Chapter Six

Finally, our detailed study of what you were saved for when you renounced Satan’s kingdom of eternal death and darkness and henceforth entered into God’s kingdom of eternal life and light moves us from seeing “Your position in Jesus Christ” in chapter four and “Your practice and conduct in Jesus Christ” in chapter five, to seeing “Your permanent eternal state in Jesus Christ” here in chapter six. Starting in chapter four, we saw “Your position in Jesus Christ” the first facet of your salvation known as justification which deals with the fact that you were immediately saved from the PENALTY for all your sins in hell when you sincerely repented toward God and truly believed in Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. Next in chapter five, we saw “Your practice and conduct in Jesus Christ” the second facet of your salvation known as sanctification which deals with the fact that you are currently undergoing a lifelong continuous process of being saved from the POWER of all sins every day of your life. So now here in chapter six as we conclude this study, we will be seeing in details “Your permanent eternal state in Jesus Christ” the third facet of your salvation known as glorification which deals with the fact that in the future you shall be saved from the PRESENCE of all sins when you shall depart from this world and be instantly ushered into the presence of God the Father in heaven. Therefore here in chapter six, we will be exploring in details what shall happen in you, to you and for you in the future when you shall depart from this world into eternity in heaven and be instantly saved from the presence of all sins and thus you shall eventually be glorified. That is, you shall at the appointed time receive a glorified body that cannot sin, cannot become sick, cannot be disabled, cannot age and cannot die, which shall house your saved soul and your regenerated spirit forever and ever in heaven.

So let us now explore glorification: the third facet of your salvation which deals with “where and how you shall be forever and ever in Jesus Christ” or rather “Your permanent eternal state in Jesus Christ” as the title of this chapter indicates. Now, the best way to explore glorification, this third and the last facet of your salvation is to use the following chronological order so that you can clearly see in a logical biblical sequence what shall happen in you, to you and for you in the future when you shall depart from this world and be instantly ushered into eternity in heaven:

In essence, these five sequential steps highlighted above shows you how you shall move from this space-time continuum here on earth to eternity in heaven itself—the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh God of the Bible, the one and the only true and the living God there is. So let us take a closer look at the first sequential step below.

1) YOU ARE LIVING HERE ON EARTH AS A CHRISTIAN WHERE YOU OUGHT TO BE DOING WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO DO UNTIL THE DAY HE SHALL CALL YOU TO DEPART FROM THIS WORLD AND GO TO BE WITH HIM IN HEAVEN

You are a pilgrim here on earth. This is not your eternal home but your temporary dwelling place on your way to eternal destination in heaven. Your permanent eternal home is in heaven: the third heaven to be precise, which is the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh God of the Bible, the one and the only true and the living God there is (2nd Corinthians 12:2-4). For, from the very instant you became a true born again believer in Jesus Christ, God graciously made you a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). So now you are a dual citizen. On one hand, you are a citizen of the country where you were born and perhaps you live; and that is where God has strategically positioned you as an ambassador for Christ so that you can enlarge and entrench the kingdom of God there as you diligently evangelize unsaved people and faithfully equip saved people (2nd Corinthians 5:17-21). And on the other hand, you are a citizen of heaven where God has graciously ordained that you should have your permanent eternal home in His eternal dwelling place where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). Therefore, to sum it up, you are right now on a blessed journey gradually and progressively moving through this space-time continuum step by step and day by day towards your permanent eternal home in heaven.

Now, the most important thing in this pilgrimage to heaven is to always remain in the centre of God’s perfect will for your life. That is why you must begin your pilgrimage to heaven by discovering what God has called you to do in this life and then commit to be doing it led and empowered by God the Holy Spirit all the days of your life. Therefore, just like Apostle Paul in almost all of his epistles in the Bible was able to say, “Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,” so should you also be able to say, “I so and so called to be _ _ _ by the will of God.” It therefore means that you are not supposed to be doing what you are doing because you were pressured to do it by the necessities of life or because you were pushed to do it by other people or even because of the grades you got in your academic pursuits but because that is exactly what God has called you to do in this life. Remember, just as God told Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 that before He formed him in his mother’s womb He had already ordained him to become a prophet to the nations, know that likewise there is a vocation or a career or a profession that God ordained you to have before He formed you in your mother’s womb. So you should first of all discover what it is and then wholeheartedly cling to it just as Apostle Paul knew with certainty that God had called him to become an apostle and then he wholeheartedly clung to his calling as an apostle throughout his life (Galatians 1:11-24). Therefore kindly find out from God what He has called you to do in this life and then faithfully and selflessly do it led and empowered by God the Holy Spirit all the days of your life. For that is the only time that your pilgrimage to your eternal destiny in heaven is going to be meaningful, fruitful and joyful.

So in your pilgrimage to heaven, there is only one way you can ensure that you will always remain in the centre of God’s perfect will for your life. And that is by vacating the throne of your life and allowing Jesus Christ to sit there as the master of your own destiny, the captain of the “ship” of your life, the pilot of the “plane” of your life and the driver of the “vehicle” of your life. As it were, your seat in the “vehicle” of your life is not the driver’s seat but the passenger’s seat. This is where you ought to sit calmly and patiently as Jesus Christ takes the driver’s seat and then He skillfully drives the “vehicle” of your life through the lows and the highs, the cold and the hot, the rough and the smooth, the ugly and the beautiful terrain of the road of this life step by step and day by day towards your permanent eternal destination in heaven. As the perfect driver of the “vehicle” of your life, Jesus Christ knows which road to take, what speed to drive at, when to speed up and when to slow down, when and where to turn, and most important of all, how to safely drive the “vehicle” of your life from this space-time continuum here on earth until He ushers you into your permanent eternal destination in heaven—the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh God of the Bible, the one and the only true and the living God there is. So while you are seated on the passenger’s seat, resist the temptation (we all have) of trying to direct Jesus Christ to drive you through the road you think is best for you and not the road He has chosen for you. Also resist the temptation of telling Him what speed to drive at or when to speed up or when to slow down or when and where to turn or even when and where to stop. Worst of all, resist the temptation of trying to take the driver’s seat so that you can drive this “vehicle” of your life in the road that you think is best for you instead of allowing Jesus Christ to drive you in the road He has chosen for you because He knows it is the best road for you. In other words, resist the temptation of becoming a practical atheist by doing whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, wherever you want and to whomsoever you want without even for a moment pausing to consult God (whom you profess to believe in) to reveal to you what His perfect will for your life is. This ought not to be the case because as a true born again believer in Jesus Christ you ought to always follow and fulfill God’s perfect will for your life.

Therefore between now and the time when God shall call you to depart from this world and go into eternity in heaven, your chief duty is to fulfill everything that God has called you to do. So go for it! Determine with all your heart, soul, mind and strength that you are going to fulfill every single thing that God has called you do here on earth. However, even as you do that, bear in mind that it will not always be easy to fulfill what God has called you do. And this is because of the unending opposition and unrelenting distractions which will be launched against you by your three greatest spiritual enemies namely the world, the flesh and the devil. Therefore, contrary to what false pastors and teachers like to “decree and declare” that all Christians who have great faith in God will always have trouble-free lives full of good health and great wealth, the truth of the matter is that in this sin-filled world you will definitely face trials and tribulations as you seek to fulfill what God has called you do.

