How Will The Dead Rise?

Q

I noticed that you said in another article that the dead bodies of believers won’t be brought back to life at the rapture. I don’t understand because both I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15 say “the dead in Christ shall rise first.”If their bodies won’t be brought back to life how do the dead rise?

A

When the Bible says the dead will rise first, it means believers who have died will appear again as living persons in recognizable physical form. It doesn’t mean their old bodies that died and turned back into dust will suddenly become flesh and blood again. And even if they did it wouldn’t do us any good, because earthly bodies cannot exist in heaven. In 1 Cor. 15:50 Paul said, “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

1 Cor. 15:51-53 says whether through resurrection from the dead or transformation in the rapture, believers will receive bodies that are immortal, imperishable, and incorruptible. This will make us fit to dwell with God forever.