1 Corinthians 15:50-57
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in 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. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When 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?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV)
- As we saw in an earlier study, Jesus promised that he would prepare a
place for us in the Eternal Heaven, and that when he returned he would take
us to be with him always. This promise can be found in John 14:1-3. When
the Lord returns he will gather the Church up in a grand supernatural transformation,
commonly called the "Rapture". This section of studies deals with
exactly when this will occur relative to other signs in the prophetic picture.
- What does Paul mean by "sleep" in 1 Corinthians 51?
- HINT: John 11:11-15
- When, exactly, does this prophecy say that we will be changed?
- HINT: 1 Corinthians 15:52 "Last Trumpet"
- HINT: Revelation 8:6 How many?
- HINT: Revelation 11:15-18 The Last.
- Do we enter into eternity with our existing body?
- HINT: 1 Corinthians 15:50
- At the Lord's return who is caught-up to be with him?
- HINT: 1 Corinthians 15:52 The dead in Christ.
- HINT: 1 Corinthians 15:51 "We will not all sleep.."
