The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 8)
As discussed in the first four parts of this study, there is symmetry between Christ's ascension and return. In this lesson, we will have a look at the first part of Christ's return. This correlates with the last part of Christ's ascension, and naturally, relates to the same group of people, the Body of Christ in the Grace program.
The first part of Christ's return is when He will appear in the heavenly position which
is filled with an inapproachable light, which no man has seen, not can see,
1 Tim.6:13-16. (See
Part 3
to reexamine the details of this position). The purpose of appearing here is to call unto Himself the agency of the Body of Christ, who are to fill the heavens with His glory. (See 2 Realms, 2 Programs, 2 Destinations below).
The Silent Rapture of the Body of Christ
Throughout the epistles of Paul, the Body of Christ is illustrated as a 'mystery'. Though this agency was always part of God's great redemption plan, it only came about through the ministry of Paul and due to the unbelief of Israel, who, through the Old Testament and the Gospels, was the vehicle of God to bring salvation unto the Gentiles. The Body of Christ, and salvation for the Gentiles through Israel's fall, was never prophesied in the Bible and it is why Paul refers to this Grace program as a mystery.
It is this very point of mystery that brings me to the conviction that the catching away of the Body of Christ will be silent, without any visible and audible signs in the earth, with no trumpet blasts, no graves being opened and the dead rising up, and with the living, to meet the Lord in the clouds. Our rapture will be uneventful and in secret and will be the primary instigator of confusion amongst unbelievers and contributing to delusions and false beliefs.
Have a look at what the Word says about our silent rapture,
Col.3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
When Jesus appears in that place of light, and calls to us [with a shout], then we shall appear [suddenly, instantaneously] with Him in glory. There is no meeting Him in the clouds, and there is no need for any resurrection of the dead as all members of the Body of Christ who passed away while on earth are already with Him in heaven already*.
* Whether those passed away are in spirit state or in a glorified body, I don't know, (See 2 Cor.5:1-8), but when the rapture occurs, then the whole Body of Christ will be together and will be fully 'clothed' in glorified bodies, fit for its heavenly abode.
Phil.3:20-21 For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change [instantaneously] our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
We look for our Saviour from this heavenly position, not like his disciples, and Israel, who will be looking for Him in the clouds according to Act.1:9-11. The above verse also clarifies that our 'vile bodies' will be changed, in a moment, or instantaneously, in the context of 1 Cor.15:52, into glorified bodies at this event. As a matter of fact, Paul describes to the Colossians that we will be 'translated' into His kingdom,
Col.1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
What does translated mean?
The definition of "Translated" is: to be moved from one place or condition to another (conveyed, transferred)
An interesting point is that this word only appears twice in the King James Bible. The first one is in the Colossians verse above, and the second instance is in Hebrews. Now, for those who know that Hebrews is a Jewish transitional book, you might be wondering why 'translated' appears here if it is used in connection with the Body of Christ. Well, don't be concerned, because it is in reference to Enoch, who is a shadow or type to represent the Body of Christ. Enoch lived before the nation of Israel began and the word is used in reference to Him being 'raptured' off this earth. The verse reads as follows,
Heb.11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Something else of interest is the pattern of seven between Enoch's genealogy and the current church age. I'm not saying there is any definitive detail connecting Enoch and the church, but numbers are interesting in Bible patterns and have their value. Enoch is seventh in line from Adam while we are in the seventh church age (ie: the Laodicean age) according to the list in Rev.2-3. This is just an interesting point, and certainly not of primary significance.
One of the biggest confirmations I can provide to validate a silent rapture is comparing how the Lord appeared to Paul (or Saul) on the Damascus Road. Although Saul's companions witnessed some obscure physical experience, ONLY Saul saw and heard the words of the Lord. It was a personal and secret appearance, according to these two accounts,
Acts 9:6-7 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice* [indistinguishable sound], but seeing no man.
* KJV translators did not account for the fact that the same Greek word [ακούω, akoúo] can translate to both "hear" and "understand" and can also imply both "sound" and "voice", being derived from acoustics. Another example can be taken from Moses on Sinai. Israel heard what sounded like thunderings, and not a distinguishable/intelligible voice.
It is my conviction that the same will happen at our rapture. The world will be confused and deluded. They will believe all manner of lies and will explain the disappearance of millions from earth as some form of mass abduction of aliens or something similar. They will have seen something, but won't know how to describe it. They will have heard something, but won't be able to make any sense from it.