Our lord and savior Jesus Christ once and for all settled this issue with these words He spoke to His disciples saying, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And from his own experience, Apostle Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit emphatically declared that, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2nd Timothy 3:12). Further in the book of Philippians Apostle Paul wrote, “For to you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29). And to show that true Christians can suffer and do actually suffer according to the will of God, Apostle Peter wrote the following: “12Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you: 13But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. … 19Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as to a faithful Creator” (1st Peter 4:12-13, 19). Therefore even though you should not go about looking for trials and tribulations, you should nevertheless be expecting them if indeed you are living godly in Christ Jesus as you should. And that in itself will help you to be ready to tackle them in a God-glorifying way inasmuch as when they come, you will be armed with these and many other scriptures to guide you on how you should respond to any trial or tribulation while patiently waiting for God to deliver you either from it as He did for Daniel in Daniel 6:1-28 or through it as He did for Paul in Acts 14:19-20.

Meanwhile, between now and the time when God shall call you to depart from this world and go into eternity in heaven, your controlling concern should be on how you will always be loving God supremely and loving all people as you love yourself. Stressing on this fact, our lord and savior Jesus Christ said, “37You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like to it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). Then Jesus Christ went on to correct a prevailing false teaching in His day which curtailed the immeasurable and unconditional love we ought to have for all people, when He categorically declared that, “43You have heard that it has been said, you shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. 44But I say to you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). Later on as Paul the Apostle was writing to the church of Corinth, he gave the following description of agape love—the immeasurable and unconditional love that God commands all His children to have: “4Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bear all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails” (1st Corinthians 13:4-8—NKJV).

It is this immeasurable and unconditional love such as the one that Jesus Christ has for us that we are supposed to have as we sojourn here on earth on our blessed pilgrimage to heaven. However, none of us born again believers in Jesus Christ is perfect or is always having this immeasurable and unconditional love. But that does not exempt any of us from pressing on minute by minute and hour by hour towards attaining this immeasurable and unconditional love of God and of all people through God the Holy Spirit who permanently indwells each one of us who are truly saved. Therefore, that boiling pot of hatred you might have toward some people in your life that is sadly overflowing with anger, malice and jealous ought to be once and for all quenched by a gushing fountain of immeasurable and unconditional love you should have for God and for all people. Consequently, you should avoid this mistake which some Christians usually make of misusing this phrase “I am a work in progress” to always cover any failure on their part to obey a clear command of God erroneously thinking that by invoking this phrase, they are therefore exempt from obeying what God has categorically commanded them to obey in the Bible.

Now, this undeniable biblical truth that all true born again believers in Jesus Christ are on a pilgrimage to heaven is more often than not misunderstood and misapplied by some misguided Christians who are falsely taught to ignore their God-given responsibilities here on earth. The fact that you are on a blessed pilgrimage to heaven does not mean that you quit your job or you shut down your business or you stop your education or you dissociate yourself from your family and the society and relocate to some secluded place in the middle of nowhere, from where you will be waiting for the soon return of Jesus Christ. No, not so! Much to the contrary, being on a blessed pilgrimage to heaven means that for all the days that God shall allow you to be sojourning here on earth, you will be excellently working hard both with your hands and with your head, doing exactly what God has called you to do here on earth until that very moment when God Himself shall call you to depart from this world and go to your eternal destination in heaven. In other words, you are supposed to “occupy until Jesus Christ comes for you” (Luke 19:13) which simply means that you are supposed to keep on doing what God has called you to do until the time when Jesus Christ shall come for you to take you to your eternal destination in heaven either through the physical death or through the rapture of the church. So it is not for you to know the time or the circumstance through which you will depart from this world into eternity in heaven. That is squarely in the hands of God. Therefore, you should rest assured that God will call you to depart from this world into eternity in heaven at the right time for you and through the circumstance (painless or painful, slow or sudden) which He Himself will allow and give you all the grace you need to victoriously depart from this world into eternity in heaven in a God-glorifying way.

This figure below shows you how your whole being looks like now that you are truly saved but not yet in heaven so that while you are here on earth on your blessed pilgrimage to heaven, then you can know what you should realistically expect of your natural body, your healing soul and your regenerated spirit.

Descriptive Alt Text

In a nutshell, as you sojourn here on earth on your blessed pilgrimage to heaven, you should always bear in mind that your regenerated spirit and your healing soul are housed in your natural body that is sadly but inevitably subject to the ageing process, disorders, defects, diseases, death and decay. In addition, your natural body can sin and it does actually sin through its drives and desires. So if you bear that in mind, it will help you to be realistic about what you expect of your natural body as it houses your healing soul and your regenerated spirit for all the days you will be sojourning here on earth on your pilgrimage to heaven. As a result, you will be forewarned and therefore forearmed to deal accordingly with the moral weaknesses of your body (i.e. it can sin and it does actually sin) and the material weaknesses of your body (i.e. it is subject to the ageing process, disorders, defects, diseases, death and decay). For once you know that your body can sin and that it does actually sin, that sobering fact should cause you to stay clear of all those people and things that can tempt you to sin with your body drives and desires. Similarly once you know that your body is subject to the ageing process, disorders, defects, diseases, death and decay: that disheartening yet irrefutable biblical and scientific fact should cause you to take utmost care of the physical health of your body while at the same time being ready at any time for God to call you to depart from this world and go to be with Him in heaven through physical death if the rapture of the church does not happen when you are still alive.

Hoping that I have sufficiently covered the basic facts you need to know about the first of the five sequential steps which shows you how you shall move from this space-time continuum here on earth to eternity in heaven itself, let us now turn to the second sequential step below.

2) YOU SHALL DEPART FROM THIS WORLD INTO ETERNITY IN HEAVEN EITHER THROUGH PHYSICAL DEATH OR THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST

As you sojourn here on earth on your blessed pilgrimage to heaven, there are only two ways by which you can depart from this world and go to eternity in heaven—the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh God of the Bible—the one and the only true and the living God there is. These two ways are the physical death and the rapture of the church, whichever comes first. So let us briefly see physical death which is one of the two possible ways by which you can depart from this world into eternity in heaven.

I. Departing from this world into eternity in heaven through physical death

It goes without saying that if your pilgrimage here on earth comes to an end before the rapture of the church, then you will depart from this world into eternity in heaven through physical death. Now, as we have seen throughout this book, the Bible teaches three kinds of deaths namely: spiritual death, physical death and eternal death. Spiritual death occurs first for it is the spiritual state by which a person is born with a dead spirit or rather a spirit that is separated from God because of the sin nature he or she inherited from Adam (Ephesians 2:1-5). Physical death follows next when the spirit and the soul of a person are separated from his or her body resulting to death and decay of their body as it turns back to dust (James 2:26, Acts 7:59-60 and Revelation 6:9). And lastly, eternal death also known as the second death comes last when a person’s spirit, soul and body are forever and ever separated from God as he or she is cast into hell to face everlasting punishment for all his or her sins when that person dies unsaved having rejected salvation that Jesus Christ freely offers him or her (Revelation 20:11-15). Worth noting is the fact that physical death serves as the gateway to eternity in heaven for all those people who die saved and tragically it serves as the gateway to eternity in hell for all those people who die unsaved. Graciously, however, God gives all human beings opportunity after opportunity and ample time after ample time to sincerely repent toward God and truly believe in Jesus Christ so that they can be truly and eternally saved from these three jaws of deaths (John 3:16). Unfortunately, time and time again, millions of unsaved people die physically while they are still dead spiritually which tragically leads all of them to die eternally because after the final judgment, they shall all be separated from God forever and ever by being cast into hell to face everlasting punishment for all their sins.

