On Monday I posed a simple question: What is the point and purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ if believers go immediately to heaven when they die?
Now let’s ask a similar question which also deserves a logical, biblical answer: What is the purpose of the so-called “Rapture” if believers who have died are already in heaven shouting, “Hallelujah!”, flying around playing harps, and dancing on streets of gold with previously deceased loved ones?
If your answer is that the soul has to be reunited with the physical body, then I would love to see the plain, definitive scriptural basis for that theory. Plain and definitive proof texts, not theological and logical contortions invented to make the Bible say what you want it to say.
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1 Thess. 4:16b informs us that at the Rapture of the Church–the Body of Christ–“the dead in Christ will rise first.” So where are the “dead in Christ”? They are dead. Dead in the Bible does not mean alive in heaven. It means dead, and many other scriptures confirm this reality. Some teachers of the Bible suggest that the many champions of the faith described in Hebrews 11 are up in heaven observing us on the earth and cheering us on. However, verse 13 states “These all died in faith, not having received the promises.” Where is this “mighty cloud of witnesses” described in Heb. 11? They are dead, in the grave, awaiting the return of Christ.
Indeed, David. Well said.