One last confirmation, but certainly not the least is what the apostle Peter writes about in 2 Pet.3:3-4,
2 Pet.3:3-4 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Peter, an apostle to Israel, who writes to the Jews about the 2nd coming of their Messiah at the end of the Tribulation, mentions that in the last days scoffers will come, who will say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" Now, just get the timeline right here. These scoffers are mocking the Jews in the 'last days'. These last days are the Tribulation days, and possibly close to the actual coming of the Lord on the clouds at the end. By this time the rapture of the Body of Christ has already taken place several years before! If our rapture was a visible event, with trumpets, and dead people being raised from the graves, and Jesus in the clouds, then how could they scoff? Scoffing about where is their Messiah will be useless if they have all seen some incredible event some years before. For me, this hints that our rapture is silent, with no signs, and that causes some great delusion and coverup.
2 Realms, 2 Programs, 2 Destinations
God has a prophetic purpose, one which He has
spoken about and made known since He placed man on the earth. He also,
we now know, has a secret purpose,
one which He did not speak about and make known until it was revealed to
the Apostle Paul
(see
Ephesians 3:1-9, Colossians 1:24-26). The prophetic program centers around His purposes for His
kingdom nation, Israel. The mystery program centers in the Body
of Christ and His purposes for it.
In this light, there are two distinct programs, and two distinct agencies to accomplish these programs. In the former we see God's purpose to restore the earth under His authority through the instrumentality of a kingdom, given to the nation of Israel; in the latter is demonstrated His intent to do the same with "the heavenly places", through the instrumentality of the Body of Christ, (a purpose now revealed during "the transition period of Acts" by the setting aside of Israel and the interruption of the prophetic program.) The Father's ultimate intention is to have all of heaven and earth restored unto the Lord Jesus Christ, that He alone might have the pre-eminence and fill ALL creation. (Philippians 2:9-11, Colossians 1:16-20).
So, this position in which Jesus will appear, is the eternal abode of the Church, the Body of Christ, and the position from which this agency will operate, filling the heavens with the glory and fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 1:9 having made known to us the
mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in
Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth —in Him.
Colossians 1:19 For God [the Father] was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him
[Christ], 20 and through Him [Christ]
to reconcile to Himself [the Father] all things, whether things
on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His [Christ] cross. (Without blood
there can be no remission. Hebrews 9:22)
Ephesians 3:14-15 For this reason I bow my knees to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, (See also: Revelation
12:7-12, Isaiah 34:4-5)
In a MOMENT
1 Cor.15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: ...
In a moment is translated from Greek: ἐν ἀτόμῳ en atomō, or, "in an atom"; An atom is typically the smallest particle of an element, and in this definition it can be understood as the smallest point of time which cannot be cut or divided. A single instant; immediately, or to be done instantaneously.
This definition is in description of the rapture events. The rapture of the Body of Christ is described with 'a moment', meaning that we are translated from earth to our eternal heavenly abode with a speed that cannot be measured. It will be so instantaneous that the duration between here and there cannot be split from each other. How amazing is that, if you can wrap your mind around it!
With a SHOUT
1 Thess.4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: ...
John 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42 ... 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice [shout; a command], Lazarus, come forth.
A shout, in circumstances like these, is typically a command. One raises the voice and issues a command for others to hear and adhered to. In this instance, Jesus was giving a forceful command. A command cannot be given with a normal tone of voice. It is typical to below it out with intent.
It is interesting to note that throughout the book of Revelation, the angels associated with events in the Tribulation issue commands, "with a loud voice".
The resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 is also a good example of this 'command',
Rev.11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them [the 2 witnesses], and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice [a shout, a command] from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
So, with this 'shout' in mind, my convictions are that it will be Jesus Himself, issuing a command from heaven, saying "Come up here!" (or something similar). Then within that instant, we are translated and will join the rest of the members of the Body of Christ, those who had previously died and passed into heaven through death. At this point we will receive our glorified bodies and dwell in the heavens, eternal with our Head.
This is a long post, but I hope it provides you with something to learn, or at least to think about. The detail in this post is to provide my understanding of the two key verses of 1 Thess.4:16-17 and 1 Cor.15:51-52. The "shout" and the "moment" are words that correspond to the Body of Christ, whereas the rest of these key verses are in connection with Israel. Once we establish this fact, then it is easy to define what a moment and shout represent in relation to our silent and instantaneous rapture that will leave the unbelieving world in great confusion.
We will continue with the breakdown of the next position in Christ's return in the next post, and I'll define and clarify the key phrases then and in the context of the WHOLE return of Jesus Christ.
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