But thank God that much to the contrary, there are millions of saved people (like you and me) whom God has truly and eternally saved from these three jaws of deaths. This is because when each one of us got saved: spiritual death was instantly conquered (Ephesians 2:1, 4-8 and Colossians 2:13-15); eternal death was forever and ever avoided (Romans 4:4-8; 8:1 and 2nd Corinthians 5:17); and the sting of physical death was immediately plucked off because physical death stopped being a dreadful gateway to eternity in hell for us and it became a harmless gateway to eternity in heaven for us (John 5:24; 11:25-26 and 2nd Timothy 1:8-10). It therefore means that if God has appointed you to depart from this world through physical death and not through the rapture of the church, then physical death shall become your harmless gateway to usher you into eternity in heaven to be with Yahweh God of the Bible forever and ever. For, the Bible clearly states that, “And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). In other words, there is an appointment with death which Yahweh God Himself has ordained for all human beings except for all those people who in the past have been translated into heaven without dying like Enoch (Genesis 5:24) or all those Christians who in the future will be translated into heaven without dying at the rapture of the church (1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1st Corinthians 15:51-54). Though that appointment with death is unbeknown to any of us and though it is not booked by any of us; yet when our time shall come to keep that appointment with death, we shall all keep it without fail. However, the difference shall be that all unsaved people shall keep their appointment with death in total defeat and despair because physical death shall serve as their dreadful gateway to usher them into eternity in hell to face everlasting punishment for all their sins (Revelation 20:11-15). But much to the contrary, all saved people shall keep their appointment with death victoriously because physical death shall serve as their harmless gateway to usher them into eternity in heaven to be with Yahweh God of the Bible experiencing everlasting joy and satisfaction (2nd Corinthians 5:8).

Therefore in your case, when God-appointed time shall come for you to keep your appointment with the physical death, you shall experience instant radical transition from time to eternity. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, your regenerated spirit and your healing soul shall be separated from your natural body resulting to the instant death of your natural body which shall remain here on earth to be buried and thereafter decay gradually back to dust. While in that very instant of your physical death, your invisible and intangible immaterial being made up of your regenerated spirit and your healing soul shall depart into eternity in heaven to be with Yahweh God of the Bible, the one and the only true and the living God there is. This truth of what happens to a true born again believer in Jesus Christ at the moment of their physical death is confirmed by this scripture in James 2:26 which says that, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also,” showing that physical death occurs when the spirit departs from the body. Also in Revelation 9:6-11 and in Luke 16:19-31, the Bible clearly shows us that the soul (i.e. the psychical dimension of a human being by which he or she has mind to think, emotions to feel, will to decide, and consciousness to know and understand) also departs from the body of a person who dies at the moment of physical death just as their spirit does. Furthermore, this truth that spirit and soul both depart from the body at the moment of physical death is confirmed by the following incidences of deaths and subsequent resurrection of certain people recorded in the Bible. First, when Jesus Christ raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, the Bible records that, “And her spirit came again” (Luke 8:55), showing that her spirit had departed from her body when she died. Second, when Prophet Elijah raised from dead the son of the widow at Zarephath, the Bible records that, “And the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived” (1st Kings 17:22), showing that his soul had departed from his body when he died. Therefore, these scriptures and several others like them ought to fully convince you that at the moment of your physical death, your regenerated spirit and your healing soul shall depart from your body resulting to the death of your body, which in the process of time shall decay gradually back to dust (Genesis 3:19).

Also crucial to know and understand is the irrefutable biblical fact that at the moment of your physical death, your regenerated spirit and your healing soul shall depart from your body and immediately go to eternity in heaven to be with Yahweh God of the Bible forever and ever. Writing to the church of Corinth regarding what happens to all true born again believers in Jesus Christ when they die, Apostle Paul categorically declared that, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2nd Corinthians 5:8). Inspired by God the Holy Spirit, Apostle Paul was bold, clear and precise to declare in this scripture that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” by which he clearly and unmistakably meant that once a Christian dies, he or she goes straight into the presence of Yahweh God of the Bible in heaven. In other words, at the very instant of the physical death of a Christian, his or her invisible and intangible immaterial being made up of regenerated spirit and healing soul immediately departs from the body and goes straight into eternity in heaven to be with Yahweh God of the Bible forever and ever. Moreover, Apostle Paul reiterated this wonderful truth to the church in Philippi when he boldly declared to them that, “21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. … 23For I am in strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23). So here we see once again that for a true born again believer in Jesus Christ: to depart from his or her body is to be instantly present with Jesus Christ in heaven itself. And this fact was ably demonstrated by Deacon Stephen, who just before he died said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Moreover, this truth was once and for all proven by the assurance which Jesus Christ gave to the thief who repented and believed in Him on the cross just few hours before that thief died. This is because Jesus Christ said to him, “Verily I say to you, today shall you be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). This promise of instant entry into paradise to this notorious thief who became a Christian just few hours before his death proves that when Christians die, they go straight into the presence of God in heaven because paradise in 2nd Corinthians 12:2-4 is equated to the third heaven, the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh God of the Bible.

So you can rest assured that at the moment of your physical death, your regenerated spirit and your healing soul shall depart from your body and go straight into the presence of God in heaven as is shown in the figure below.

Descriptive Alt Text

Important to note is the fact that the soul and the spirit of a person who die depart immediately from his or her body and go into eternity either in heaven for a person who die saved or in hades waiting eventually to be cast into hell for a person who die unsaved. Knowing this unbendable biblical truth will protect you from false teachings and false beliefs which are widely taught and sadly believed regarding what happens to the body, the soul and the spirit of a person when he or she dies. First, you will be protected from the false belief that when a person dies his soul and his spirit also die together with his body hence that person is annihilated or simply ceases to exist. [1] This is false because when a person dies the Bible in Luke 16:19-31, Acts 7:59-60 and Revelation 6:9-11 clearly shows that his soul and his spirit depart from the body and immediately go into eternity in heaven for a person who die saved or into eternity in hades waiting eventually to be cast into hell for a person who die unsaved. Second, you will be protected from the false teaching which claims that when a person dies his soul and his spirit do not depart from his dead body but remain there in the unconscious sleeping state which these groups call “soul-sleep”. This claim is proven to be false because these scriptures in James 2:26, Luke 16:19-31, Acts 7:59-60 and Revelation 6:9-11 clearly show that soul and spirit departs from the body at the point of death and continue to exist either in heaven or in hade. Third, you will be protected from the false teaching which claims that when a person dies his soul and his spirit go into purgatory to suffer for his sins for some time before he can be allowed to go into heaven. This doctrine of purgatory is proven to be false because the Bible in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 teaches that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” for all those people who are truly saved in addition to the fact that there is no any evidence anywhere in the whole Bible to prove that purgatory exists. And fourth, you will be protected from the false belief that when a person dies, his soul and his spirit depart from the body to roam freely around homesteads, graves and cemeteries haunting people. This belief is proven to be false because when a person dies his soul and his spirit depart from the body and immediately go into eternity either in heaven or in hades as is clearly shown in Luke 16:19-31 and Revelation 6:9-11 and do not roam around or come back at will. Therefore any reported haunting and strange visitations by supposedly the spirit of a dead person comes from a demon which masquerades as that dead person in order to deceive the relatives of that dead person. [2]

Therefore in conclusion, we have seen that if the rapture of the church does not come first, then you shall depart from this life through physical death and be instantly ushered into the presence of God the Father in heaven with a regenerated spirit and a healing soul that shall immediately be changed into a saved soul. Thenceforth you shall eagerly be waiting to receive your glorified body at the rapture of the church when Jesus Christ shall raise from the dead all saved people who died believing in Him (1st Corinthians 15:21-23). With that clearly understood, let us briefly explore the rapture of the church which is the only other possible way beside physical death by which you can depart from this world into eternity in heaven.

