3. Jesus will transform all the righteous at His coming.

The apostle Paul assures us that Jesus returns not only for the righteous dead, but also for the righteous living. He adds:

“After that, we who are still alive and are left WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
—Verse 17.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but WE WILL ALL BE CHANGED—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET. For the trumpet will sound, THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED IMPERISHABLE, and WE WILL BE CHANGED. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
—1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

To prepare us for eternity, Christ changes these sin-sick, and weary bodies of ours into beautiful, immortal bodies. No more arthritis, paralysis, or cancer. Shut down the hospitals and close up the funeral homes. Christ has come!

4. Jesus will take all the righteous people to heaven at His coming.

Jesus Himself made the promise while here on earth, “I will come back and take you to be with me”—in my Father’s house (see John 14:1-3).

The New Testament clearly shows that Jesus will take the saved to heaven at His Second Coming. Peter speaks of the inheritance of the redeemed “kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). Paul tells us of “the hope that is stored up for you in heaven” (Colossians 1:5). We can look forward to exploring the marvels of God’s city, the New Jerusalem, and getting to know our Heavenly Father face-to-face. In a later lesson we will discover how the redeemed, after living in heaven with Jesus for 1000 years, will come back with Christ to spend eternity in a completely recreated, perfect world (Revelation 20-22).