What if…the Mystery of the Alive and Remaining Ones

Saturday Refresh

I need to admit up front that for the early part of my new life in Christ I was under the conviction that the goal of this life was spiritual survival so that I could “graduate” to the fully immaterial world we think of as heaven or a bit more accurately, as the throne room of God. This was supported by the idea that since Jesus went there after He died…well, actually I can’t really provide any deeper analysis than that. Just: Jesus died and went to heaven. When I die, I too will go to heaven. And… The “then what?” was never really given much attention. I mean, of course there was worship…

Another funny thing – I have never held that there would be a “rapture”; a taking up or snatching away of the people of God for some period of time before His coming at the end of the age. And for the longest time, if asked to explain why I did not hold that position, I would simply say something like “the people of Israel had to go through the plagues of Egypt, so we should be prepared to go through the judgment at the end of the age.” (Please: I hope you don’t feel a sense of obligation to educate my obvious ignorance on that point, I would give a much different answer today.)

By the way: I have no idea if my thoughts, before or now, represent what people who do hold that we will be taken up/snatched away for some period of time before His coming to end the age really believe. I, more or less, put my study efforts elsewhere. And there (the “elsewhere”) I found it clear that at the end (meaning when He returns) there will been those who had died before and those who were alive…I know, not too deep, but there you have my early eschatology.

Two passages anchored my position that some would be alive, remaining on the earth at His return:

1) The promise from 1Cor.15:51:

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep (die), but we will all be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we (the alive) will be changed.

2) The promise of Ephesians 5:25-27:

…just as Christ also loved the people of His kingdom and gave Himself for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the people of God glorious, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

I “learned” those passages to be literal. In other words I learned that all of the people of God, when the kingdoms of the world are become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, would be incorruptible – sanctified and made holy. Described by Paul as being blameless, without spot or blemish – not shriveled -- but glorious to behold!

That truth is fairly easy to embrace for the first group that Paul mentions (those who “sleep”) but for those who do not die…are alive, remaining at His return?!?

Allow me to back up a bit; I am afraid in my excitement I may have run too far past some important concepts.

As we have seen, there are a number of “mustērion” in the Bible; somewhere between 9 and 16 (I hold to the smaller number because, though the word is found 16 times in the New Testament, many of those entries speak to the same revealing of a doctrine.

Which brings me to the next reminder. Though our common use of the term “mystery” in English tends to suggest to us a thing unknown and maybe even unknowable; the Greek term actually speaks of a doctrine that has been revealed to the “initiated”. And so when Paul uses this term, he is not expressing the Gnostic idea of special revelation, but rather the universally disclosed truths that the lives of Jesus and His followers revealed – only faith in Him is required to be among the “initiated”.

It is interesting that Paul, in this context (which includes all of his inspired writings), does not consider the resurrection that we will experience a mystery. The mystery here is only concerning the ones who do not die (he uses the euphemism “sleep”, but his meaning is clear by contrast), those (with whom he includes himself and the readers in Cortinth) who will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye.

I say it is interesting, because it seems to suggest (and cultural writings, along with the Old and New Testaments confirm) that the idea of a general resurrection was fundamental to Paul – and with the Pharisees altogether. (The Sadducees, it seems, were much closer to the Greeks…not that they would have described it that way!)

Two more contextual reminders.

First, Paul’s first canonized letter to those in Corinth (he mentions a previous letter in our 1Corinthians which is not a part of scripture) was likely written from Ephesus at the very early part of his third journey (Acts 18:23ff). And was likely initiated by events that occurred when he arrived at Ephesus (all of his dealings and the indications of his relationship with the believers there are found in Acts 18:19-20:38).

We are told that while Paul was in Galatia and Phrygia, a man named Apollos arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria. He was an educated man who knew the scriptures (which, of course would be our Old Testament). He was zealous, but since he was only familiar with the immersion of John – that which was for the remission of sin – Aquila and Priscilla (who had remained in Ephesus when Paul left after his stop there during his second journey) “took him aside and taught him the way of God more accurately”. The three of them then went on to Corinth and were possibly still there for a short time after Paul arrived back in Ephesus. Chapter 19:1-7 gives us a particular insight from Luke regarding a weakness of doctrine that Apollos’ lack of teaching propagated. Paul handled it graciously, but it made clear the need to send a letter to Corinth to reinforce the “Way”.