II. Departing from this world into eternity in heaven through the rapture of the church

As a true born again believer in Jesus Christ, your departure from this world into eternity in heaven will only be through the rapture of the church if and only if you will be alive when Jesus Christ shall descend from heaven and come into the air to rapture His church. Since the rapture of the church is such an exciting and a glorious departure from this world into eternity in heaven for us Christians, Satan hates it and tries his level to bring unwarranted confusion into this subject of the rapture of the church. So to decisively defeat any attack which Satan levels against sound biblical teaching on the rapture of the church, it is first and foremost worth noting that the word “rapture” does not appear in our English Bibles. However, as the late Pastor Chuck Smith observed, the Greek word “Harpazo” that is translated “caught up” in our English Bibles in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 is translated “rapare” or “raptus” in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible and that is where we get the word “rapture” from. [3] Hence whether one uses the word “rapture” adopted from Latin language or uses “Harpazo” from Greek language or even chooses to just use the English phrase “caught up,” he or she will be referring to the same event which is clearly and unmistakably taught in the Bible. But since my intention here is to show you how the rapture of the church is the second possible way by which you can depart from this world into eternity in heaven, I will therefore not exhaustively delve into the intricate details of this doctrine. Therefore, I strongly urge you to carefully study on your own 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1st Corinthians 15:50-57, the two main passages in the Bible where this teaching of the rapture of the church has its biblical foundation and then proceed on to study the following scriptures which also deal with this subject of the rapture of the church inter alia: John 14:1-3, Matthew 24:37-51, Mark 13:32-37, Luke 21:34-36, 1st Thessalonians 1:10; 5:1-11, Philippians 3:20-21, 1st Corinthians 15:21-23, 35-49, 1st John 2:28-3:2, Jude 14, Colossians 3:4, Titus 2:11-15, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-8 and Revelation 3:10-11.

For once you do that, you will understand what the Bible truly teaches about what the rapture of the church is, when it shall happen, how it shall happen, why it shall happen and to whom it shall happen. And that will help you to have your own sound unshakable biblical understanding of this subject of the rapture of the church instead of believing uncritically on what a particular Christian denomination teaches on this subject without you personally perusing through the Bible to see for yourself whether or not that is truly indeed what the Bible actually teaches. Now, with that caveat well sounded, let us now delve into how you shall depart from this world into eternity in heaven through the rapture of the church if indeed you will still be alive when Jesus Christ shall descend from heaven and come into the air to rapture His church.

So let us start our brief study of this subject of the rapture of the church by carefully examining the following two main passages in the Bible where this teaching of the rapture of the church has its biblical foundation. The first Bible passage comes from 1st Thessalonians chapter four which says: “13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are a sleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. 15For, this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are a sleep. 16For 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: 17Then 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. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1st Thessalonians 4:13-18). And the second Bible passage comes from 1st Corinthians chapter fifteen which says: “21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. … 50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. 51Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In 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. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So 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. 55O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1st Corinthians 15:21-23, 50-55).

Therefore from these two Bible passages which form the backbone of the doctrine of the rapture of the church, we notice that the rapture of the church is two-pronged. On one hand, it describes what shall happen to all those Christians who will still be alive when Jesus Christ shall come down from heaven into the air to rapture His church. There it describes how in a moment all those Christians will be translated into eternity in heaven without dying and receive their translated glorified bodies to house their saved souls and regenerated spirits forever and ever in heaven (1st Thessalonians 4:13-18). And on the other hand, it describes what shall happen to all those Christians who will have died before Jesus Christ comes down from heaven into the air to rapture His church. There it describes when and how all those Christians will receive their resurrected glorified bodies when their dead bodies shall be raised from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:21-23, 50-55). And as for these two groups of Christians, those who will be translated into eternity in heaven without dying and those who will be receiving their resurrected glorified bodies, they will both meet Jesus Christ together in the air and henceforth be always with Him in their glorified bodies, saved souls and regenerated spirits wherever He shall be (John 14:1-3). In summary, it is worth noting that the rapture of the church affects all true Christians in two different ways depending on whether or not those Christians will have died before the rapture of the church or they will still be alive at the rapture of the church.

To all those true Christians who will have died before the rapture of the church, Jesus Christ will be coming back with them according to 1st Thessalonians 4:14 at the rapture of the church (i.e. their regenerated spirits and saved souls which departed into heaven when they died) and there and then resurrect their dead bodies (1st Corinthians 15:23 and 1st Thessalonians 4:16) so that they can receive their resurrected glorified bodies (1st Corinthians 5:1-8) and be fully clothed for all eternity with resurrected glorified bodies, saved souls and regenerated spirits. And to all those true Christians who will be alive at the rapture of the church, Jesus Christ will in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye descend from heaven into the air and snatch them out of this world without dying to meet Him in the air having in that very instant changed their natural bodies into glorified bodies and their healing souls into saved souls (1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1st Corinthians 15:50-57) so that they too can be fully clothed for all eternity with glorified bodies, saved souls and regenerated spirits. Consequently, at the rapture of the church, whether you will have died before it happens or you will still be alive when it happens, that is the time when you shall receive your permanent eternal state according to 1st Corinthians 15:21-23, 50-55 and 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 and thus be fully clothed for all eternity as is clearly shown in figure 6.3 below.

Descriptive Alt Text

Now, this permanent eternal state you will receive at the rapture of the church comprises of your glorified body, your saved soul and your regenerated spirit. So in your permanent eternal state, your regenerated spirit shall have permanent eternal capability to forever and ever be perfectly willing and able 1) to know God intimately, 2) to love God supremely, 3) to serve God faithfully, and 4) to glorify God exclusively. Also in your permanent eternal state, your saved soul shall have permanent eternal capability to forever and ever be exclusively 1) thinking good godly thoughts, 2) having good godly feelings, and 3) making good godly decisions. Finally in your permanent eternal state, your glorified body shall have permanent eternal capability to forever and ever be 1) immortal so that you shall live forever and ever without dying, 2) morally incorruptible so that you shall live forever and ever without sinning in any way whatsoever, and 3) materially incorruptible so that you shall live forever and ever without experiencing any disorders, defects, diseases or ageing.

