1950 This Means Everlasting Life - A2Z.org

THE REMNANT OF KINGDOM HEIRS 229
death through Jesus God will bring with him . For
this is what we tell you by Jehovah's word, that
we the living who survive to the presence of the
Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen
asleep in death, because the Lord himself will
descend from heaven with a commanding call,
with an archangel's voice and with God's trumpet,
and those who are dead in union with Christ will
rise first . Afterward we the living who are surviving
will together with them be caught away in
clouds to meet the Lord in the air ; and thus we
shall always be with the Lord ."
Since the apostle is here addressing the congregation,
his expression we the living who survive
to the presence of the Lord' means the remnant
on earth of those who are born from water
and spirit and are called to the Kingdom. So the
resurrection of suchlike ones who fell asleep in
death before the harvest of the remnant begins
takes place first. The Kingdom to which such are
resurrected is heavenly . Since the second presence
or parousia of the King Jesus Christ is in spirit
and unseen to human eye, so, too, the resurrection
of Kingdom heirs that slept in death is also
unseen, it being to life in the spirit . They were
buried with him in the likeness of his death, and
the promise was that they would be in the likeness
of his resurrection . How it is a spiritual resurrection
is described in detail at 1 Corinthians, chapter
15 :
7. How does the resurrection of those sleeping conquerors
occur?