With the increasing pressures we face in society, it’s easy to think ahead to the Rapture. In the eyes of many Christians, the signs of the times point to the soon return of our Lord.
If you haven’t heard about this doctrine, let me explain it.
Most creeds and confessions include at least one line about the second coming of Christ. The majority of churches believe that Jesus Christ will return to rule the kingdom of God on earth. There are too many New Testament verses to list in support, but here’s a clear example:
“They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’” – Acts 1:11
Jesus ascended from earth to heaven; He will descend from heaven to earth. He ascended in His resurrected body; He will return in that same body. His disciples saw Him leave; future disciples will see Him come back. Pretty basic stuff–Jesus is coming again!
So what’s the Rapture?
Most evangelical and conservative Christians believe that the time before the return of Christ will be bleak. Referred to as the Great Tribulation, this seven year span will be marked by economic and ecological disasters, coupled with unprecedented persecution. The Antichrist will rule the world but Jesus will come back to overthrow him and set up the kingdom of God on Earth for a thousand years. (This is the Millennium).
In judgment, God pours out His wrath on the world during the Tribulation. But there’s a problem.
“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:9
We who trust in Christ can’t go through the Tribulation because we’re not destined for wrath. So God has to escort us out of the arena before His judgment falls. He removes the righteous before He judges the wicked.
The book of Genesis contains two accounts which illustrate this principle. The first one, in chapters 6-9, deals with the flood of Noah. Before the waters destroyed the world, God had Noah build an ark to spare the lives of himself and his family. As the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it,
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” – Hebrews 11:7
A week after Noah and his family entered the ark, the clouds opened up.
“The LORD then said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. … 4Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.’” – Genesis 7:1, 4
The conflagration couldn’t happen until Noah was safe.
Chapters 18 and 19, which discuss the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, repeats this format. God told His servant Abraham He’d heard about the sins of the cities and came down to investigate how bad the situation was.
Now, God is omniscient; He knows everything! He doesn’t need to descend to earth to learn about what’s going on. He already knows! But God said this to elicit a response from Abraham, and that’s what happened. Abraham recognized that the Lord wouldn’t destroy the righteous along with the wicked, so he asked God to spare the people if 50 righteous individuals were there. God agreed, which encouraged Abraham to try again, only this time, he dropped the number to 45. God accepted, so Abraham kept asking until he got down to ten.
But the cities didn’t have ten upright souls, so judgment struck. But before it started, God sent angels to deliver Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family. Again we find the principle of God removing the righteous before judging the unrighteous.
This pattern sets the stage for the Rapture is all about. It solves the problem of punishment by removing the church.
We’ll pick up this issue in the next post, but I want to finish by stressing the importance of knowing Christ. Whether we endure big trials in this life or enjoy prosperity and well-being, we all need a Savior. On our own, we don’t have what it takes to face God’s judgment. When He evaluates our lives, we will learn the truth of Paul’s observation:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
But through His Son, God has provided salvation and deliverance for us.
“All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3:24
We can’t earn our redemption, but we can receive it as a gift. Trust in Christ’s work at the cross for you, and you will be ready for His return!
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