VCO,
Regarding your post #6192,
Thanks for sharing. I didn't say dying as a Christian is bad. I said we all must die before we can get to heaven.
At the end of the ages is not an expression for 2,000 years. They were literally at the end of their age, when Christ returned, the resurrection occurred and all things were restored. The resurrection would not have been visible. Paul clearly teaches in 1 Cor 15 [SUP]44 [/SUP]It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. Mortals CANNOT see a spiritual body. If you could, you would see them everywhere (Heb 12:1).
You cite 1 Cor 15:20-23. Since the presence of Christ returned in 70 AD, so did the resurrection happen then. It was for all who died in Christ before that time. It was then that the Keys to Death and Hades were used to free the souls from Hades allowing them to go to heaven. In this new age, we go straight to heaven which is what your brother-in-law saw. His soul did not have to rest in Hades. Sorry about your loss but am so happy that in his physical death he brought spiritual life to another. What a joy and blessing that you shared that story with me. Thank you!!
The passage in 1 Cor 15:50-53 is so often misunderstood. It is not about changing of a physical body into a spiritual body. It is about the salvation of our soul and change in our destination. In Christ we are new creations. It is this new creation that Paul was trying to describe. Remember Hebrews 9? To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. It's then that those alive were saved. Remember the Rich Man and Lazarus? That doesn't happen anymore. Death has been defeated. All enemies have been placed under His feet. The victory is final.
We believers are living on this earth as residents of heaven and part of the new spiritual temple in Christ. We are walking among and working with unbelievers who are "dead men walking" if they don't turn to Jesus before they die.
My salvation message is the same as yours except I don't talk about a future resurrection or rapture as they are in the past for all believers as has been the case since 70 AD. Remember, no preterist ever became a pre-trib dispensationalist but most preterists were once pre-trib dispensationalists. The difference between you and I is my eyes have been opened. Our future is the same as yours, our destinations are the same. Unless and until this age ends, we must all physically die first but our souls are already "alive." The only real difference is you think we have to wait to get spiritual bodies. We don't, we get them when we get to heaven, with no waiting. Which is better?
As for the Flood, it is another topic of great interest to me. I live near Las Vegas and see all the strata in the mountains having been thrust up. I walk on what used to covered by the ocean. I marvel at the Grand Canyon knowing how it was really formed. We can be happy that we share these views.