Those who live in Christ shall never die.

[Rose]

John 11:24-26 'Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her,I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?'

1 Cor. 15:50-52 'Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In 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.

1 Thess. 4:13-18 'But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 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: Then we which are alive and remain shall (when it is time for us to die) 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.' When Paul said 'we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed' I think what he was meaning was that when the Kingdom of God was fully ushered in at Christs return then there will be no more death (separation from God), never again will those who are in Christ experience separation from God, there will be no more 'sleeping in Jesus' for from that point onward when we die in Christ we shall be instantly changed and go to be with the Lord. Paul is talking to the Corinthians and the Thessalonians in the time between the Covenants, that is from 30 A.D. to 70 A.D. it was a time of transition with the Old vanishing away and the New being brought in, those who died in Christ during that time slept with Jesus till all was fully accomplished, which happened at 70 A.D. the time of the end, when the kingdom was delivered to God by Christ, the Old is now gone and the New is All in All. The last enemy, which is death (separation from God) has been destroyed, cast into the lake of fire along with hell, all those who are in Christ now have taken part in the first resurrection and will never experience 'Death' the time of separation after they die, but will immediately go to be with Christ.


1 Cor. 15:23-28 'But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.' (that which separates us from God). For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.'

Rev. 20:6 'Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power (those who are one with Christ can never again be separated from Him), but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Rev. 20:13 'And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.'

1 Cor. 15:21 'For since by man came death (separation from God), by man came also the resurrection of the dead.'

Rom. 8:38-39 'For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'More food for thought. :pop2:

Rose

[TheForgiven]

That's pretty good. I know many are fearful when we interpret the resurrection in this matter. I believe Baptism is a resurrection from the dead, just as Paul said, "Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive in Christ" and again,

"Or don't you know that you who were baptized into Christ, have been baptized into His Death? We were therefore, buried with Christ, in which we are also raised with Christ, through your faith in the working of God who raised Him from the dead...."

This is going to sound silly friends, but I don't remember which book that was in. :lol: I told you I was frying too many brain cells, brother Richard. The verse is in my head, but I don't remember which letter. I think it's in Collossians chapter 2, or something.

Anyways, Baptism is a death, burial, and a resurrection. But as sister Rose stated, those who physically died before the destruction of the former temple, and the establishment of the 2nd temple (The Body of Christ), all fell asleep until the new temple was ready.

Is Grand-Ma really in heaven right now? I, for one, believe that she is, living in the paradise of God.

Joe

[Rose]

Hi Joe,

I cheated and looked up the verse on Richard's Bible Database. :D

Rom. 6:3-5 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"

Rose

[TheForgiven]

Hi Rose.

Man was I way off! :lol: This old man is growing more gray hair, but losing his brain cells.

I knew it was somewhere, but couldn't quite place my finger on it. That's the connection Paul was making with the resurrection of Christ. When we are buried in Baptism into death, the death we die is to sin. But when we are raised (out of the water), we have been resurrected just as Christ was raised.

There is a difference between our resurrection in Baptism, and our resurrection from the dead. We are now alive in Christ, and even though our body dies (this tent), we have a new tent in heaven, that cannot be destroyed, except by God of course.

Where's brother Richard these days?

Joe