemy, death, will be destroyed (1 Cor.15:26). This means that all the dead will have been resurrected. Rev. 20:13-15 states:

“And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and the grave also gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each according to their works. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.