Colossians 3:4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
For hundreds of years, Christians have debated over a rapture of the church or not. Sadly, even to the point of church splits. May I just say, that if the issue is NOT a key essential unto salvation, there is no reason to separate a body of believers. Because, true believers are biblically commanded to be unity into one body, being interdependent upon one another.
The only way to know the truth of a rapture is to study the Scriptures. With a large portion of our modern evangelical churches going astray, we can no long just believe what a commentator, theologian, our pastor tells us, nor should we ever be so naive. It is each Christians job to become a student of Scripture, in order to know and understand exactly what God says in His Holy Word. For myself, this one verse (yet there are others) says all I need to know. Just listen to these beautiful words by seventeenth century theologian John Gill.
John Gill: “At present, Christ, the life of his people, is, as it were, hid; when he had done the work he came into this world about, and which he was manifest in the flesh, he departed out of it, ascended up into heaven, and went to his God and Father, where he is, and will be retained, until the time of the restitution of all things; and though he appears in the presence of God, and on the behalf of his redeemed ones, yet he is now out of sight, and not to be seen with their bodily eyes; but, ere long, he will be revealed from heaven, and come in the clouds of it, and be seen by all, to the terror and confusion of some, and to the joy and salvation of others; when his appearance will be exceeding glorious, not only in his glorified body, or exalted human nature, and as the Judge of the whole earth, clothed with majesty, authority, and power, but as the Son of God, God equal with the Father, in all the perfections and glory of deity, which will be manifest and apparent to everyone.”
The word appeared is used in the verse both for Christ and His redeemed people. The Greek word for appear is phaneroo, fan-er-oo, and means: To manifest, or to bring into view what had been hidden. What could this mean? Well, we are clearly told in the New Testament that Christ ascended to the right hand of God after His resurrection. And if this is true, how could church-age saints, who are still alive on earth be coming WITH HIM during His second coming, as the verse says? Because they had either died or been raptured (caught-up), before the Great Tribulation. Examine the definition of appeared again, and ask yourself, how could someone who is alive and very much visible be brought back into view? It just can’t be.
Let’s look at it this way, though this may be a poor analogy. When a magician shows the crowd an object, we can see it and even touch it. Then he or she makes the object DISAPPEAR. The crowd awes at the fact that what they had just clearly seen with there eyes, is now gone. Then the magician skillfully makes the object REAPPEAR, to the crowd’s amazement. Of course, we all know that magic shows are not real. But, the point I’m trying to make here is that both sides of the magic trick have the same exact root word, which is appear. Therefore, something that can already be seen, heard, smelt, touched, or tasted, cannot appear again because it is already present.
God’s people will indeed be raptured and protected from the Great Day of God’s Wrath upon the ungodly, and will return in glory with Christ at His second coming. Yes, and amen.
By: Daniel C. Rodgers