Rapture Transformation

Jesus' command raises those who have fallen asleep in Him. His command also has a tremendous effect on those who believe in Him, who are alive at that moment. They are changed. In the blink of an eye, in  "atomos" - the smallest fragment of time - that is what is literally said in a letter from Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor.15:52). But what does it mean that they are changed?

 

It concerns four different consequences, which also apply to those who rise from the grave. These characteristics of the change are found 1 Corinthians 15:

1. Corruption is transformed into incorruption

2. Dishonor is transformed into glory

3. Weakness is transformed into strength

4. A soul body is transformed into a spiritual body

What this exactly means in all its consequences, those who believe in Jesus will only discover when the change actually takes place. But based on the information in the Bible, a general estimate can be made. Here we will briefly discuss the characteristics of the new bodies.

 

1. Incorruption

The human body is subject to decay. Dying cells are constantly replaced by new cells. The quality of that replacement continues to decrease over time, resulting in the body deteriorating and eventually dying. The body is perishable. The cells that make up the body continually decay.

 

Paul speaks of an outer man that decays (2 Cor.4:16) and of an earthly tent in which we dwell that is being taken down (2 Cor.5:1). The new body does not experience a process of cell death. Therefore, eating and drinking are not necessary, but are still possible. We see this in the body of the resurrected Jesus, who ate honeycomb and baked fish. He did the latter on two separate occasions (Luke 24:42, John 21:9). The new body is characterized by immortality because the cycle of cell growth and death has been replaced by a completely new form of bodily existence, unknown to us.

 

2. Glory

Partly because of the body's deterioration, it is afflicted with dishonor. Many people are ashamed of their bodies, sometimes even at a young age. We live in an imperfect creation, where many people have minor or major physical abnormalities. Even people famous for their looks, such as singers or movie stars, aren't always happy with their bodies. They pay large sums for plastic surgery, especially as they get older. Almost no one has a perfectly symmetrical body, face, or eyes.

 

The body often shows differences between left and right. The skin, the largest organ of the human body, is also not perfect in anyone. Almost no one is completely free of blemishes, pimples, or bumps or hair where it's unwanted. Older people struggle with excess skin, double chins, and wrinkles. With the new body, this dishonor is a thing of the past. The new body exudes pure glory. "For the fleeting lightness of our affliction works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor.4:16)

 

3. Strength

The human body is exceptionally vulnerable. How many millions have perished from physical violence or disease? That vulnerability, too, is a thing of the past in the new body. But the strength that is generated or transformed also refers to physical capabilities. There are strong men and women in the world who can easily lift more than their own weight. But compared to, for example, an ant, it's nothing. Ants can carry up to 50 times their body weight. While this is related to scale, it nevertheless demonstrates the limitations of human physical strength on earth.

 

Humans have overcome the lack of physical capabilities through technology, allowing them to build enormous structures. Those who are not strong must be clever. But a physical body alone won't get you very far.

 

The Bible promises a body that truly has strength. The only example in the Bible of supernatural physical strength is Samson. It was the "Spirit of the Lord" that seized him and gave his body supernatural strength (Judges 13:25).

 

We still live in the time that God works through our human weakness. "...my power is made perfect in weakness," the Lord says to Paul regarding his physical weakness, which he calls a "thorn in the flesh," "a messenger of Satan to buffet me." "... for when I am weak, then I am strong," he concludes this passage (2 Cor.7:-10). In the same letter to the Corinthians (the second), he writes: “ But we have this treasure (Christ) in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.…” (2 Cor.4:7)

 

Regarding the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, Paul writes of the Crucified One: “… the weakness of God is stronger than human strength" (1 Cor.1:25).  Furthermore, in his second letter, Paul writes about Jesus Christ that He was crucified in weakness but lives by God’s power (2 Cor.13:4). After His resurrection, Jesus could move very quickly over great distances and into hermetically sealed spaces. That is why He could appear in so many different places on the morning of His resurrection and suddenly stand among His disciples in the evening, while the doors were closed for fear of the Jewish authorities (John 20:19).

 

The present time of working through weakness will one day come to an end. Then the greatness of God’s power will be revealed in the bodies of all who have believed in Him. That state of affairs will never end. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Cor.15:53)

 

4. Spirit-driven

The soul-body is subject to emotional life, which the Bible summarizes in the single word "soul." The soul is distinguished in the Bible from the "spirit," the seat of reason and will. The current soul-body is subject to feelings. Our reason and will influence our thoughts, words, and actions through feelings. These feelings are often negative and hinder us. We know that many things are good to think, speak, and do, but they are not thought, spoken, or done.

 

On the night of his extradition to the Jewish authorities, Jesus said: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Math.26:41) The disciples were unable to watch with Him during his intense prayer struggle and fell asleep repeatedly. That night, Peter was completely driven by his sense of fear, and that led to his fall: the denial of Jesus (Math.26:69-75)

 

Fear, sorrow, and anger can drive people to very wrong actions, over which their will has no power. Think of a phobia, which prevents people from daring to undertake many things. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, after a long discourse on the conflict within his members, "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:26)

 

It is the Spirit of God who helps the believer to overcome "the flesh," the wrong emotional tendencies. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." (Rom.8:26) It is God's Spirit who works in the prayer life of the believer; that is, the experience of the ongoing relationship with God, which enables people even now to overcome their inner weaknesses.

 

The spirit-soul distinction is also evident in Psalm 103 of David: "Praise the Lord my soul."  (Psalm 103:1) Who is urging their own soul here? It is the spirit of man, in the power of God's Holy Spirit. Emotional life must be impelled by the spirit to praise the Lord. This will be different in the new body. This will be completely driven by the spirit. It will be a spiritual body.