The bodies of Christians who have died will be raised first. There will be an archangel's voice and the trumpet call of God. The Lord Jesus Himself will come down from heaven with a loud word of command.
There cannot be a clearer picture of what takes place when the trumpet call of God blasts out at the end of the Church age. And so we shall always be with the Lord.' The previous verse details the future bodily resurrection of Church age saints who have already died, while verse 17 explains what will happen to Christians who are still alive when the Church age closes: 'We who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. We are not to become dependent on the things of this world, like unsaved people, but to familiarise ourselves with our blessed hope in Christ Jesus our Saviour, and look for the day of His return to take us to be with Himself. He did not want believers to remain uninformed about our future destiny, but was eager to enlighten us about the blessed hope we have in Christ.Īs children of the light, we are to be alert to the times in which we live and rest our trust in Christ.
Paul was keen to explain what will happens to Christians at the end of the Church age, as well as instructing us on how to live godly lives during this present dispensation.
