The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 5)

Part 4 concluded with the details of Christ's ascension. We will now turn our attention to the details of the return of Jesus Christ, looking into the stages of His return in the same way, and in the same positions, as how He ascended. I trust that these details will either confirm the wonders and intrigue of the return of 'our blessed hope', or provide you deeper, and meaningful insights, that can strengthen your faith and generate excitement.

Let's continue to look at the return of Jesus, as mirroring (or in symmetry to) the events of His ascension.

As indicated in the above image, it is of first importance to recognize that Paul was given the responsibility to lay out the WHOLE return of Christ, and the order (or sequence) of the event. No other writers of scripture were provided with such detail of these events. Outside of Paul, all other writings of the return is about the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, which relates to Israel's Kingdom program. Paul, on the other hand, writes about Christ's whole coming, starting at the mystery program of the Body of Christ, which is before the Tribulation, and ending with the 2nd Coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation.

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Paul's writings encompasses

ALL of the coming of Christ,

across both Mystery and

Kingdom Programs. 

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So, a critical point to grasp here is that Paul's teachings of the coming of the Lord do not ONLY focus on the rapture of the Body of Christ, which many casual students of the Bible do not realize when they read passages like 1 Thess.4:16-17 and 1 Cor.15:51. These scriptures refer to the WHOLE coming of Christ, across both the Mystery and Kingdom programs. (This I'll delve into and explain in much more detail in subsequent posts).

Paul writes the following statement to the Corinthians,

1 Cor.15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all [who believe in Christ] be made alive. 23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they [ALL*] that are Christ's at his coming.  24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, ... [Millennial Kingdom]

Paul confirms that there is an order to proceedings. In addition to Christ as the firstfruits, the 'they' in the above verse is in reference to ALL believers of Christ; that is, ALL who believed in Christ according to the message of the gospel (the good news) that God revealed in that day and age in which the believer lived.

*ALL is not limited to the Body of Christ. It is ALL saints who believe in Him. ALL are raised and raptured in their specific order. These passages are NOT JUST limited to us today!! 

Something else that can support this view is that Paul writes, "they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, ...". The 'end' here is the end of this present evil world, and the resumption of the Millennial reign of Christ. So, if Paul were referring to 'they' as us, the Body of Christ, then the 'end' cannot yet be, since we'd still have several more years of Tribulation to run its course.

Another scripture that can be highlighted is,

1 Cor.15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall ALL* be changed,

Again, the word 'all' is not just us, the Body of Christ, but ALL believers who trust in Christ according to the gospel of their day. Paul's writings about Christ's coming is general. It spans across the whole family of God involved in the resurrections; the Jews and the Gentiles, the Mystery and Kingdom programs.

Eph.3:14-16 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven [Mystery program] and earth [Kingdom program] is named,

(see timeline banner in the header of this page)

In the next post, I will deep dive into the two well-known verses that Paul wrote, namely,  1 Thess.4:16-17 and 1 Cor.15:51. These two verses have been misquoted and misunderstood as pertaining to the coming and rapture of the Body of Christ only. I will prove to you that these two passages are to be understood in a general, all encompassing manner, which includes the Body of Christ, before the Tribulation, and the people and events of the 2nd coming, which occur after the Tribulation. Stay tuned for these posts, as they will reveal some stunning insights!