The Vast Power of the Lord Jesus Christ

Dearly beloved of God, there is only one who holds the keys that will deliver a person from the state of death and corruption in the grave – the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no release from death except by his authority, and he will execute it at his coming.

The spiritualist teaching that we die and go to heaven negates the order of resurrection, the time of resurrection, and the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver people from the state of death by resurrection.

The teaching that you die and go to heaven to live in the afterlife if you’ve been good, or you go to hell if you have been bad, and suffer eternal torment is not found in the Word of God; it came from Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek philosophers, Plato being the one that is credited for its popularity.

Everlasting life is for those who confess Jesus as Lord and who believe that God raised him from the dead. It is dependent on his accomplishments, not ours.

There are four times that the dead will be raised to life, never to die again.

First, the Lord Jesus Christ will come to save the Church of the Grace of God.

“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: 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 be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:13-18

I Corinthians 15:51-58 also gives us God’s revelation concerning his coming for the Church.

The Lord Jesus Christ will deliver the members of his body, the Church, from death, from this evil age, and from the wrath to come in the Lord’s Day [see Romans 5:9,10; I Thessalonians 1:10, and 5:9.]

The Lord Jesus Christ’s coming for the Church is called the rapture, when the Church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It is called the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together up to him. It is called the day of redemption, and the departure, and the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus, and the day of Christ.

It is when we will be called on high, when mortality will be swallowed up of life, when we will obtain salvation, when we will be received up in glory because we are citizens of the heavenly realm, when Christ will transform these vile bodies to be like his glorious body, and when we will acquire the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is when, in the ages to come God will show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. It is when God’s children will receive their inheritance as heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. It is when we will be glorified with him at his appearing.

The hope of the Church is when we will receive everlasting life, salvation, redemption, glory, rest, and fullness of joy. We are to comfort ourselves with these words of hope.

All the Church Epistles mention our hope in Christ. It will take place in the air, not on the earth. It will be the closing event of the Administration of the Grace of God.

It is not mentioned in the four gospel records, nor the Old Testament. It was a mystery, and nothing was known about it until God gave the revelation concerning it to His Apostle, Paul.

The coming of Christ for the Church, when we meet him in the air will occur before the period of time called the Day of the Lord, or Lord’s Day in the scriptures.

The Lord’s Day will be a period of judgment. After Christ gathers together the Church up to meet him in the air, the Lord’s Day will come like a thief in the night to the people on earth.

The Day of the Lord includes the times of the Gentiles mentioned in Ezekiel 30:3, Zechariah 14:1-3, and Luke 21:20-28. The times of Gentile dominion over Jerusalem will be a time of wrath from the Gentile armies over Jerusalem. It will be “the days of vengeance.” Luke tells us that the signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and then the coming of the Son of man to the earth will follow the times of the Gentiles.

The next time the dead will be raised is described in Revelation 11:3-12. There will be two witnesses that will prophesy 1260 days. Verses 5 and 6 describe the incredible power that will be given to these two witnesses. When they will have finished their witness, the beast that comes out of the abyss will make war with them and conquer them and kill them. Their corpses will be left in the street for three and a half days, after which the spirit of life from God will enter them, and they will stand on their feet. The two witnesses will hear a great voice from heaven say, “Come up here” and they will ascend up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies will witness it. This event will also occur in the Lord's Day.

The next time the Lord Jesus Christ will raise the dead to life again will be in the time of the Lord’s Day, after he comes to the earth.

The revelation regarding this event is found in Revelation 20:4-6 after the Lord Jesus Christ comes to the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. Verse four tells us who will be in this resurrection.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

This is the first resurrection of the two mentioned in this chapter. These people are raised from the dead, and they live on earth, and reign with Christ for a thousand years.

The second resurrection of the two mentioned in Revelation 20:5 is described in Revelation 20:11-15. The dead will be raised and judged out of the books, and the book of life will be opened by the one that sits on the great white throne. He will separate the just from the unjust. The just will enter into life, and the unjust will be judged and cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. Then, death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire; this is the second death.

The only release from death will be by the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 5:19-30 speaks of the vast power and authority the Father has given His Son to execute all judgment and to resurrect all that are in the graves. He has the power to subdue all things unto himself. God made Jesus both Lord and Christ and he will carry out all of the Father's will.

Thank God for His great grace that He has shown us in Christ Jesus. Since we have confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. We will never again come into condemnation. Our hope to obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ could come about any day now. We will not be disappointed in our expectation! He is coming! Rejoice forevermore, dearly beloved of God.