The Redemption

Salvation includes the bodily resurrection of the saints and life in the New Creation, which will occur when Jesus arrives.

Central to the doctrine of salvation is the promise of redemption. God will not abandon what He first created, and both the term and the concept mean the recovery of what was lost. The universe is enslaved by sin and condemned to decay and death. In God’s redemptive plans, the end state of redeemed things and persons is vastly superior to their original state, and this principle is epitomized in the promises of bodily Resurrection and New Creation.

Until the day Jesus arrives, his Church must focus on harvesting men and women from the Earth by proclaiming the Gospel to all Nations. This is the task assigned to his disciples by the Nazarene, and it must be carried out between his Ascension and the moment of his Return “on the clouds of Heaven” when he will send the angels to “gather his elect” – (Matthew 24:14, 24:29-31).

Rainbow life - Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash
[Rainbow life - Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash]

The “
end” will not come until his people complete this mission, which is the factor that will determine the timing of the final day. Removing the “Body of Christ” from the Earth several years before the completion of that mission is not an option and it is contrary to it. The promises of Resurrection and New Creation will remain unfulfilled if Christ’s Church does not complete its mission.

When the Apostle Paul discussed the future hope of the Church, he based it on the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Salvation was achieved by his sacrificial death and through his resurrection from the dead - (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 20-23).

The Apostolic Tradition preserved in the New Testament teaches redemption, not abandonment. Salvation will be actualized in all its fullness when the righteous dead are raised to “meet” Jesus and the “New Heavens and New Earth” replace the existing creation order.

On that day, dead believers will be resurrected and living ones transformed, and both groups will receive their immortal bodies (“For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality”). Paul consistently locates the Resurrection at the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

In First Thessalonians, the Apostle reassures the Assembly concerning the fate of fellow believers who die before the ‘Parousia.’ This is why he stresses their bodily resurrection on the day when Jesus appears.

  • For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, those also who are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this, we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, who are left unto the arrival of the Lord, will in no way precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first” – (1 Thessalonians 4:14-16).

Any believer who is alive on that day will be reunited with his resurrected loved ones, and then, all the gathered saints will “meet the Lord in the air” as he arrives from Heaven. Afterward, the entire Assembly will be with him “forevermore.”

JUDGMENT AND VINDICATION


When interpreting the passage from First Thessalonians, the larger context must be kept in view. In the next chapter, Paul warns that the unprepared will be overtaken by the events of that day, “like a thief in the night.” Christ’s “arrival” will also coincide with the “Day of the Lord,” an event associated by Scripture with God’s judicial punishment of the wicked.

In 2 Thessalonians, Paul declares that when Jesus is “revealed from heaven,” the righteous will be vindicated but the unrighteous will receive “everlasting destruction.” Both events will occur when he returns - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Matthew 16:27, 24:30, 25:31, 26:64, Acts 1:11, 1 Corinthians 15:23, Revelation 1:7).

The most comprehensive list of final events is found in Paul’s first Letter to the Corinthians as he corrects false teachings about the Resurrection - (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 50-57).

Christ’s “arrival” will result in the cessation of death (the “last enemy”), the Resurrection of the dead, the final subjugation of all hostile powers, the consummation of God’s Kingdom, and the transformation of the saints still alive from mortality to immortality.

  • The last enemy that will be abolished is death <…> For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible will have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh Death, where is your sting?” – (1 Corinthians 15:26, 53-56).

The Resurrection of the righteous on that day will mean the termination of death, and believers who remain alive will be transformed, the same scenario presented in First Thessalonians. The point is not the removal of the Church from the Earth, but the transformation of its members, both the dead and the living.

That day will result in the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous. It will be a day of joy for the spiritually prepared, but one of everlasting punishment for the unprepared. The old “heaven and earth” will be dissolved, and the “New Heavens and the New Earth” will replace them - (Matthew 13:30. 25:13, 25:31-46, Luke 12:33-39, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2 Peter 3:10-11).

The biblical hope of salvation does not mean escaping from the spacetime continuum or the desertion of God’s original creation. It is found in bodily resurrection and New Creation. The Gospel proclaimed by Jesus is about redemption. Even now, the universe is “groaning” in anticipation of the Resurrection of the “Sons of God” and the “restoration of all things” that will result from it - (Romans 8:19-25, 2 Peter 3:10).



SEE ALSO:
  • Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)
  • Jesus Conquered Death! - (Paul reminded Timothy of the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death since false teachers were denying the future resurrection of believers)
  • Completing our Salvation - (Central to the hope of the Apostolic Faith is the bodily resurrection of the dead. This will occur when Jesus appears at the end of the age)
  • La Rédemption - (Le salut inclut la résurrection des saints et la Nouvelle Création. Les deux événements se produiront lorsque Jésus arrivera du Ciel)

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