274. Ever with the Lord
1 Thessalonians 4:17 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 ever be with the Lord.
Those believers who are alive when Jesus returns will be caught up (raptured) together with the suddenly resurrected believers. All together all believers will meet the Lord in the air when He returns to earth; and ever after we will all be with the Lord forever.
It is absolutely necessary that all must die and rise again. Thus, those still alive on earth when Jesus returns will have to die and rise again in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye. Without death we cannot be changed into forever-holy creatures. Death and bodily resurrection is the change that must occur in order to live forever in a spiritual body. The new resurrected spiritual body will be recreated to live in the Paradise of the New Creation.
The essence of the promise is that we shall be forever with the Lord. “With” the Lord involves intimate communion with Almighty Creator God. Living in thr real and evident Presence of God with His powerful love and beautiful holiness will be an awesome experience. With God there shall never, ever, be any diminishment of full and enjoyable life with the Lord. Every enjoyable experience we have on earth comes to an end. After the joy we always come back to earth, to the boring and mundane. Not so when we are with the Lord. The joy is never-ending just as life never ends. That is what it means to be “with the Lord.”
The Lord is with us now in this life before the end comes, but the Lord is “with us” by faith, not by sight. His Presence with us is not usually felt and seldom perceived, but it can be always believed. We are allowed to enter into the Presence whenever we repent and believe the Gospel. The Presence of the Lord is obscured by Sin and Evil that is around and in us. The flesh resists the spirit, the devil deceives the soul, and the world is always visible and tempting. We are with the Lord, but we recognize that we are also with the Devil. Both are drawing us to be more “with,” One is drawing with the Truth and Love, the other with Lies and Self. While we here and now struggle to be with the Lord, the promise says that One Day we will be “ever” with the Lord.