The first resurrection is directly linked to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so there are certain key events revealed to us in scripture that must take place prior to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this section I have listed some of the key events that will take place just prior to our Lord’s second coming and the first resurrection that is linked to that event. Please note that this section is not a comprehensive teaching on the end times, but rather this is highlighting a few key events that must take place before our Lord Jesus returns. It is entirely possible that the generation that is born in the earth today will be alive on the earth at the time our Lord returns.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. (16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. (18) Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
As revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture, when our Lord Jesus returns to the earth the church will be in one of two places. There will be the saints who are in heaven and there will be the saints who are on the earth. The saints that will be in heaven at that time will accompany the Lord Jesus when He descends to the earth, and they will be the ones who will receive resurrected bodies. The natural bodies of the saints alive on the earth at that time will instantly change into spiritual bodies and they will join the resurrected saints to meet with the Lord Jesus in the air.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. (2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (3) For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. (5) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. (6) Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. (7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. (8) But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (9) For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above we see that the saints on the earth will not be taken by surprise when the Lord returns. In fact, the apostle Paul is so confident that the church will be aware of the Lord’s imminent return to the earth, that he says that he has no need to write to us concerning times and seasons regarding this event. Conversely, it is just as clear that the ones who will be taken completely by surprise when the Lord returns, are the unbelievers who will be dwelling on the earth at that time. This passage reveals to us that as far as the world is concerned, that they would have reached a stage where they could finally proclaim that peace and safety had been attained in the earth, and it will be in that instant that sudden destruction will come upon them.
Michael E.B. Maher
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