Opinion: Greg Laurie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with the obvious: the Rapture sounds crazy. Jesus descends from Heaven, dead people rise from their graves, and living believers are suddenly caught up into the sky \u2014 like the world\u2019s strangest episode of \u201cStranger Things.\u201d Sounds like the stuff your uncle mutters about after three cups of church coffee. Except \u2014 it\u2019s right there in Scripture. Paul says it. John says it. Jesus says it. The only ones who don\u2019t are usually the skeptics writing editorials dismissing the very faith that gives us hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, critics like to pounce: \u201cBut the word Rapture isn\u2019t even in the Bible!\u201d Congratulations, Sherlock. Neither are the words Trinity or even Bible.<\/em> And yet, here we are, still believing in all three. The word comes from the Latin rapturas,<\/em> which translates the Greek word harpazo <\/em>\u2014 meaning \u201cto snatch up, grab by force,\u201d Imagine a parent reaching out and pulling their child away from danger just in time. That\u2019s the picture Scripture gives us of the Rapture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The history lesson no one wants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some say, \u201cOh, the Rapture is just a modern invention, some 19th-century gimmick.\u201d Nonsense. Yes, J.N. Darby helped popularize it in more recent times, but long before him, the early Church Fathers like Irenaeus and Cyprian wrote about believers being \u201csnatched up\u201d before judgment. It\u2019s not new \u2014 it\u2019s biblical. We also hear about the Rapture straight from Paul, Peter, James, and most importantly, Jesus Himself: \u201cI will come again and receive you to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most familiar passage on the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:16\u201318:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together (Greek word: harpazo, meaning \u2018snatched up\u2019) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n And if that sounds far-fetched, remember Enoch \u2014 who literally walked off the face of the earth into God\u2019s presence \u2014 and Elijah, who rode to heaven in a fiery chariot. The prototypes are already in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why it matters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s why this isn\u2019t just a fun theological parlor game: the Rapture gives hope. Paul calls it the \u201cblessed hope.\u201d When you\u2019ve buried a loved one, you don\u2019t need vague talk about them being \u201cin a better place.\u201d You need the solid promise that in one split second \u2014 one atomos,<\/em> faster than a teenager deleting browser history when his mom grabs his phone \u2014 you\u2019ll be with them again. Parents reunited with children. Husbands with wives. Brothers and sisters together again. And at the center of it all \u2014 Jesus Christ Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it does more than comfort grief. It motivates godliness. John says, \u201cEveryone who has this hope purifies himself.\u201d In other words, if you really believe Jesus could return at any moment, maybe don\u2019t binge sin like it\u2019s Netflix. You wouldn\u2019t invite your best friend into a house piled with dirty laundry and Taco Bell wrappers. Don\u2019t greet your Savior that way either. You want to be ready \u2014 walking with Him, keeping your spiritual house in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The date-setting circus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, there\u2019s always the circus clowns with their calendars: \u201c88 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 1988!\u201d They were wrong, just like every other date-setter before or since. Jesus made it pretty clear:\u00a0\u201cNo one knows the day or the hour.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Which, funnily enough, includes you, me, and that guy on YouTube with the chart and the whiteboard. The Rapture isn\u2019t about prediction \u2014 it\u2019s about preparation. SSA Faith surges: Lucas Miles details mission, growth after Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination<\/p>\n\n\n\n The takeaway<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what do we do with all this? We wake up. We stay alert. We stop living like the world is a Vegas buffet that never closes. Paul said: \u201cThe night is almost gone, the day of salvation is soon here.\u201d Translation: time is short. Knock it off. If you\u2019re a believer, live clean, live holy, live hopeful. If you\u2019re not \u2014 well, get right or get left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because one day, maybe in our lifetime, maybe tonight \u2014 in a blink, in the twinkling of an eye \u2014 everything changes. Loved ones raised. The Church caught up. Judgment delayed until after the Bride has been rescued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not escapism. It\u2019s not fantasy. As C.S. Lewis reminded us, looking forward to the eternal world is one of the things a Christian is meant to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, laugh if you want. Roll your eyes. Write your snarky post. But when it happens \u2014 when the shout comes, when the trumpet blows \u2014 mockery won\u2019t matter. Only hope will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n