"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also. John 14:3
Usually when you ask Christians about the Rapture, they respond
with wide-ranging comments about our mysterious, loud and exhilarating
disappearing act. And, granted, it's a fun discussion. Who doesn't
like missing their earthly death!
And it's wild to think about the Rapture happening soon…probably
within the next few years, if not the next few months! (Did a
birth-pang just end? Seems like it!)
Certainly one obvious purpose for the Rapture is to get Believers
out of harm's way. Immediately after the Rapture our entire planet
will undergo one horrible 7-year period of God's deadly and destructive
wrath. Thankfully, our exit is before God's wrath even begins.
God has not destined us for wrath… 1Thes. 5:9a
However, the most important result of the Rapture is not missing
the pain, but rather that our bodies are transformed.
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep [die a natural
death], but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, 1Cor. 15:51-52a
In the Greek, the phrase "in the twinkling of an eye"
means in an "atom of time." It's referring to the least
divisible time period-basically meaning instantaneous.
The word "changed" in the Greek is "allasso,"
which means to transform from one thing to another. The idea
is that there is no time taken for our transformation, rather,
we directly go from one state of being to a new state of being.
One nano-second we're here and the next nano-second we're in
heaven with our new heavenly/eternal body. We instantaneously
go from sinner to non-sinner…from an oppressed Satan-dominated
world to the bliss of a God-ruled heaven. Amazing.
In Paul's 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, he compared us
currently living in a tent and moving to a new house.
if [when] the earthly tent which is our house [on earth] is torn
down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. 2Cor 5:1
At the "Last Supper" with His disciples in the Upper
Room, Jesus said He would go to prepare a place for us in the
Father's house which has many dwelling places. Then He added,
If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:3
In spite of the fact Jesus knew He would soon die a horrible
sacrificial death on the cross, at the Last Supper He took the
time to assure His Apostles that they would have a place in heaven.
In My Father's house are many dwelling places; John 14:2
The description of a huge house with many rooms is taken from
the idea that sons and daughters have apartments under the same
roof as their parents.
Many oriental, Greek and middle eastern families build houses
expecting their sons to marry and live in the same house on a
new floor built above. Therefore they construct houses with large
foundations hoping to add several floors above.
We often see houses on our trips to the Holyland that have rebar
sticking out of the top of the houses…they're planning ahead.
The purpose of Jesus' departure was to make ready the place where
He could welcome us permanently. This means He is expecting us
to eventually arrive and live with Him.
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God,
The Greek word for "new" is "kaine" and means
new in both form and substance. So it will be "fresh, recent,
unused and unworn" in form. It will also be "unprecedented
and novel" in substance.
We have a great description of our new home in Revelation 21
(worth re-reading the entire chapter!). Part of that description
includes the size:
The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great
as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen
hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. Rev.
21:16
So this new home that Jesus has built for us is quite large.
1500 miles is roughly the distance from St. Louis to Los Angeles.
And just as high! Impressive!
We're accustomed to sites laid out flat across the land, basically
two-dimensional. But our new city will be in a three-dimensional
square.
Many people have done calculations to determine the size of each
of our rooms in the new heaven on earth. The wild card is how
many will be in heaven from all of history. But using the most
liberal estimates of how many actually go to heaven, each of
us should have a space of about 1/3 mile square. Plenty of elbow
room!
It's really hard to comprehend how wonderful this will be; we
can't even imagine.
Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard,
and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has
prepared for those who love Him. 1Cor. 2:9
But to enjoy this new heaven, we first must be transformed…
Even though we're saved, we're all still sinners until we leave
this earth.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and
the truth is not in us. 1John 1:8
The Rapture makes it possible for Jesus to permanently change
us from sinful to sinless-we arrive in our new bodies.
Jesus can transform us based on what He accomplished on the cross.
And our new bodies will be just like the body He received at
His powerful resurrection.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly
wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform
the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of
His glory, Phil. 3:20-21
Post-cross, Jesus permanently resides in a body that has arms,
legs, hair, etc. The God of this universe will sit on His throne
in Jerusalem looking like us humans…which makes it easy
for us to relate to our God.
But we were actually designed to be like Him from the beginning…
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according
to Our likeness; Gen. 1:26
That is just so cool!!
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- by Bill Perkins - https://compass.org/rapture-more-than-just-disappearing/
- Disclaimer: The views
expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the
author. If you have a problem with the correctness of the information,
please contact the author.
- (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes.)
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