So in particular, I invite you to see for yourself what the Bible teaches about your glorified body. First of all, your glorified body will be similar to the one our lord and savior Jesus Christ had when He rose from the dead just as is clearly stated by this scripture, “20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21—NKJV). Also the Bible in 1st John 3:2 clearly states, “Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” In other words, your glorified body will have all those permanent eternal capabilities similar to the ones which the resurrected glorified body of Jesus Christ had when He rose from the dead. Therefore in addition to being immortal, morally incorruptible and materially incorruptible, your glorified body shall have heavenly capabilities enabling you to dwell in the presence of Yahweh God of the Bible, whom in your current natural body you cannot see and live (Exodus 33:20).

This therefore means that the glorified body you will receive at the rapture of the church (whether you will be translated without dying or resurrected from the dead) will be vastly superior to the natural body you have now. By the way, Apostle Paul writing to the church of Corinth chronicled in details the superiority of the glorified body which Christians shall receive when they shall be raised from the dead at the rapture of the church as follows: “42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a living spirit. 46However that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48As is the earthy; such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49And as we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1st Corinthians 15:42-49). As you can see clearly from this scripture, God will not renovate your current natural body at resurrection to give it, as it were, a “facelift” as is erroneously taught by some people since that would incorporate the use of the current kind of DNA which was infected and affected by the fall of Adam. Instead, God will make your glorified body using the perfect blue print: that is, the perfect DNA which encodes the perfect design of your body which God had in mind when He was planning everything about you way back in eternity past (Jeremiah 1:5 and Ephesians 1:3-5). That is why the Bible calls the glorified body, “a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2nd Corinthians 5:1).

Therefore, at the rapture of the church you will receive your glorified body which cannot sin, cannot become sick, cannot have any defects, cannot have any disorders, cannot be disabled, cannot age and cannot die or decay but shall live forever and ever inasmuch as God will assemble it using the perfect blueprint He had in mind when He was planning everything about you in eternity past. That is when this heartwarming scripture in 1st Corinthians chapter fifteen shall be fulfilled: “21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. … 51Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In 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. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So 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. 55O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1st Corinthians 15:21-23, 51-55). This is when you shall once and forever receive your long-awaited perfect sinless status. For the whole of your regenerated spirit, saved soul and glorified body shall all be perfect and sinless forever and ever. So even though your glorified body shall have a striking resemblance to your current natural body, it shall however be perfect in all its internal and external characteristics.

Once again, it is of utmost importance to understand that at the rapture of the church you will once and forever receive your long-awaited perfect sinless status comprising of your regenerated spirit, saved soul and glorified body. And this will happen once and forever and in an instant. Therefore there will be no trials and errors whereby you keep on dying and coming back again and again in completely different bodies including coming back again in bodies of animals, hoping that one day you will become perfect. That is not what the Bible teaches but it is the false teaching known as reincarnation which is completely proven to be false by Hebrews 9:27 which clearly states that “it is appointed for men to die once and after that judgment.” Secondly, even though the glorified body you will receive at the rapture of the church will not be a renovation of your current natural body but the perfect body that God in eternity past had originally intended you to have, it will however not be a completely different body totally dissimilar to the natural body you have now. So it will look exactly like the natural body you have right now for the only difference is that it will be perfect without any moral or material weaknesses. It therefore means that in heaven you will not be looking like another person or be in the body of another person. No! Not at all! You will be your real self—only that your fallen self will be completely and eternally transformed to attain perfect sinless status. Therefore what your natural body needs and craves is perfection not annihilation; and that is exactly what you will get at the rapture of the church when you will receive your glorified body. In short, what you ought to know is that your body or the body of any other person for that matter is not inherently evil; for had that been the case, then Jesus Christ would not have come in the body as He obviously did.

Therefore in conclusion, we have seen that at the rapture of the church one of these two things will happen to you depending on whether or not you will be alive or you will have died by then. First possibility is that if you will still be alive when Jesus Christ shall come down from heaven into the air to rapture His church, then in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, you will be translated into eternity in heaven without dying and receive your glorified body to house your saved soul and regenerated spirit forever and ever in heaven. And the second possibility is that if you will have died before the rapture of the church, then at the exact moment of the rapture of the church, Jesus Christ will be coming back with your regenerated spirit and your saved soul which had depart into heaven when you died, and there and then resurrect your dead body so that you can receive your resurrected glorified body and be fully clothed for all eternity with resurrected glorified body, saved soul and regenerated spirit.

This bring us to the end of exploring the second sequential step which shows you how and when you shall move from this space-time continuum here on earth to eternity in heaven—the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh God of the Bible, the one and the only true and the living God there is. It is therefore my hope and prayer that I have sufficiently shared with you some of the profound biblical truths you need to know about (physical death and the rapture of the church) the two possible ways by which you can depart from this world to eternity in heaven. So let us now turn to the third sequential step.

3)AFTER THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, YOU WILL BE IN HEAVEN FOR 7 YEARS DURING WHICH THERE WILL BE 7 YEARS OF TRIBULATION PERIOD HERE ON EARTH WHEN GOD WILL BE POURING HIS WRATH UPON A CHRIST-REJECTING SIN-FILLED WORLD

As we continue to explore the chronological order which clearly shows the logical biblical sequence of what will happen to you in the future when you will depart from this world into eternity in heaven, we come to this third sequential step where we will be seeing what will happen to you in the first seven years after the rapture of the church. For, immediately after the rapture of the church, you together with all the other true Christians will meet Jesus Christ in the air (1st Thessalonians 4:17) who will personally usher every one of us into the presence of God the Father in heaven with a saved soul, a regenerated spirit and a glorified body. And once we are ushered into the presence of God the Father in heaven, the Bible in Romans 14:10-13, 2nd Corinthians 5:10, Luke 14:14 and 1st Corinthians 3:6-15 indicates that we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: not to be judged for our sins (for Jesus Christ was once and for all judged for all our sins on the cross) but for all our works and our motives to be judged so that we can receive rewards and crowns for every good work we did with good motive after we got saved. This is because Luke 14:14 gives us the exact time when all Christians will be rewarded, saying, “For you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Now, this will happen immediately after the rapture of Church simply because it is at the rapture of the church when the resurrection of the just will take place according to 1st Corinthians 15:23.

So when you shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that is when all your works which you did for God together with every motive you had when you were doing those works will be tested with fire. This is how the Bible describes what will happen at the judgment seat of Christ: “11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and stubble; 13Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1st Corinthians 3:11-15). Consequently, every work you did for God in the wrong way and every wrong or evil motive you had when doing any work for God shall be burnt by the fire of judgment. However, every good work that you did with good motive shall withstand the fire of judgment and shall therefore remain as your only worthy fruits of your Christian labor which God shall graciously and generously reward you for in heaven to enjoy for all eternity (Hebrews 6:10 and Jeremiah 17:10; 32:19).

