The Believer Is Alive in Christ Forever by Pastor Joseph Cortes Paul does not stop with those whose bodies sleep. He also speaks of those believers who are still alive at the coming of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, he says, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” Living believers do not become nekros. They do not pass through burial. They do not wait in the ground for re-clothing. They are changed instantly. What happens to them is transformation, not death. Paul says in 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.” That is not defeat. That is victory. That is not the believer entering death. That is the believer being seized into glory. Those who are alive and remain are not placed into the category of corpses. They are transformed. They are changed. They are caught up. They meet the Lord, and from that moment forward, Paul says, “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” The same truth is repeated in 1 Corinthians 15:53-54: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” The Christian hope is not merely that we escape. The Christian hope is that death itself is swallowed. Mortality does not win. Corruption does not win. The grave does not win. Christ wins, and those who belong to Christ share in His victory. But the Scripture also speaks of another resurrection, the resurrection of the wicked unto judgment. Revelation 20:13 says, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” These are not described with the comfort of being “with Christ.” They are summoned for judgment. They stand before God, and the record is opened. Their resurrection is not unto glory, but unto accountability.