How All Saints Arrive at Bema Seat at the Same Time Revealed

Most people who have studied Scripture are aware that a person consists of a physical body, an intellect that controls the body, and an immortal spirit. God breathed both physical and eternal life into Adam (Genesis 2:7)). Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into men and they became a child of God (John 20:21-22). So all people from the race of Adam are born with an eternal spirit. Scripture tells us that this spirit was originally Holy and born of God, but now it is born of the flesh. Adam was originally a child of God so his spirit was of God. God allowed Satan to test Adam for virtue and Adam failed. Adam’s spirit went from being of God to being of the flesh or man. Now, all people from the race of Adam automatically inherit at birth a spirit of the flesh, and as such, have Adam’s propensity to sin. Therefore, all people are born sinners because of Adam’s original sin. The spirit in all people is no longer born of God, but now born of the flesh or man. So all children are now born not in the image of God, but in the image of Adam (Genesis 5:3). However, when a person accepts Christ as their Saviour, the Holy Spirit of God indwells them and they are reborn in the Spirit of God and are now a child of God. The spirit of a person is immortal whether they keep their original spirit of the flesh, or make the conscious decision to be reborn a child of God. At death, this spirit is immediately released from the body. The questions is, where does this spirit now go?

If the person is deemed righteous by God through faith in Him, the spirit goes to be with God. If the spirit is deemed unrighteous, it goes to a place down in the earth known as Sheol or Hell. There it is imprisoned with other like spirits awaiting the time of the Great White Throne Judgment of God. This event will occur at the end of the one thousand year reign of Christ on the earth (Revelation 20:11-15).

But there is a timeline issue here that is difficult to reconcile. When a person deemed righteous by God dies, they pass from the physical realm of time into the spiritual realm of eternity. Out of time, and into a state of timelessness where they are in the presence of Christ. However, Scripture states that there are a number of events that must first take place from the time we die and meet with Christ to the time we return with him to the earth at His Second Coming.

Paul is clear that to be absent from the body (dead), is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). But Scripture tells us of four major events that all occur after the faithful dead and living are resurrected and raptured to be with Christ. And, if a righteous spirit goes immediately to be with Christ, what do they do after they meet with Him? And do they have to wait until all the spirits of all righteous people arrive in the rapture in order to then attend the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ and from there attend the Wedding Ceremony and Supper of the Lamb? And, if the departed spirits are immediately with Christ, this would mean that the spirits of all people are quickly accruing in Heaven with some having been waiting there for many thousands of years. We also have a timing issue concerning when do these righteous spirits waiting with Christ get their resurrected and immortal bodies back? They are supposed to get this body before the Bema Seat Judgment, Wedding, Supper of the Lamb and Second Coming.

Also, if the dead are immediately present with Christ, where are the many billions of conscious righteous spirits being kept, and what have they been doing while waiting for their bodies for thousands of years? Some have suggested they are meeting and catching up with family and friends in Heaven. But for thousands of years? Others say they are taking guided tours of Heaven and receiving sneak previews of their eternal homes. But Scripture states that the saints are destined to return to the earth with Christ at His Second Coming and live there for one thousand years (I Thessalonians 3:13). So no need to tour Heaven as it is not our final destination. And no need to get a preview of our homes in Heaven because Scripture is clear that our home was, is and always will be on the earth. In other words, we are no earthly good in Heaven. In fact, at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ, our eternal home created individually for each person, descends from the sky and is known as the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2). So, how can the order of these events in the Scripture timeline be rectified?

This timeline conundrum is directly related to what is meant by the phrase, “… to be ‘present’ with the Lord.” One would assume that it means to be immediately in front of Jesus. But actually, the dictionary defines the word “present” to mean, fully engaged and aware of one’s environment. Wakefulness and focused on one thing at a time. Participating fully in the moment. Please keep this definition in mind as we reveal what people, who have had near death experiences have reported compared with what Scripture tells us.

