I know the penalty of sin is death but wanted to know what is unique about the generation of believers that never die since they are called up to be with Jesus while still alive? Why does that group of people “get out of” death?
Just as one generation (Adam and Eve) was not born in the normal sense but were direct creations of God, so one generation will not die but will be taken directly from this life to the next one.
When God delegated the procreation process to man it became self perpetuating. In order to make a change He has to intervene, imposing an outside condition. In this case the condition is that those who are saved and living on a certain date will be taken directly to heaven, leaving the procreation process to continue as before.
There’s nothing unique about us, it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Paul explained this in 1 Cor. 15:51-52.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (die), 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.