The eschatological subject of the Rapture of the church can be related the study of Soteriology because it is regarded as a form of deliverance. When Messiah returns at the end of the church age, He will deliver His church from an evil world and a coming judgment that will last for seven years (Read Revelation chapters 6-18). A distinction is here drawn between Jesus coming for His saints at the Rapture, and Jesus coming with His saints at His Second Coming (Dan 7:13-14; Matt 19:28; 25:31; Rev 19:11-21). Jesus is now in heaven preparing a place for believers to be with Him there (John 14:1-3). Paul revealed Jesus will return for His church and that all Christians will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air (1 Th 4:13-18).
The doctrine of the Rapture was first presented by the Lord Jesus when He provided new information to His apostles on the night before His crucifixion. After speaking of His soon departure (John 13:33), Jesus comforted them, saying, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for 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 to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). The place where Jesus was going was heaven. The purpose of His going was to prepare a place for them. And, at some unspecified time, Jesus promised He would come again to receive them to Himself, that they may be with Him.
Paul described this as a time when “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:51-53). And, when writing to the church at Thessalonica, Paul explained, “the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th 4:16b-17). According to BDAG, the meaning of caught up (ἁρπάζω) is “to grab or seize suddenly so as to remove or gain control, snatch/take away.”[1] John Walvoord states, “The important point is that the verse says Christ will come for believers and take them from the earth to heaven, where they will be in His presence till they return with Him to the earth to reign. The Rapture will mean that all believers ‘will be with the Lord forever,’ enjoying Him and His presence for all eternity.”[2]
As Christians, we are “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Tit 2:13). This Rapture is immanent, meaning it may occur at any time and without prior notice. All Christians who are alive at the time of the Rapture will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, will go with Him to heaven, and be saved from the wrath to be poured out during the seven-year Tribulation. Our future is not one of judgment; rather, we are assured we will be saved from God’s future wrath, both in time and eternity (Rom 5:9; 1 Thess 1:10; 5:9; Rev 3:10).
Dr. Steven R. Cook
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- The Work of the Trinity in Salvation
- Defining Salvation in the Bible
- Who is the One Who Saves?
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 134.
[2] John Walvoord, eds. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, Understanding Christian Theology (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), 1265.
God’s greatest provision was for our eternal salvation, which came through His Son, Jesus, Who died in our place and bore the punishment that rightfully belongs to us (Rom 5:8; 1 Cor 15:3-4; 1 Pet 3:18). When we trust in Christ alone as our Savior, we receive forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7), eternal life (John 10:28), are transferred into “the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13), become “children of God” (John 1:12), and are blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3). God’s wonderful grace is amazing! And God, having done the most for us at the cross, will not do less for us after our salvation. Paul wrote, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:31-32). Since God has already demonstrated His maximum love and generosity by giving His Son for our salvation, it only stands to reason that He will certainly provide everything else needed for our well-being, and for a life that glorifies Him and edifies others.
By faith we trust God and rest in His promises. Failure to trust God will result in worry, fear, and an anxious heart that is never at rest. Do our hearts ever become anxious? Of course they do. And does fear ever rise up? Yes, of course it does. Well over a hundred times in the OT & NT believers are told “do no fear” and “do not be afraid” (e.g., Gen 15:1, Deut 1:21; Isa 41:10; Matt 10:28; 1 Pet 3:14). These directives would be superfluous if sinful fear was not a problem for the believer. Sometimes we become like Peter and look at the storm around us (Matt 14:30), become frightened, and sink into what we fear. But when fear rises up, faith must rise higher, always trusting God to keep His Word. When trials come (and they will), we must see them as opportunities to grow in our faith (Jam 1:2-4). The benefit of living by faith is a relaxed mental attitude as the believer focuses on the Lord and His promises. Remember, God always keeps His promises, for “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num 23:19). Yes, He will always keep His Word, for “the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind” (1 Sam 15:29), for “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18). God has integrity and keeps His Word, and “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20a).
God will provide. The challenge for us, as His children, is to accept His Word as true and apply it to our lives on a regular basis. The walk of faith requires us to have discipline of mind and will, to learn and live God’s Word, and to stay focused on Him and His promises. As God’s children, we are to “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). The walk of faith is what He wants, for He says, “My righteous one shall live by faith” (Heb 10:38), and “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). The life of faith is what Pleases God, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb 11:6). Will there be failure on our part? Yes, more often than most of us would like to admit. But that’s why daily confession is important (1 John 1:9), as we acknowledge our sins to God, trust that He forgives, and then move back into a walk of faith. Let us continually learn and live God’s Word, always trusting the Lord will provide and that He will keep His promises to us. This way of living will glorify God, edify others, and result in a relaxed mental attitude for us as we lean on the Lord.