That is when you shall hear these words from our lord and savior Jesus Christ, “Well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter you into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21). And soon after you and all the other Christians appear before the judgment seat of Christ, what will follow next is seven years in heaven where all of us Christians (the Bride of Christ) will be having unlimited and unhindered joy and satisfaction worshipping and praising Jesus Christ—our bridegroom as we see Him face to face and interact with Him one on one (1st Thessalonians 4:17 and1st John 3:1-2). This will be the fulfillment of these words of Jesus Christ to His disciples on the night He was betrayed and arrested when He said to them, “2I go to prepare a place for you. 3And 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 14:2-3). Truly, those seven years in heaven in the presence of our lord and savior Jesus Christ will be a time of limitless joy and satisfaction. Without a doubt, it will be seven years of no pain, no suffering, no hunger, no thirst and no anything or anyone that can slow or stop you from experiencing fullness of joy and satisfaction in the presence of God the Father, God the Son (our lord and savior Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit in heaven.

But while you will be experiencing fullness of joy and satisfaction in the presence of Yahweh God of the Bible for seven years in heaven, down here on earth it will be seven years of tribulation period during which God will be pouring His wrath upon a Christ-rejecting sin-filled world. Now, this is where Daniel’s prophecy on the 70 weeks of years (70x7=490 years) determined by God for the nation of Israel in Daniel 9:24-27 comes into play. So in brief and as we saw in chapter two, the first 69 weeks of years (69x7=483 years) were completed exactly to the day when Jesus the Messiah entered Jerusalem riding on the donkey and was acclaimed as the Messiah by His followers on 6 April 32 A.D thereby perfectly fulfilling Daniel 9:25-26. Since then, there has been this on-going church age which will come to an end when Jesus Christ shall come down from heaven into the air to rapture His church according to 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1st Corinthians 15:50-55 and Romans 11:25. And after the rapture of the church, Daniel’s 70th week of years will commence and run exactly for 7 lunar years of 360 days each, in two notable halves of 1,260 days each. Now, to show that this period of seven lunar years of tribulation period is not figurative and must be taken literally, these two notable halves of 7 years of tribulation period are repeatedly stated in the Bible as 1,260 days or 42 months or “a time and times and half a time,” each of which is equivalent to three and a half years of 360 days each (see Revelation 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5 and Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:7).

At the onset of this seven-year tribulation period, Antichrist will be revealed (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-11) who jointly with the false prophet will lead the whole world in total rebellion against God (Revelation 13:1-18) thereby inviting severe judgment of God characterized by wars, pestilences, famine, droughts, horrifying catastrophes, death and destruction on the whole earth. And in the middle of this seven-year tribulation period, great tribulation such as the world has never known or ever will, shall commence when Antichrist shall enter into the temple of God (which will be rebuilt in Jerusalem during the first half of this seven-year tribulation period) and stop daily sacrifices and worst of all demand to be worshipped as God (Daniel 9:27, 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4 and Matthew 24:15-22). This action which Jesus Christ called “abomination of desolation” in Mathew 24:15 will invite swift and severest judgment of God on a Christ-rejecting sin-filled world of such unimaginable and unprecedented global scale so much so that all unsaved dwellers of the earth will be calling on the mountains and rocks to fall on them preferring death rather than life because of the severity of the wrath of the Lamb (i.e. Jesus Christ) which will be poured upon them (Revelation 6:15-17). And so in short, that is how frightening, horrible and unbearable this seven-year tribulation period will be here on earth.

So thank God that none of these horrors of the 7 years of tribulation period will come anywhere near you. This is because you and all the other true Christians who constitute the true Church of Jesus Christ will have been taken out of this world by Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church before this seven-year tribulation period begins. I boldly make this statement knowing full well that there are some Christian scholars who teach that the rapture of the church will take place in the middle of tribulation period while others teach that it will take place after the tribulation period. However, when I carefully and objectively study all the scriptures in the Bible which deal with subject of the rapture of the church, I am fully convinced that the Bible clearly and unquestionably teaches that the rapture of the church will take place before the seven-year tribulation period. Otherwise, if the rapture of the church does not take place before tribulation and it takes place either in the middle of tribulation or after the tribulation, then the wrath of the Lamb (i.e. the wrath of Jesus Christ) which is clearly seen in Revelation 6:15-17 will be poured upon His own church, which is both unthinkable and unbiblical because it contradicts the following scriptures.

First of all, it contradicts the word of God who cannot lie which says that the church is not appointed to wrath in 1st Thessalonians 5:9. Secondly, it contradicts this unbreakable promise of Jesus Christ Himself in Revelation 3:10 where He said, “I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Also consider this, if the rapture of the church takes place after the tribulation concurrently with the second coming of Jesus Christ, then it would be impossible for the judgment of all nations spoken of in Matthew 25:31-46 to take place. And this is because there will be no any “sheep” or saved people left here on earth to be separated from the “goats” or unsaved people since all saved people will have just been raptured from the earth at the same time Jesus Christ will be coming back to the earth. That would also mean that there will be no any saved people who will enter the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ with their natural bodies and continue to reproduce building up another population of mortal people here on earth, some of whom will get saved and some of whom will not get saved but will rebel against God as we see in Revelation 20:7-9. In short, coherent and truthful interpretation of all scriptures dealing with the rapture of the church shows that the rapture of the church will not take place either in the middle of tribulation or after tribulation but will take place before the seven-year tribulation period!

This brings us to the end of exploring the third sequential step which shows you what will be happening to you the first seven years after the rapture of the church during which there will be 7 years of tribulation period here on earth when God will be pouring His wrath upon a Christ-rejecting sin-filled world. So let us now turn to the fourth sequential step below.

4) AT THE END OF 7 YEARS OF TRIBULATION PERIOD, JESUS CHRIST SHALL RETURN TO THE EARTH WITH YOU TO RULE AND REIGN WITH HIM IN HIS GLORIOUS KINGDOM FOR 1,000 YEARS OF PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY HERE ON EARTH

As we continue to explore the chronological order which clearly shows the logical biblical sequence of what shall happen to you in the future when you shall depart from this world into eternity in heaven, we come to this fourth sequential step where we will be seeing that at the end of 7 years of tribulation period, Jesus Christ shall return to the earth with you and the rest of the church to rule and reign with Him in His glorious kingdom for 1,000 years of perfect righteousness, peace and joy here on earth. This is when that long-awaited second coming of Jesus Christ to this earth shall happen when Jesus Christ shall literally and physically come back to planet earth in His resurrected glorified body. For this is what two angels told disciples of Jesus Christ immediately He ascended back to heaven, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Then Jesus Christ Himself explaining about His second coming said, “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:27). And then, He went to add the following important details about His second coming saying: “29Imediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:29-30). And to underscore this fact, Apostle John inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote, “Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7). Simply put, second coming of Jesus Christ to planet earth shall not be spiritual or invisible or as an apparition but it shall be literal, bodily and physical such that every person on planet earth will see Him in His resurrected glorified body. Furthermore, He shall not come alone but He shall come back from heaven with His church (the bride of Christ) which He will have raptured out of the earth seven years before. For the Bible says that, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

Interestingly, Jesus Christ will be coming back to the earth exactly at the right time to save the Jews from being exterminated by all the nations of the world who will have gathered in Israel seeking to annihilate all the Jews in the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-16; 19:11-16 and Zechariah 12:1-4; 14:1-4). Jews too will be fervently praying and crying to Jesus Christ to come to their aid just as He prophesied they would in Matthew 23:39 saying, “For I say to you, you shall not see Me hereafter, till you shall say, blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” And when Jews shall turn to Him in fervent prayers and supplications, Jesus Christ true to His word shall come to save them just as is recorded in Zechariah 14:3-4 which says: “3Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of the battle. 4And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” That is when Jesus Christ shall literally crush all the enemies of the Jews, starting in Bozrah in Edom all the way to Jerusalem (Isaiah 63:1-6 cf. Revelation 19:11-16).