And second: Paul’s need for reaffirming his teachings was made even more urgent when, in association with the death of Claudius and the ascension of Nero as Emperor, the banishment of the Jews (including Jewish Christians) was lifted; an event that likely meant that when Aquila and Priscilla returned to Rome (which, by the way, was likely a primary motive for Paul’s letter to Rome) Apollos also left Corinth. It is possible that Apollos then returned to Ephesus and may have corroborated with Paul in the letter’s writing. What we know, at least in part, by what he wrote in the early part of his letter to them, is that Paul was addressing Apollos’ presence in Corinth (see 1Cor.1:12; 3:4-6, etc.).

All of that to say: though Paul had “planted” in Corinth and Apollos had watered, it had been proven necessary for him to reaffirm his teachings; and so we have in this letter a wide range of doctrines and cultural insights.

As he nears the end of the epistle he naturally comes to his clarifications regarding the last things. He reminds them of his message of Good News and the progression of its implications on their spiritual well-being. He had preached, they had received and in so doing had been enabled to stand in the truth that led to their salvation: with two conditions: they hold fast the spoken word and they did not believe vainly (1Cor.15:1-2).

We saw in the post last week (What if...the Good News) that Paul’s unique revelation was that the message was for all nations. As N. T. Wright puts it (okay, with my paraphrase – but he deserves credit): what Jesus’ life and ministry was to do for Israel; the ministry of those He sent out with a specific message, those who were commissioned and equipped, was to do for all nations of the earth. And though, like Apollos, we tend to think of it as a message centered on the remission of sins; Paul wanted those in Corinth to remember that the true central theme was the resurrection life – participating in the New Creation (see also 2Cor.5:17). Of course, that act requires our acceptance of His offer to ransom us from sin and the death that sin produces, but the basis of that power, Paul insists, is the resurrection of Jesus!

For I delivered to you among the first things what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the ones sent with His message; and last of all, as to an untimely birth, He appeared to me also. 1Cor.15:3-8

Let me express here that it is not my intention in this post to provide proofs or evidence of the physical resurrection of Jesus for many reasons, not least of which would be the expertise of many others more scholarly than I who have presented their cases. What I am solely endeavoring to accomplish is to present Paul’s testimony as to its (Jesus’ bodily resurrection) factuality and, more importantly, the implications of his testimony. That Paul was imprisoned for his particular Good News message was addressed previously; that that message was founded on the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus is his attestation here to the Corinthians.

It bears repeating: what we will read here and in Paul’s “last things” message to those who lived some 150 miles to the north, in Thessalonica, declares a physical death of a real flesh and blood body; whose state, Luke informs us, is itself transformed to be resurrected as a real “flesh and bones” body (see Luke 24:36-49). What Paul describes is unmistakenly a physical event. It required Jesus being in the flesh, dying as a man, and, after His vindication by the Father, being physically present with His followers – up to and including Paul.

This last point should be emphasized in that, even those who accept Jesus’ bodily resurrection are prone to think of Paul’s encounter on the road to Damascus as more of an apparition than a physical appearing. That those who stood by did not see anyone lends to that perspective; Paul could not see Him, of course, since the light blinded him. But here in this letter, Paul states unequivocally that his “seeing” of Jesus was as all of the other occasions: an occasion of seeing, perceiving and attending to; even if it was “untimely”! These encounters with the risen Lord were not impressions or emotional reactions to deep sorrows or trance-like experiences. They were physical manifestations: this was Paul’s testimony AND his teaching and ministry were consistent with it.

Next, Paul expresses the importance of the resurrection in relation to our sensibility, addressing a false understanding, of which he had heard. Though Paul does not tell us how this errant teaching came into their midst; he does address its implications in detail.

Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 1Cor.15:12-19

From a testimonial perspective, this is about as strong as language can get in expressing one’s convictions regarding a matter of importance. For the Docetic, this statement, within the clear context of bodily resurrection must be ignored or rejected. For the skeptic, this lays down a line of demarcation that removes any guess work as to what Paul (and the scriptures) holds to be true.

For those in Corinth, who had somehow embraced a doctrine or philosophy of the Sadducees, or the Platonists, Paul makes it clear that their faith, their confidence, their belief (the word is “pisteuō” and it is the verb form of the word we translate as “faith”, which is sourced from the word “peithō” which means “to persuade, to have confidence”) is directly and absolutely in conflict with Paul’s preaching.

No, it is worse than that. If there was no resurrection (an idea which to the Jews and Christians ONLY meant a bodily resurrection) then their “faith” is useless.

