Every Body Will Leave
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
I'm psyched, folks! How about you? Are you ready? Well I hope so, because it's going to be an extremely memorable event for all participants!
You: "Will, to what event are you referring?"
Friends, I'm referring to the Day of the Lord, the End Times, the Ushering in of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. (If you're not familiar with these phrases, click the underlined links to see the Bible references.) You see, with all the chaos and whatnot in the news these days, I've been studying up on what the Bible has to say about the End of the World. From what I can gather, the physical portion of everybody who has ever lived will eventually exit this reality in one of these ways:
Raptured, or
Resurrected unto life, or
Resurrected unto judgment.
One important trait all these physical departures have in common is we don't leave with our current corruptible bodies. All of us will get a new body. Every-body. (Haha, that's a good one, Will.) So when will you get your new body, friend?
Raptured. I'm guessing this event is coming soon, probably May 14, 2018. (Click the link to see for yourself my insightful analysis.) So as a Christ-follower, this is how I imagine I'll go out. Unless...
Resurrected unto life. If I kick the bucket before the Rapture, then my soul and spirit will proceed directly to heaven, but my corruptible body will go into a grave to decompose. In a previous blog entry, I described how my new, incorruptible, resurrected body will be reunited with my soul and spirit when Christ eventually raptures His church.
Resurrected unto judgment. This resurrection is for non-believers. It's my understanding when non-believers die physically, their eternal soul proceeds to the torment side of Sheol, or... well, okay... um... Hell. (Sorry for the foul language, kids.) Non-believers will hang out there in torment for at least 1,000 years before being reunited with their resurrected bodies. But then Christ will judge them according to their deeds; and unless their name is found written in the book of life (hint: it won't be), their imperishable, resurrected bodies will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity.
Look, non-believing reader, nobody—least of all, God—wants you to spend 1,000 years in Hell and then eternity in the lake of fire. So come on, friend. Just believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and God will write your name in the book of life.