Sadly, the kings of the earth and their armies will try to fight against Jesus Christ but they will not be able as is recorded in Revelation 19:19-21. This is because their ring leader, the Antichrist jointly together with the false prophet shall both be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone known as hell (Revelation 19:20). Basically, through this battle of Armageddon, Jesus Christ will have by His sovereignty gathered all the nations of the earth in the valley of Jehoshaphat to judge them based on how they treated the Jews throughout the seven-years of tribulation period in fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 3:1-15. This is when the judgment of all nations of Gentiles spoken of in Matthew 25:31-46 shall take place. And all truly saved Gentiles referred to as the “sheep” in Matthew 25:33, who obviously will have treated Jews very well will therefore be allowed to enter the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ in their natural bodies to continue repopulating it (Matthew 25:34-40, 46b). But as for all the unsaved Gentiles referred to as the “goats” in Matthew 25:33, they will be judged for mistreating the Jews during the tribulation period (Matthew 25:41-46a) and all of them will be slain and their bodies left to the birds of prey to devour them (Revelation 19:21). Then all the Jews who will have gotten saved during the seven-year tribulation period, whom Jesus Christ will have by this time sent His angels to gather them there, shall also be allowed by Jesus Christ to enter into His millennial kingdom in their natural bodies and continue to repopulate it for 1,000 years (Matthew 24:31, Isaiah 11:10-12; 27:12-13 and Romans 11:25-27).

Then immediately after that Satan will be bound for 1,000 years. In Revelation 20:1-3, the Bible records how Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years to stop him from deceiving the nations any more until 1,000 years are over when he will be released for a short while. Now, it is at this time when Jesus Christ will raise from the dead all the Old Testament saints together with all the tribulation saints who died of natural causes or were killed for their faith in Jesus Christ during the seven-year tribulation period so that they too can rule and reign with Him in His millennial kingdom here on earth. Foreseeing this event, Daniel the Prophet wrote in Daniel 12:1-2 of the resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous dead people without specifying that the righteous dead people will be raised from the dead immediately after the tribulation period while the unrighteous dead people will be raised from the dead 1,000 years later. For, according to Revelation 20:4-6, the righteous dead people will be raised from the dead immediately after the seven-year tribulation period so that they can enter the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ to rule and reign with Him for 1,000 years in their resurrected glorified bodies. But the unrighteous dead people will be raised from the dead at the end of 1,000 years to appear before the Great White Throne where they will be judged and cast into hell to face everlasting punishment for all their sins according to Revelation 20:5-15. So in summary: the church, the Old Testament saints and the tribulation saints will all enter the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ in their permanent eternal state made up of their regenerated spirits, saved souls and glorified bodies which cannot sin, cannot become sick, cannot age and cannot die but will live forever. But the Jews and the Gentiles who will survive the seven-year tribulation period will all enter the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ not in the permanent eternal state but just as we are now whereby their regenerated spirits and their healing souls will be housed in their natural bodies which will enable them to continue reproducing and thus repopulate the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ here on earth for 1,000 years.

Now, when Jesus Christ will have ushered all the saved people into His millennial kingdom of perfect righteousness, peace and joy to rule and reign with Him for that whole duration of 1,000 years, then will all those promises come true which are given throughout the Bible to do with a perfect physical kingdom of God here on earth. This is because all the spheres of this world which were severely affected by the curse of sin will be radically changed so that they can host perfectly this glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ here on earth for 1,000 years (Romans 8:18-23). First and foremost, the earth itself will be significantly changed because the topography of the land will be radically altered as is recorded in Zechariah 14:10-11. Second, all desert lands will blossom as the rose according to Isaiah 35:1. Third, all parched grounds will become pools of water and the thirsty lands will become springs of water (Isaiah 35:7). And fourth, all animals will be radically changed bringing to an end all hostilities and predatory behaviour among animals just as is recorded in the following scripture: “6The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on cockatrice’ den” (Isaiah 11:6-8).

More importantly, there will be perfect righteousness, peace and joy here on earth just as the Bible declares in this verse saying, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). And here are a number of things that will bring about this perfect righteousness, peace and joy here on earth for 1,000 years. The first thing is that Jesus Christ as the King of kings and the Lord of lords will sit in the throne of His glory in Jerusalem to rule and reign throughout the whole world in perfect righteousness, truth and justice (Matthew 19:28). The second thing is that the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ will sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). The third thing is that righteousness, truth and justice will be swiftly enforced all over the world and at all times throughout the 1,000 years (Isaiah 9:6-7 and Zechariah 14:16-21). The fourth thing is that the Jews will receive and use for 1,000 years all the land that God promised them unconditionally (Genesis 15:18-21 cf. Ezekiel 47:13-48:35). The fifth thing is that the reinstated temple worship including keeping of the feasts of YAWHEH will be done perfectly and without fail throughout the millennium (Ezekiel 40-46). And the sixth thing is that all sacrifices prescribed in the Bible to be offered in the temple during the millennium will be regularly offered as the memorial of the completed saving work of Jesus Christ (Ezekiel 46:1-15). What a glorious time that will be when all of us who are truly saved will rule and reign with our lord and savior Jesus Christ for 1,000 years here on earth in His glorious kingdom of perfect righteousness, peace and joy (Matthew 8:11 and Revelation 1:5-6)!

However, while everything will be going on perfectly for 1,000 years, there will be one sad event at the very end of the millennium. Satan will be released from the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:7). And this will give all those people who will be born throughout the millennium a chance to choose without coercion or force whether they will follow Jesus Christ or they will follow Satan. Now, even though all these people will have been born by saved parents (i.e. saved Jews and Gentiles who survived the tribulation) they too will need to choose for themselves whether or not to follow Jesus Christ or Satan. Sadly, many of these people will choose to follow Satan and rebel against Jesus Christ despite the fact that they will have tasted and enjoyed the glorious rule and reign of Jesus Christ of perfect righteousness, peace and joy for 1,000 years! Here is how the Bible records for us that unbelievable and tragic event: “7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast [Antichrist] and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:7-10—bracketed mine). This will mark the end of rebellion against God because what will follow next is the destruction of the current heavens and earth followed soon after by the judgment of all the unrighteous dead people as we are going to see in the fifth and the final sequential step below (Revelation 20:11-15).

And with that, we come to the end of exploring this fourth sequential step. In it, we have seen what will be happening to you after seven years of tribulation here on earth are over, when Jesus Christ shall return from heaven to the earth with you and the rest of the church to rule and reign with Him in His glorious kingdom for 1,000 years of perfect righteousness, peace and joy here on earth. So let us now turn to the fifth and the final sequential step below.

