Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51).
Many misinterpret Hebrews 9:27, which says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” They conclude from this verse that every person must die once. But the actual rendering is that because it was appointed for men to die once, Christ died once for all humanity.
His death was the fulfilment of that appointment, not a statement that every individual is doomed to die physically. The Gospel of Jesus Christ abolishes mortality. 2 Timothy 1:10 says, Christ Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. This is a present reality for those in Christ. You’ve been brought into immortality—deathlessness. Immortality means you don’t die.
Some argue that men like Enoch and Elijah who were taken by God without dying must return to earth to experience physical death. This is also absurd, as it undermines the essence of the Gospel and the victory of Christ over death. The Lord Jesus declared, “…I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die…” (John 11:25-26).
The revelation of eternal life is vital. John wrote, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life…” (1 John 5:13). Eternal life is the nature of God imparted to the human spirit at the New Birth, and you must live daily with the consciousness that you have passed from death to life. Life works in you now that you’re born again.
This knowledge and revelation is necessary for you to walk in the fullness of God’s plan for your life. Mortality has been defeated, and you’ve been called to walk in the realms and reality of immortality. The generation of the Church that hears and acts on this message is the generation of the Rapture, and we’re that generation.
Prayer / Confession
Dear Father, I thank you for the gift of eternal life, which I possess in Christ Jesus. I declare that death has no dominion over me, for I walk in the reality of immortality, as unveiled in the Gospel. I live in the consciousness of this life, upward and forward only, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further study
1 John 5:11-12; 1 Corinthians 15:53-57; Romans 8:10-11
1-year bible reading plan
John 10:1-21; 2 Kings 6-7
2-year bible reading plan
Mark 12:1-12; Numbers 24