Paul goes so far to say that without the bodily resurrection of Jesus, they have borne false witness to God Himself. Without the vindication of God, as evidenced by Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice must be considered as unacceptable: and so, their sins are not atoned! Which means that those who have died having put their faith in the Messiah, have perished! And we, who, having put our hope in the Anointed One, yet consider this life as our only existence, well…we of all Men are most to be pitied.

Bear with me as I put into perspective Paul’s statement. The justification for his message of good news, that which he declares to have received from Jesus Himself, is this very event: that Jesus, as a resurrected man, in a physical appearing on the road to Damascus, met him and confronted him for his persecution of His followers. The revelation of the keystone truth of that good news was given to him later when, “whether in a dream or not” he was taken to the “third heaven” (the presence of God). It was then that the mystery of the good news for all nations was revealed; but it’s foundations are set on Christ’s physical, bodily, resurrected appearance. So, if that was a deception, or if Paul is lying, then his “good news” is pure fiction.

And on that topic: when writing to the Galatians some years earlier regarding the price he continued to pay for his unwavering testimony, Paul could have avoided all of his very real and personal sufferings (see 2Cor.11:22-29) by simply backing down from his stance. And though not unheard of (for a man to be so full of deceit that he would die for his cause) if Paul were such a man, we would be required to reject his writings and thereby the majority of the New Testament.

My point is this: if we fully understand and embrace Paul’s absolutist position on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ (and therefore of the resurrection of saints in general – as he is about to reveal) then we can continue in our faith. If we, however, are unwilling to accept that fact, then we cannot, in good conscience, accept any of Paul’s teachings – for by his own testimony, “resurrection” is their basis. Or, for that matter, the Good News according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John; or the main premise of the history of Luke’s writing of the Acts; or of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ resurrection is to our Christian faith in the New Creation, what Genesis 1:1-3 is to our understanding of God’s desire to share eternity with His creation – those made in His Image and Likeness. I do not think of that, in the least, as an over-statement. And apparently, neither did Paul.

Paul moves on, in his Corinthian eschatology, with this affirmation:

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 1Cor.15:20

As a reminder, this letter was written around 54 AD – most likely shortly after Nero became Emperor of Rome. Which means that Christ’s death, burial, vindication, resurrection and ascension had occurred some 24 years prior. Paul had mentioned that there were many still alive who had been first-hand witnesses of Him in His resurrected body – but that some of those who had, have “slept” (the opposite of being still alive).

In his letter to those in Rome (likely written a bit before this letter, since he includes greetings from Aquila and Prisca – see 1Cor.16:19 who were back in Rome – see Romans 16:3), he touches on his belief that by the wisdom and power of God, the work made effectual by Jesus was made available in ages past (which makes perfect sense within the Eternal Now of God – see Romans 3:21-26). This means that what Daniel was told, in our chapter twelve of his book, regarding the general resurrection (see Daniel 12:2-3) can be taken as confirmation of what Paul is about to tell those in Corinth.

In typical Pauline format, he begins by reinforcing the doctrine, coming at it from both scriptural and secular evidentiary perspectives in order to establish a nearly universal acceptance of the idea. And as is also typical, Paul tends to weave a bit; until he doesn’t.

For time’s sake I will not delve into all of his illustrations. I do think that there is value in contextualizing one in particular – primarily because of the misunderstandings that have developed from our general habit of reading verses instead of passages. Toward the end of his comparisons he makes a statement that, outside of the full context, has been used to suggest a certain hierarchy for the saints in “eternity” (I put that in quotes to indicate how some see this doctrine, not as an expression of my doubts about our sharing eternity with our God).

The question he is answering has to do with the “kind” of body we will have, what sort will our eternal, physical manifestation take? His answer comes after he provides a framework of how we currently recognize the outcomes of God’s creation. That just like different forms of grains are produced by sowing seeds, (just like there are different creatures that have different forms and like there are different heavenly lights but all are aspects of this creation) the general principle of resurrection should be accepted as resulting in recognizable differences one from another but producing the same general characteristic.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It (the mortal flesh we currently inhabit) is sown in corruption a perishable, it is raised in incorruption an imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 1Cor.15:42-44a

Though Paul continues in this passage to define the doctrine, any misunderstanding of inferred hierarchy should be simply and absolutely cleared up: In his answer to the question regarding the type of “body” that will be our eternal manifestation, we have our answer. Though you will be recognizable to your loved ones and they to you, we will all be incorruptible, imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual. And, we are told, we will all bring our individual “glory” into the New and share it with one another (see Revelation 21:24) as the royalty we are.

