There is a spiritual battle that must be fought before the Lord returns from Heaven. Let us get ready so we are not caught off guard.

Paul is emphasizing the ascension, the gathering of the elect to be forever with the Lord Jesus. But we know that the catching up cannot take place until the elect have first been resurrected, have been reunited with their bodies in the state of eternal life.

Paul mentions the resurrection in another passage:

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (I Corinthians 15:52)

"We shall be changed." Those who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord from Heaven will be people of great faith, of mature spiritual life. They will be living in heavenly places in Christ. They will be required to hold steady with their eyes on Jesus as the processes of life in them are converted from flesh and blood digestion and metabolism into the life-force of the Spirit of God.

The living saints will be changed from mortal beings into immortal beings while they are physically conscious on the earth. Think of it! Then they will be able to join together in loving fellowship with those whose bodies (some of which have been in the grave for thousands of years) have just emerged from the land and the waters.

At the time that the trumpet of God sounds each person who professes faith in Christ will be required to make a decision. Either he will possess the faith and the "oil" to go to meet the Lord or else he will fall back in unbelief and disobedience.

The ability of each individual to respond to the resurrection trumpet will be determined by the preparation he or she has made before that fateful hour. "Remember Lot's wife"!

"To meet the Lord in the air." We do not meet the Lord in Heaven. We meet Him in the air, directly overhead, where the glorious unity of the saints in Christ in God can be witnessed by the world (John 17:21-23).

Today Satan and his angels rule the earth from their thrones in the air above us. But Christ will assign His saints to their positions on those thrones in preparation for His descent on the Mount of Olives to take His lawful place on the Throne of David.

The purpose of the first resurrection of the dead is to change the occupants of the thrones in the air that influence the behavior of people on the earth. The wicked lords of the heavenlies will be cast down and the saints will take their place. Only the victorious saints are qualified to participate in the first resurrection from the dead. The remainder of the believers are not authorized or competent to sit in the awesome thrones in the air that govern the earth.

To be continued.