Our text tells us that when the rapture occurs, those who have already died in the Lord will be taken up to meet him. However, John 6: 40 says, “I will raise him up at the last day.” Are these two scriptures contradicting each other? Definitely not! Together, though, they ask a different question. What happens to those who have died before the rapture; where do they go and what are they doing? Surely, we must be conscious of something. All those we love that have gone on before must be somewhere doing something.
By comparing Scripture and paying close attention to what we are taught in church, is the correct pattern to understand the Bible. Take in consideration all the verses that have anything to do with the subject. Note what seems to be inconsistencies but keep an open mind. Don’t jump to conclusions, especially for the sake of being critical. Pray about it. Discover outside sources to help explain what seems to be a contradiction. Rely on the Holy Spirit’s eventual revelation about your question.
The Thessalonians believed that Christ would return within their lifetime. They were confused about the death of the faithful. In Paul’s reply we learned that spirits of those departed would be reunited with an eternal body as they physically rose from the grave. In this passage Paul corrects the misunderstanding about the rapture of the church. The rapture is not the second coming because Jesus does not literately step foot on earth again until after the tribulation.
In John six Jesus was not giving a description of the end times but was declaring his identity as the Bread of Life sent from God. Except for the Sadducees, they believed in an afterlife. Several times in that chapter Jesus mentioned the last day only as a point of reference as God’s response to those that believe in him who were faithful in-service feasting on him.
Refer to second Corinthians five. The peculiarity of being a new creation in Christ is that our spirit absent from the dead body is present with the Lord. Our desire is to be clothed upon by a heavenly body. Putting all these verses together we see a timeline. The believer dies. His soul goes to heaven. At the rapture the soul joins to an eternal body that comes out of the grave and rises to meet Christ in the air. The soul is in the heavenly body with Jesus. So, both verses are correct as mentioned. How great that it will be when we are delivered from this earthly shell.
Until the rapture the believer’s soul is enjoying the presence of Jesus. That person is experiencing love and joy beyond any earthly comparison. We are not about accomplishing certain tasks in heaven. Instead, we are relishing in the presence of the Almighty. To explain this, imagine standing by the Great Creator’s side as he called the distant stars into existence. What exuberance that would’ve been as a witness to his power. In the same way, the soul that is waiting for the rapture witnesses the wonder of the Lord as he intervenes with the Father for those yet alive. Until the rapture the believing soul will be absorbed in the magnificence of he who saved them.
Christian Writer 