Paul sums it up by presenting the mystery that sits on the other side of those of the resurrection. The “mustērion” of those who are alive, remaining when He comes AND how they will attain to the incorruptible state!

Behold, I tell you a mystery (a revealed doctrine); we will not all sleep/die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 1Cor.15:51-52

Paul makes an obvious, at least to him, distinction. When the time comes for Jesus to return, as He promised He would, there will be those who had slept/died (that group has already begun to be added to) and those who have not yet died – who in fact, like Enoch, will not die.

But their not dying presents a bit of a problem. Those who have died and who currently surround the throne of God in anticipation of their resurrection, know they will be raised incorruptible. But those who are alive, remaining – well, how will they achieve incorruptibility?

In John’s first epistle he tells the beloved:

…now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 1John 3:2

But who are the alive, remaining? And where can they be found? And exactly how are they changed – how do they become “glorious, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing” without having been “sown corruptible” to be raised incorruptible?

Like many a maze, it might be easier if we start at the “exit” and work our way backward to the “entrance” – that way we know we have the right outcome as we move through. And so we have only to determine who is alive on the earth when Jesus returns (at the end of the age – for those who might think He returns more than once).

We are told that there are only two groups of people on the earth from whom the “alive, remaining” might be sourced. There are those who have received the mark and have bowed their knee to the beast and his image during his 42 month reign and who have gathered for the battle of Har-Magedon (see Rev. 19:19, 16:13-16; 13:1-18; 14:9-11; 9:20-21) and those who have been taken to the place prepared by the Lord on the two wings of the eagle for the 1260 days of being made to grow (see Rev.19:7-10; 16:12; 12:6,14).

Seems like a bit of a shortcut – clearly the alive remaining cannot be those with the mark – the passage in chapter 14 makes that clear.

They must be those with the seal of God, those who were untouched by the sixth trumpet. Those who, while the two witnesses are ministering to the earth dwellers and the false trinity is wreaking havoc on the same group, have been placed in their prepared wilderness to be nourished by the Spirit and the Father. These who, when the trumpet sounds, will emerge from that place, and will take the way prepared, who will see Him as He descends with the clouds (which is the army of the resurrected righteous) and who, upon seeing Him, become “like Him”: transformed into the incorruptible!

This is the mystery that Paul, in his Corinthian eschatology (last things), wants to make clear to them and to us. It aligns with his previously written Thessalonian eschatology quite nicely – as one would expect.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief messenger and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1Thess.4:13-17

Please accept that I am not insinuating that the alive, remaining are sinless before His return. Blameless does not mean that, spotless does not mean that, neither does without wrinkle!

They were nourished, made to grow, and prepared as a bride, before a wedding, is prepared. (May I recommend that you take a look at Rev.21:1-4 in order to grasp the fulfillment of that metaphor?) And together, the ARMIES – those from heaven who have been resurrected and those from the earth who have been changed – become the ARMY of our Lord as He rides to victory (see Rev.19:14,19)!

And so, just as the resurrected bodies are flesh and bones, still physical (as Jesus ate the fish and could be touched), so too will the changed bodies of those who are alive when He descends – becoming transformed as flesh and bones – and so able to fully enter the kingdom of God!

And as Paul did, so must I – ending with the great “What this means to us today!” truth:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your laborious toil is not vain in the Lord. 1Cor.15:58

We have a commission to live as citizens of His kingdom; submitted to His glorious authority. We have been born of the Spirit and equipped by the Truth of His Word. His new command is that we love one another, even as He has loved us. Simple, but terribly challenging: it requires that we, like Him, say consistently, “not my will but yours, oh King, be done!

We work now, not for His approval – Jesus made that happen for us, because we could not! We work to demonstrate a tangible expression of His worthiness.

The Father vindicated Jesus’ death (the result of His having become sin for us) because of Jesus’ own sinless life. And He raised Him from death as the first fruits, the “heave offering” that represents His promise to us. The Spirit was then sent to lead us into truth and to empower us; but also to act as our “earnest”. The Spirit is the promise of the New Creation available to all who accept His ransom. The redemption of our inheritance and the fulfillment of our preparation for those things that are to come; the New, when we are imperishable, incorruptible, immortal, glorious, powerful and spiritual – in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen!!

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