Indeed, Jesus Christ is risen! This is the foundational belief of all true followers of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul poignantly argues that if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, our faith would be futile:1 Corinthians 15:17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
While all true believers in Jesus Christ agree upon the fact of His bodily resurrection, there is debate regarding the sequence of events of His return.
I openly admit that my view point embraces a premillennial pretribulational position. Premillennial means that after Jesus Christ returns, He will establish a literal kingdom on earth the duration of which will last for 1000 years according to Revelation 20 and occurs just prior to the eternal state of heaven.
Revelation 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Aspects of the millennial kingdom are depicted in other portions of scripture including portions of the last 7 chapters of Isaiah and the last 9 chapters of Ezekiel. That is where passages describing global peace with the wolf and the lamb grazing together (Isaiah 65:25), extended longevity (Isaiah 65:20), and the millennial temple (Ezekiel 40-42).
Pretribulational implies the event of the rapture. The rapture is distinct from the second coming of Jesus Christ, involving all true believers in His Church. Saints from other periods of time outside the church age will be resurrected at a time different than the time of the rapture. The word rapture is not found in the English Bible. This concept is taken from 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
The word translated "caught up" in the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible is "raptus" from which in English the word rapture is derived.
The term pretribulational indicates the notion that the rapture will occur sometime before the Great Tribulation. Other viewpoints include a midtribulational, where the rapture occurs in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel and posttribulational, where the rapture occurs at the very end of the Great Tribulation.
One passage in scripture which I believe supports a pretribulational viewpoint is the promise given by Jesus to true believers in Revelation 3:10.
Revelation 3:10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
I welcome input from any and all. My hope is that as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17), any ongoing dialogue from this blog will help us all come to a knowledge of the truth and perfect us in our walk with Christ and ultimately bring Him glory and honor.
