The Mystery of the Rapture and Our Resurrection
 
     Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
     In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(I Corinthians 15:51, 52).

      This mystery (sacred secret), that not all believers shall sleep (die), is part of the great mystery that was revealed only to the Apostle Paul who was called of God to deliver it to us, the members of the Body of Christ:

      For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
      If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 
      How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words).
      Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
      And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ
(Ephesians 3:1-3,8, 9).

     This mystery was first revealed in I Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
     For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

     This verse teaches us that when our Lord returns from heaven to gather out the Church, the Body of Christ, He will be accompanied by all of our loved ones that have died and are presently in heaven. Note II Corinthians 5:8: To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
     I Thessalonians 4:15 and 16 continue Paul’s teaching on the rapture and our resurrection:

      For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep (dead).
     For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

     The Greek word here translated “prevent” means “to be beforehand” and is better translated “precede.” At the Rapture, the living shall not precede those who have died. We will all ascend together in our glorified bodies.
     As we saw in I Corinthians 15:51 and 52, Paul tells us exactly when the “dead in Christ” shall change and receive their new glorified bodies “like unto His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). It will be at “the last trump” (I Corinthians 15:52). At that moment any remains of their “corruptible” body will be changed and raised to join their present intermediate bodies to form their new glorified bodies.
     Our glorified bodies will be far superior to our present bodies. We will be able to move through material obstacles in the same way that Jesus miraculously appeared to Thomas in the middle of the room, “the doors being shut” (John 2:19,26).
     Like his, our glorified bodies will be able to appear or disappear at will. When Jesus had finished talking to the two men on the road to Emmaus “He vanished out of their sight” (Luke 24:13).
     
     Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
     Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 
(I Thessalonians 4:17, 18)

      In these verses we are taught that what is true of the saints who have died in the Lord is also true of the living believers at the time of the rapture: “We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
     What a glorious time the rapture and our resurrection will be. The apostle Paul experienced this glory at the time he was stoned and left for dead in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. When relating his experience later he said it was “unlawful” for him to relay what he had seen while in heaven. However, he did say “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him.”(1 Corinthians 2:9). 
  
 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16)

Through Adam's fall we have all inherited the sentence of death (eternal separation from God). When we understand and accept the reality that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, left His place in heaven to join us here on earth and died in our place as complete payment for our sins, we enter in to God's grace and inherit eternal life. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you have not already done so, please look into this and may God give you the strength to follow your heart.