One definition of a mystery is a secret hidden in the past but now revealed.
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: ...
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, ...
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
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.
There is one thing the Apostle Paul would not have us to be ignorant of, and he showed us this mystery. The mystery here is the resurrection of the dead and their rapture with those who are alive and remain. This mystery is revealed to be happening in a "moment", in the "twinkling of an eye" at the "last trump".
|