Board index ‹ The End of the World

[Tension]

But, like I said, Paul says that the perishable will be clothed with the imperishable. This suggests the perishable is still there, which would still require food, but it now in some way "protected" or rendered ineffective by something imperishable.

I personally think the imperishable is purely our understanding of existence. The same way that the past years of my life, while gone, are still a part of me and in that sense "resurrected" in that recognition. I think the analogy makes sense given the repeated assertion that God is the "God of the living, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob". The continuity of mankind, of creation, is realized, "re-ified", at the general resurrection. That is the clothing of the perished/perishable - food will still be required, but not necessary to maintain that realization of continuity through death.

[jimwalton]

Very interesting thoughts, and I thank you for sharing them. Paul used "clothed" because something of our earthly bodies will still exist, as you say. We see proof of this in the resurrection body of Jesus, with the nail holes still in his hands and the spear hole in his side. We also see it in 1 Thessalonians 4.17 & 1 Cor. 15.51. The body is changed and still goes with us. Our existence in the afterlife is not solely a spiritual one, but a "transformed physical/spiritual" one.

I think it's a little underwhelming to think that all Paul meant by "imperishable" is "our understanding of existence. His point in 1 Corinthians 15 is that the new spiritual body will be a distinctly different type of existence and different type of body than what we have now (1 Cor. 15.35-44). It's the necessity of being resurrected, because our physical bodies matter and something of our physical bodies will enter eternity with us. In that way I agree with you. There is a "continuity of humankind/creation." Agreed. But to think that food will be **required** does an injustice to the concepts of "imperishable" and "immortality". If food is required, then we need more than God to survive there, and I think that's contrary to the image we read about in Revelation 22.1-5.

[Barre Chord Barry]

Thank you for doing your best to answer all of my questions. This really does paint a more accurate picture of how the rapture would take place in our modern times.

With issue of modernity, will there be any kind of provisions made for the advances made in science? If it were to happen tomorrow would everything we have learned about the human genome, DNA, splitting the atom, metallurgy etc., be a part of civilization, or would it revert back to when the bible was written and when Trephination was still common practice?

What if it happens thousands of years from now when many people have left earth and colonized other planets or solar systems? Does the reach of God extend to those planets?

[jimwalton]

The world of the new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem. There is every reason to believe that the progress of civilization will be part of that world, since science, inquiry, and intellectual progress are all part of God's design. Never in the Bible is there the slightest hint, let alone an injunction, to shut down or limit the reaches of what our intellect is capable of. As a matter of fact, the command of Genesis 1.28 to subdue the earth and rule over it is more a scientific mandate than it is a cultural one. We are to advance civilization and discover and regulate natural forces. It's impossible to imagine God will take that away in the end, which is supposed to be an environment even superior to the first one.

Not only that, but several of Jesus' parables indicate that to some extent life will just continue in heaven, but without sin. We will live in cities, have responsibilities, with organization and even government (Lk. 19.12-19). There is no reason to picture a reversion to primitive ignorance. Paul also indicates that our knowledge will be full instead of partial (1 Cor. 13.11-12).

> What if it happens thousands of years from now when many people have left earth and colonized other planets or solar systems? Does the reach of God extend to those planets?

1. The prophecies of Revelation have many elements to them that are universal in scope ("stars falling from the heavens" kind of language). If there are populations of humans on other planets, the Rapture and subsequent judgment will come to all humanity, regardless of location.

2. Remember that with the sin of Adam and Eve, all creation "fell"—not just the earth, and not just human life. The perspective of the Bible is universal, not merely geocentric.

3. Creation in Genesis 1 is written from a geocentric point of view, but that doesn't require that creation only took place here. The apocalypse of Revelation, Daniel, and Ezekiel are also written from a geocentric point of view, that that won't necessitate that the end of history will be an "earth only" event.

In short, the second coming of Christ will look the same for people on Mars as it does for people on earth. It's a universal occurrence, not just a geocentric one.

Feel free to talk to me more.