THE RAPTURE.

There are only two reactions that title will stir up in any believer – fear, or anticipation. The rapture was one of the easiest ways to scare a believer into living right when I was much younger. The question always was, ‘If Jesus appeared now, where would you go?’ And if I’m honest, most of the times I heard that question, I either re-dedicated my life to Christ or immediately went away with a sense of dread. And I’m sure before you clicked the link here, you thought I was about to scare you into living right and changing from your ‘unChristlike’ ways. Far from that, beloved. In actual fact there are much better reasons to live right than the fact that Jesus will come again! The utmost of them being that He died once and for all for you, so that you might live free and whole to the fullest! But that’s a topic we’ve discussed here over and over again so let’s get to the chase of today’s piece!

The rapture was first mentioned by Luke in his letter to Theophilus in Acts 1. I did an entire piece on that here, but after Luke summarized how Jesus had walked the earth and appeared to the disciples upon His resurrection and told them to wait to receive the Holy Spirit, he went on to say:

⁹ It was not long after he said this that he was taken up into the sky while they were watching, and he disappeared into a cloud.

¹⁰ As they were straining their eyes to see him, two white-robed men suddenly stood there among them.

¹¹ They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. And someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!”

The angels said this to the disciples to comfort them! Not to frighten them!

The next time we get a vivid imagery of this event was in 1 Thessalonians 4:

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ 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 forever.

What follows this is the crux of this piece. Paul tells this to the church in Thessalonica not because he had just told them to avoid sexual immorality [v. 3], or that God will punish sin [v. 6] or that they were to lead a quiet life and mind their own business [v. 11]. He wrote it to comfort them, and instructed that the same message be passed on to other believers as a way of encouragement! He continues in verse 18:

So comfort and encourage each other with these words.

With the words that the Lord Jesus will come again. That when He does, He’s coming for those to whom He has marked and sealed with His Spirit for eternal life [‘Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory’ – Ephesians 1:13].

That when He comes, those who have received eternal life who by no means can be separated from the love of God [Romans 8:35- 39] nor torn away from His Hand [John 10:28] are the very ones for whom He will eagerly appear to take home!

That when He appears, as we have been reunited with the Father in spirit [1 Corinthians 5:18, Ephesians 2:14 – 22], we will be reunited with Him in flesh! That when He appears, all who have clung to His name for salvation would have come to an end of our sojourning on this earth, and we finally get to go to our true homes [2 Corinthians 5:1-2].

That is why this message of rapture was directed as an encouragement. Because the believer is secured in his faith in the saving grace of Jesus! Because he knows nothing can undo the life implanted in him by the Spirit of God by virtue of his faith. And while it appears that every piece here this year has hovered around the topic of our eternal security, the reality is that every truth in the faith revolves around this one reality – that Jesus died and sanctified us once for all [Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 10:10, etc.] and that His sacrifice sufficed to eternally buy and guarantee our life after this earth [2 Corinthians 5:5].

So, the next time you hear about the rapture, rather than wonder if you will make it, my sibling in Christ😊, [because you will], let it excite you, and remind you that you get to be bodily united with the one who saved your soul. What it should make you wonder though is what rewards you have stored up for yourself when you finally meet Him.

Will your entrance into heaven be a shameful one [1 Corinthians 3:13-15], or will the arms of the Lord be wide open, His eyes glittering with pride, and the angels beaming with smiles, as they watch Him tell you ‘Welcome home, good and faithful servant’?

Love,

Rad💝