October 17th 2021
So Today, Just Get Ready To Fly With Jesus. ETA, Unknown!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NIV)
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Paul when writing about dying he used the term of falling asleep to describe death, because as he believed, and hopefully you believe, death in this cursed world is NOT the end! Mortal death is just the separation from this mortal world and transporting our immortal being into another existence not the end of life. Science cannot explain what life is, nor can it find the essence of it. All life is a miraculous event, and no one knows how it starts, or how and why it ends. When an animal or member of mankind dies it can scientifically be labeled as being dead. However, the life force is now gone, but we do not know why.
There is believed to be a huge difference between an animal dying, and a member of mankind dying, because we humans have an immortal piece that does not die, when we die in this cursed world. All animals and plants were created by Jesus without an immortal piece, but mankind was created in the image and likeness of God, which is referring to the immortal piece not the mortal part. This all happened when sin entered the then perfect world, which Jesus had created, and Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden, it is called the Fall of Man! That is when mankind had the mortal piece added and thus realized they were naked.
Sorry, to go back so far but it seemed important to set the stage for writing about The Rapture. When Jesus Christ came to this earth as the Savior of mankind it became the new reality that mankind would immediately be ushered into heaven by Jesus, when believers die. Non-believers will also immediately go to another place when they die. For the sake of ease let us just concern ourselves with believers from this point on in this commentary.
Sorry, but I cannot avoid mentioning why abortion is the ending of an immortal life that God/Jesus created, as life is ONLY started and ended by God. Which is why science cannot define it or start it, as all life is miraculous. All mankind has an immortal piece which never dies, animals and plants do not! Abortion ends only the mortal part, as it cannot end the immortal part! Aborted babies are only deprived of the mortal lifetime. Abortion ends what God miraculously started! Think about how Jesus views that, WWJD?
Now for trying to describe the Rapture. Following is what Paul wrote about his view of the Rapture for us. The Rapture as I understand it is when Jesus will return to this earth to take believers out of this world, and He will take them to be with Him where He is. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).
Note, when Jesus comes back to this earth for the Rapture, He is accompanied by all those who followed Jesus and have already died. As Paul says, “so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” So, if you are a believer and die before the Rapture, you will accompany Jesus, and if you are still alive, Paul says, “we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ be ready to fly with, or up to, Jesus when He comes back to Rapture His followers. Now that is a Biblical account to help cheer us up in this time of turmoil on this earth.
So, will our mortal bodies be taken up from this earth, or will it just be our immortal souls that will be taken up to heaven with Jesus? There is some theological disagreement on that issue. I believe only our souls will be taken up, as was the case with all of those who have died before the Rapture. Paul tells us in Philippians about our new bodies being made. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:18-21).
John wrote some assurance for us. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2). As Paul wrote, “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Just like Adam and Eve before they had a sinful nature, our new bodies will not be such a center of our attention, as they did not know or care that they were naked, until they grew their sinful nature, because of sin. There will be no more sin when we join Jesus in heaven. So today, just get ready to fly with Jesus. ETA, unknown! There will be flight restrictions, you cannot take anything from this cursed world with you!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NIV)
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Paul when writing about dying he used the term of falling asleep to describe death, because as he believed, and hopefully you believe, death in this cursed world is NOT the end! Mortal death is just the separation from this mortal world and transporting our immortal being into another existence not the end of life. Science cannot explain what life is, nor can it find the essence of it. All life is a miraculous event, and no one knows how it starts, or how and why it ends. When an animal or member of mankind dies it can scientifically be labeled as being dead. However, the life force is now gone, but we do not know why.
There is believed to be a huge difference between an animal dying, and a member of mankind dying, because we humans have an immortal piece that does not die, when we die in this cursed world. All animals and plants were created by Jesus without an immortal piece, but mankind was created in the image and likeness of God, which is referring to the immortal piece not the mortal part. This all happened when sin entered the then perfect world, which Jesus had created, and Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden, it is called the Fall of Man! That is when mankind had the mortal piece added and thus realized they were naked.
Sorry, to go back so far but it seemed important to set the stage for writing about The Rapture. When Jesus Christ came to this earth as the Savior of mankind it became the new reality that mankind would immediately be ushered into heaven by Jesus, when believers die. Non-believers will also immediately go to another place when they die. For the sake of ease let us just concern ourselves with believers from this point on in this commentary.
Sorry, but I cannot avoid mentioning why abortion is the ending of an immortal life that God/Jesus created, as life is ONLY started and ended by God. Which is why science cannot define it or start it, as all life is miraculous. All mankind has an immortal piece which never dies, animals and plants do not! Abortion ends only the mortal part, as it cannot end the immortal part! Aborted babies are only deprived of the mortal lifetime. Abortion ends what God miraculously started! Think about how Jesus views that, WWJD?
Now for trying to describe the Rapture. Following is what Paul wrote about his view of the Rapture for us. The Rapture as I understand it is when Jesus will return to this earth to take believers out of this world, and He will take them to be with Him where He is. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).
Note, when Jesus comes back to this earth for the Rapture, He is accompanied by all those who followed Jesus and have already died. As Paul says, “so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” So, if you are a believer and die before the Rapture, you will accompany Jesus, and if you are still alive, Paul says, “we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ be ready to fly with, or up to, Jesus when He comes back to Rapture His followers. Now that is a Biblical account to help cheer us up in this time of turmoil on this earth.
So, will our mortal bodies be taken up from this earth, or will it just be our immortal souls that will be taken up to heaven with Jesus? There is some theological disagreement on that issue. I believe only our souls will be taken up, as was the case with all of those who have died before the Rapture. Paul tells us in Philippians about our new bodies being made. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:18-21).
John wrote some assurance for us. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2). As Paul wrote, “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Just like Adam and Eve before they had a sinful nature, our new bodies will not be such a center of our attention, as they did not know or care that they were naked, until they grew their sinful nature, because of sin. There will be no more sin when we join Jesus in heaven. So today, just get ready to fly with Jesus. ETA, unknown! There will be flight restrictions, you cannot take anything from this cursed world with you!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak