Bible Studies/State of the dead

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Expert: - 7/4/2009


Question
Some believe that people go to heaven when they die.  When Jesus comes the graves will be opened and the dead and living will go to heaven with him then.  If they are in heaven will they get back in their graves?

Answer
Hi Laurette,
This is an excellent question. To clarify, you are referring specifically to the rapture from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 but also 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, John 5:28,9 and others. Although there are some different beliefs within Christianity, I believe from these Scriptures as well as Luke 23:43 (..."today you will be with me in paradise"), Philippians 1:23 ("...depart and be with Christ..."), 2 Corinthians 5:6 and others, that Christians go immediately to heaven when they die. Also, when Christ comes back the next time ("the Rapture"), the dead will rise first and then the believers who are alive (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) to meet Christ in the air and they will all go with Him to heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 says that they will be "changed" and will no longer be "perishable," but there isn't agreement on what that means. Christ's body was taken but will Christians be taken as well? It appears that they will be transferred into a perfected body somehow. There is also a second coming which is not the rapture but rather when Christ comes back after the tribulation and will reign for 1,000 years with all Christians. As you probably know, there is not agreement on the timeline for this but the predominant view is as I have stated, which is pre-millennial (tribulation before the millennium) and pre-tribulation (rapture before the tribulation).

I hope this helps and please feel free to ask more questions!

Todd Tyszka

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Todd Tyszka

Expertise

My degrees and studies are mostly in Christian doctrine but I will answer questions having to do with almost any aspect of Christianity and The Bible.

Experience

My experience consists of over 20 years as a Pastor, Youth Pastor, missionary, counselor, teacher, writer, Bible quizzer, and various other leadership positions. I've studied the Bible for over 20 years at 5 different schools/seminaries but I can explain things in simple terms anyone can understand and currently teach Sunday School to 1st-5th graders. I specialize in Christian apologetics (evidences for Christianity) and Polemics (debate denouncing false teachings), as well as understanding difficult verses, and topics such as heaven & hell, denominations/sects, false teachings/heresies/cults, the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy Spirit, spiritual warfare, apostolic reformation, emergent/emerging church, prosperity teaching, contradictions/discrepancies, charismatic studies, creation/evolution, Greek/Hebrew studies, end times, deliverance, the apocrypha/pseudepigrapha, etc. I daily answer questions on Global Media Outreach, AllExperts, YouTube, through email, and various personal websites where I have posted many Christian videos.

Education/Credentials
Graduated from a private Christian High School, went to Nazarene Bible college and then Eastern Nazarene College (Boston) for Youth Ministry and Pastoral Studies/Christian Theology, transferred to Asbury College where I completed my degree in Christian Education and Missions, and most recently attending the Calvary Chapel Bible Institute.

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