5) AND AFTER THE 1,000 YEARS OF RULE AND REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST HERE ON EARTH, THE CURRENT HEAVEN AND EARTH SHALL BE DESTROYED AND NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH SHALL BE CREATED AND YOU SHALL LIVE FOREVER AND EVER IN HEAVEN WITH YAHWEH GOD OF THE BIBLE EXPERIENCING FULLNESS OF JOY AND SATISFACTION

Finally, as we continue to explore the chronological order which clearly shows the logical biblical sequence of what will happen to you in the future when you shall depart from this world into eternity in heaven, we come to this fifth and the final sequential step where we will be seeing that after the millennium, you will live forever and ever in heaven with Yahweh God of the Bible experiencing fullness of joy and satisfaction. This is how it will happen according to the holy Bible. Immediately after the millennial rule and reign of Jesus Christ here on earth, God will destroy by fire the current earth and the current heavens (i.e. the first heaven and the second heaven). By the way, the first heaven is the atmosphere above planet earth while the second heaven is the rest of the universe made up of planets, stars, galaxies and all other heavenly bodies. Apostle Peter describing this event wrote: “7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. … 10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12Looking for and hasting to the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness” (2nd Peter 3:7, 10-13). This destruction of the current heavens and the current earth by fire will take place just before the great white throne judgment as is clearly alluded to by this scripture, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them” (Revelation 20:11).

Once the current heavens and the current earth will be destroyed by fire, Jesus Christ will sit on the great white throne as the Judge of all the unrighteous dead people who died unsaved according to John 5:25-30. And here is how the Bible records for us the final judgment of all the unrighteous dead people who died unsaved throughout the ages: “11And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw 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 [hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell [hades] 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” (Revelation 20:11-15—bracketed mine). Immediately after the final judgment of all the unrighteous dead people, God will create new heavens and new earth. Now, this biblical fact was prophesied by Isaiah the Prophet in this prophecy which says, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17). Then in the next chapter God spoke of the same creation saying, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, says the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isaiah 66:22). Apostle Peter also alluded to the creation of new heavens and a new earth when he wrote the following in his second epistle, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness” (2nd Peter 3:13). Moreover, this creation of new heavens and a new earth will not be renovation or remaking them using the existing materials but rather it will be akin to what God did in Genesis 1:1 when He created the current heavens and the current earth from nothing. This is confirmed by the fact that the Hebrew word translated “created” in Isaiah 65:17 is “Bara” which refers to the creation of new heavens and a new earth from nothing. In short, it will be a brand new creation not a renovation of the current heavens and earth.

Now, God who sees the end from the beginning showed Apostle John the reality of this brand new creation of a new heaven and new earth, who in return recorded that heavenly vision of the glorious eternal future he was shown by God as follows: “1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And He that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, write: for these words are true and faithful” (Revelation 21:1-5). So here we get a sneak preview of eternity future which Apostle John was shown describing where and how you and all other saved people will live for all eternity in the presence of Yahweh God of the Bible, the one and the only true and living God there is.

First of all, where Yahweh God of the Bible shall be is exactly where all born again believers in Jesus Christ shall be because the above scripture clearly states that, “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.” As you can notice from the above scripture, Apostle John saw, “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). And then in verses 10 and 11, he also saw, “10That great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11Having the glory of God: and her light was like to a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear and crystal” (Revelation 21:10-11). In each case, New Jerusalem also called holy Jerusalem is seen coming out of “heaven” from God and is said to have the glory of God. So this is where comparing scriptures with scriptures to come up with the correct interpretation comes into action. We know from the book of Isaiah that YAHWEH or JEHOVAH God of the Bible, the one and the only true and the living God there is dwells in eternity. For, the Bible in Isaiah 57:15 clearly states that, “For thus says the high and the lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.” In other words, YAHWEH or JEHOVAH God of the Bible dwells in eternity outside of time, space and matter in what is commonly known as “heaven” which is neither the first heaven nor the second heaven but it is the “the third heaven” known as paradise according to 2nd Corinthians 12:2-4. So third heaven is the timeless eternal dwelling place of Yahweh or Jehovah our God beyond this universe, where all truly saved people will dwell with Him forever and ever experiencing immeasurable joy and satisfaction.

Therefore, in Revelation chapters 21 and 22, Apostle John is shown some of the precious things which are present in the third heaven—the eternal dwelling place of Yahweh our God. And notable amongst them is the New Jerusalem, “10That great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11Having the glory of God: and her light was like to a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear and crystal” (Revelation 21:10-11). This must be the same Jerusalem which Apostle Paul spoke about in the book of Galatians saying, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4:26). And it must also be the same Jerusalem which the author of the book of Hebrews wrote about saying, “But you are come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22). So when we shall step out of this current dimension we are living in here on earth and step into eternity in the third heaven, we shall henceforth have the ability to understand eternity. For we shall step out of the limited dimension of this space-time continuum here on earth and step into a limitless dimension of eternity in third heaven where time ceases to exist and where there is no past or future but everything is ever present in “the eternal now.” As it were, God shall pull aside this curtain of space-time continuum and allow us to see how this timeless eternal dimension we call eternity in the third heaven looks like.

Therefore, there in the third heaven you will see among other things the New Jerusalem—that great city which has the glory of God (Revelation 21-22). And there in that great city, the holy Jerusalem which Apostle John saw descending out of heaven from God (Revelation 21:9-10) is where you will see and worship Yahweh God Almighty forever and ever (Revelation 4:1-11). For there in the New Jerusalem you will be worshipping Yahweh God Almighty: 1) as you enjoy its unmatched beauty; 2) as you walk on its golden street; 3) as you admire its pearly gates; 4) as you behold its twelve beautiful foundations; 5) as you walk along the river of water of life flowing out of the throne of God and of the lamb; and 6) as you behold the tree of life on either side of the river of water of life, etc. Truly, for years without end your undivided attention, your unbendable focus, your ceaseless worship, your unstoppable adoration, your spontaneous praise and thanksgiving will be to the One who sits on the throne. That is, Yahweh God Almighty—three in one—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. What a blessed future awaits you in the presence of Yahweh God Almighty in the third heaven where you will live forever and ever experiencing immeasurable joy and satisfaction in your permanent eternal state comprising of your regenerated spirit, your saved soul and your glorified body which cannot sin, cannot become sick, cannot age and cannot die! Oh how glorious this shall be. And this is courtesy of Jesus Christ who has saved you; and at the right time He will transform you into your permanent eternal state just as is shown in these three figures below.

Descriptive Alt Text

With such a blessed eternal salvation, purpose in your heart to always thank God for saving you by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And if you purpose to be doing that, here below is a song I have composed titled “I AM SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST” which you can regularly be using to thank God for saving you as you either sing it or just meditate on its words:

I was born dead in trespasses and sins, separated from God,
I was without Christ, lost in my trespasses and sins,
I was a stranger from promises of God, far from blessings of Israel,
I was an enemy of God, in love with the world of sins and wickedness,
I was a hopeless and a helpless sinner, in urgent need of salvation!

But God who is rich in mercy, He saved me by His grace,
Jesus loved me so much; He died for all my sins on the cross,
Jesus rose from the dead; defeating Satan, sin and death for me,
I have repented all my sins, and believed in Jesus Christ to save me,
I am now saved by the grace of God, through my faith in Jesus Christ!

Now I am a pilgrim, on my way to heaven,
When God shall call me home, I will go to my eternal home in heaven,
There I will see face to face, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
There I will worship forever and ever, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
There I will dwell forever and ever, with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

<<BACK NEXT>>