The Rapture - Jesus' return
The "rapture doctrine" advocated by some Christians deals with what will happen to the church at Jesus' return - at the "second coming", as it is usually called. The teaching says that believers experience a kind of minor ascension; that they will be "caught up" to meet Christ sometime at His return in glory. The rapture believers essentially use a single passage as reference:
1. Thessalonians 4,15-17:
"For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and first the dead that have died in Christ will rise. After that we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds in the air to meet the Lord; and so shall we be with the Lord always."
The rapture doctrine appears to date back to a man named John Nelson Darby in the 1830's. He divided the time of the second coming into two parts. First, before the tribulation, Christ would come to His saints ("the rapture"); after the tribulation he would come with them, and only in this did Darby see the real return, the “second coming” of Christ in splendor and glory. Rapture believers hold different views as to when the rapture will occur in view of the “great tribulation” (tribulation): before, during, or after the tribulation (pre-, mid-, and post-tribulationism). Additionally, there is a minority opinion that only a select elite within the Christian church will be raptured at the outset of the tribulation.
How does Grace Communion International (GCI / WKG) feel about the rapture?
If we 1. Thessalonians 4,15-17, the apostle Paul only seems to be saying that at the sounding of the "trumpet of God" the dead who died in Christ will rise first and, together with the believers who are still alive, will "rise up on the clouds in the air to the Lord in contrast to". That the whole church - or a part of the church - before, during or after the tribulation is to be raptured or transferred to another place is not mentioned.
Matthew 24,29-31 seems to speak of a similar event. In Matthew, Jesus says the saints would be gathered "immediately after the tribulation of that time." The resurrection, gathering, or if you will, "rapture" takes place summarily at Jesus' second coming. From these Scriptures it is difficult to understand the distinctions made by the rapture believers. For this reason, the church represents a factual interpretation of the scripture mentioned above and does not see a special rapture as given. The verses in question are simply saying that when Jesus returns in glory, the dead saints will rise and be joined with those who are still alive.
The question of what will happen to the church before, during and after Jesus' return remains largely open in Scripture. On the other hand, we have certainty about what the Scriptures say clearly and dogmatically: Jesus will return in glory to judge the world. Those who have remained faithful to Him will rise again and live with Him in joy and glory forever.
by Paul Kroll
