When and How the Dead are Raised Up

[reddogs]

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:17

When God said that man would "surely die" if he transgressed God's requirements, He meant that man would cease to live, and would return to dust. Far from being a conscious state, floating around on a cloud or being aware in any way, death is the ultimate state of non-being or unconsciousness, and is described as such in the Scriptures.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Psalms 146:4

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. Ecclesiastes 9:5

The dead are oblivious to what is happening on earth they know nothing.

Also their love, and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Ecclesiastes 9:6

For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give you thanks? Psalm 6:5

So their feelings perish also.
The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. Psalms 115: 17

This state of unconsciousness is equated with sleep. Job says,

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more; they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. Job 14:12

Man lies in the sleep of death until the resurrection at the end of time. Then, and only then, will he awake and be raised out of sleep.

What happens to the righteous dead at the second coming of Christ?

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:12.

"15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

"51 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: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."1 Corinthians 15:51-54.

You see that they will be rewarded. They will be raised up in the resurrection, given immortal bodies, and caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and then taken to the heavenly Kingdom. There would be no purpose in a resurrection if people were taken to heaven at death.

 

[reddogs]

I came across this excellent explanation by pastor Timothy Lee Arnett which starts with the resurrection.

II Corinthians 15:35-49 (NIV)
The Resurrection Body
35But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"[a]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

So, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening (life giving) spirit. That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural (Adam); and afterward that which is spiritual (Jesus). The first man (Adam) is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy (Adam), such are they also that are earthy (his posterity): and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly (the Lord God, Jesus Christ). And as we have borne the image of the earthy (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Jesus Christ).

After Paul makes the case that we have borne the image of Adam, and that we shall (future tense) also bear the image of Jesus Christ, he explains what that means.

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 (NIV)
50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"

So lets take a look at what this means. That flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (Ye must be born again); neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when (future tense) this corruptible shall have (future tense) put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have (future tense) put on immortality, then (In the last day-See John 6;39, 40, 44, 54) shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The point Paul is making concerning flesh and blood, is it cannot inherit and neither doth corruption inherit incorruption is straightforward. This simply means that in our natural earthly state, we do not now have the ability to pass from the one to the other. Man is neither naturally immortal nor is he incorruptible, that is why Paul says that the corruptible must put on incorruption and mortal must put on immortality.

Can we go anywhere on earth to get immortality and incorruption?....No, of course not. We will be given incorruption and immortality at the last trump, when our Lord, Jesus Christ appears.

 

[reddogs]

Have you ever heard someone say, "I know that when I die, I will go immediately to heaven, for the Bible says, "Absent from the body, present with the Lord" Is that what the Bible says? No, it does not say that at all, period! That is lifting the middle out of the context and applying a meaning that is totally foreign to the mind of Paul.

2 Corinthians 5:8 says clearly, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

Now we must admit that to desire something and really have it are two things, and all the desire St. Paul could muster wouldn't help him skip the grave and enter heaven at death.....

Therefore, I must wait for my Lord to come and take me to His Father's house, as He promised.

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life ought to clear up forever any misunderstanding in regards to going to heaven at the point of death. Millions upon millions of both the just and the unjust have died and been buried since the Lord made this statement, and still the Lord has not come again to take His people home to the Fathers house. Jesus also stated clearly that there are only two resurrections, one for the just which leads to eternal life, and the other for the unjust which leads to their eternal death."

"Two Resurrections: The Just and the Unjust
John 5:24-29 (King James Version)
24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Clearly we see two resurrections for the just and the unjust. By searching elsewhere in Scripture we see when they occur.
Revelation 20:4-6 (King James Version)
4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Clearly those who come up in the first resurrection are the just from all ages up to the final conflict in the last days. The unjust are dealt with in the same chapter.
Revelation 20:12-15 (King James Version)
12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Note that death and hell (Hades-the grave/abode of the dead) deliver up the dead that are in them. The question will be asked regarding all those who come up in the second resurrection at the end of the 1000 year judgement,Are any of these who are assembled here mentioned in the Lambs Book of Life? All is silent, for there are none. All who have been faithfully recorded in the Lambs Book of Life came up in the first resurrection a thousand years before at Christ second coming.

Thank God that God is for us, not against us. He desires that all might be saved and enter into life everlasting through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Bible is so consistently clear that incorruption and immortality is bestowed at the appearing of Christ, and not before. May each of us be found ready and reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ so that when He appears we too shall be clothed with His immortal, incorruptible crown.

 

[LeviR]

That man has an immortal soul is the mother of all lies.

An immortal soul is a soul that never dies.

Please explain to me why someone would seek to save a soul that never dies.

 

[LeviR]

Someone once told me when Jesus was dead and in the grave he went to hell to look for Adam.