In the last episode entitled *Did Jesus Already Come, I laid out from scripture the reasons why the first-century believers, including the disciples, were anticipating the coming of Christ in their lifetime. Also, I demonstrated from scripture and history that Christ did come in AD 70 in the judgment that fell upon the temple, Jerusalem, and the unbelieving Jews through the desolation brought upon them by the Roman army.
So, If Jesus did return in AD 70, what does this mean for us today? Christians have been taught that the resurrection will take place when Jesus Comes. Most Christians believe that’s a future event. But clearly, we’ve seen from scripture that Jesus has already come. This means the old age of the Law ended, and the new age of the Spirit of Reconciliation began. Let’s look at what Paul told the Galatians about this in Galatians 5:4-5.
The Jews persecuted and pressured believers to return to their Jewish rituals and ceremonies. And some did go back. Paul is telling them the law is useless. We can see here two ages: the age of the law and the age of the Spirit. We see the law ending because Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant and the age of the Spirit, which has begun achieving righteousness by faith in the Messiah alone. Galatians was written in AD 56. Paul is saying, “We eagerly await the hope of righteousness” because once the final judgment comes upon Jerusalem, the Old Covenant is obsolete, and the New Covenant is realized forever. In the New Age, Christ is seated at the right hand of God in heaven, and all power and authority in heaven and earth belongs to him. This means the old heaven and earth paradigm of death has passed away, and the new paradigm of life is in place forever.
How do we know there was a change from the previous age of condemnation to the new age of justification? We know it because God’s word tells us it’s true. When someone died in the old heaven and earth, they went into the ground and stayed there. What the Jews called Sheol (the grave) and the Greeks called Hades. There was no salvation from death. Everyone, from Adam on, died, separated from God and powerless against death. But there was a hope given to mankind, which we see in Genesis 3:14-15.
This is known as the “protoevangelium” or the first announcement of the gospel. In these two verses, Satan is represented by the serpent, and the “Son of Man” is represented by the offspring of the woman. Satan will strike Jesus, but Christ will crush Satan. When the power of Satan is overcome by the “Son of Man,” the old fallen earth passes away, and the new earth is established. Jesus defeated Satan in the resurrection. At that moment, a new heaven and earth was established through Christ. The old heaven and earth were cursed by sin, guilt, separation from God, and death. But the new heaven and earth are blessed with forgiveness, grace, fellowship with God, and eternal life.
Paul explains this to the Roman believers in Romans 5:12-17. We can plainly see the old paradigm’s passing away and the new existence’s establishment. Now, in the new heaven and earth age, the hope of life everlasting is a reality because of the one who has all the power and authority of this age; Jesus Christ. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23. Paul says the key to being made alive is being “In Christ,” where “all will be made alive.” The all doesn’t mean everyone, but those “in Christ” believers.
So, what happens when believers die? Let’s read a very important and very difficult passage regarding what happens to believers when they die (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Let’s look at this closer: 13: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” Thessalonians was written around AD 49, and there were people teaching the resurrection had already taken place. Paul wanted them to know the truth. Those who have no hope are those who don’t believe in the resurrection. 14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring those who have fallen asleep with him.” Here is where people get confused. Paul uses the phrase “fallen asleep” for death. He’s talking about believers who died and were buried. These believers will be raised in the same way, meaning by the power of Jesus the Messiah, not having a physical body. 15 “For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: (Where did the Lord say what Paul is about to say? In Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13 about the coming judgment on Jerusalem.) We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (The dead in Christ are raised first at the coming of Christ. When is Jesus coming?) 16 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first (When did Jesus descend from heaven with a shout, the angels voice, and the trumpet assembly call of God? At the destruction of Jerusalem. Then, the resurrection of the dead happened. Where did the believers who died go? They were raised into the kingdom of God where Jesus has all power and authority) 17 “Then we who are still alive, who are left, (Afterwards, we who continue on alive. After the judgment on the Jews, the Gospel was still preached. The kingdom of God was still spreading in the world. So, there were believers who continued on alive in the new age. But, since the resurrection, when believers die, Paul says they…) will be caught up (harpazo, meaning to be seized or pulled away. This isn’t a physical snatching away like a rapture while you’re still alive, but spiritual relocation when we die (REF. John 10:28-29). Believers aren’t physically in God’s hands. We are spiritually relocated into the hand or presence of God. As Paul continues here, he says, we’re relocated to be…) together with them in the clouds (clouds represented the presence of God and the presence of God in judgment. Judgment and the coming of the Lord are concurrent with the resurrection and the coming of the kingdom) to meet the Lord in the air (REF. Ephesians 2:1-2).
Before AD 70, when believers died, they returned to the dust like all the old covenant people. They were there until the Lord came in judgment, closing the old paradigm. In AD 70, the believers who had died were resurrected and received their new glorified bodies. Those believers who were and are alive after the coming of Christ in judgment are changed instantaneously when they die, into their glorified bodies, and go to be in the presence of Christ with those believers who preceded them forever.
Encourage one another with these words.