First we need to consider the two types of time. Time in the physical realm is completely different from time in the spiritual realm. In the Spiritual realm, spiritual beings created by God exist and perform useful and rewarding tasks in the will of God. However, they do not experience nor are they aware of the concept of time for two reasons. First, time is physical so time can only exist if there is space which contains physical matter. However, the spiritual realm or eternity does not contain physical matter, thus time cannot exist. Second, spirits by their very nature are immortal, so time is of no consequence to them.

When a human, in the physical realm dies, their spirit immediately detaches from their body. The person’s physical mortal corpse is still on the earth in time and so begins the process of decomposition. But the person’s immortal spirit is now out of the physical space time continuum and is now in eternity. Time has no effect on their spirit and it has no effect on any spiritual being such as angels, Cherubim, etc. The intelligent spirit of a person is still conscious of who they are and that they have detached from their physical body, but one might say that time now stands still concerning their spirit. Please see related: “Rich Man Poor Man”.

There is no way to reconcile time with the concept of eternity. They are two entirely separate categories of experience. A human can experience each of them separately, but not both at one time. At death, we step out of time and into eternity, yet cannot be in both simultaneously. But God can, has and will continue to step into and out of time. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.”(John 8:58). Jesus is telling us that He preexisted Abraham. He could have said, “Before Abraham, was I Am” which would have been the normal way of explaining this thought. God, the Great I Am, existed before Abraham. But instead, He phrased this understanding to mean that at one time, He lived outside of time. The subject of the phrase was Abraham. Jesus took the time of Abraham c. 2,000 B.C. and then spoke of two separate time periods balanced on the two sides of Abraham’s time. One was the ages that proceeded or were before Abraham, and the other the ages after or was Abraham up to the present time of Jesus. Jesus then takes the present time He is in or I Am and ‘grammatically’ puts it back before the time of Abraham, but still refers to the time before Abraham in the present tense. This is one of the most extraordinary phrases in the Bible.

Jesus is stating that although there was time before Abraham, and the time of Abraham, and the time after Abraham, to Jesus it is all now or present time to Him. He is referring to the time of Abraham in the present tense or time. Why? Because Jesus is God the Word, so there is no such thing as the passage of time to Him. Time is strictly a human condition. For God, all of time both past, present and future is only “present”. Time is like a line with a beginning and an end. Mankind is in the line and can only experience time by looking back or experiencing the moment. Man cannot look forward into time. But God is outside of the line and is looking at it in its totality all at once. Thus, God can tell mankind by way of His prophets what to expect in the future and be completely accurate. God sees time from the end to the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

Some of the Jews apparently understood what Jesus was implying and became extremely upset as only God can exist in the state Jesus was implying about Himself. They knew this because Moses had revealed the mystery of God’s name in this same way when he wrote, The One who is existing always in the present (Exodus 3:13-14; Revelation 1:8). Peter tried to literally explain this when he wrote that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day (II Peter 3:8). But prophetically, Peter seems to have also been alluding to a two thousand year timeline for the Church Age, and the thousand year Millennial Reign of Christ (Revelation 20:6).

This understanding gives us a more true interpretation of the statement made by Isaiah who wrote, “Before they call, I will answer.” (Isaiah 65:24) Most would interpret this phrase to mean God anticipates our needs before we ask. But more to the point, from God’s perspective, the prayer is already answered because it has already been prayed. Jesus said, “The hour is coming and now is…” (John 5:25). Jesus is saying that for Him, as God incarnate, there is no difference between “is coming” and “now is". Jesus is prophetically speaking of the resurrection. But He is also saying that time is relative, and from eternity’s point of view, physical time is contained and actually only a moment when viewed as a single Age in a series of coming eternal Ages upon Ages.

Perhaps the most remarkable phrase concerning the inversion of time is found in the Book of Revelation. It states, “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World.” (Revelation 13:8) This concerns God’s foreknowledge of the crucifixion of His biological Son Jesus the Christ. This also means that the entire timeline of creation from beginning to end was known to God. It means that Jesus was slain out of time. Slain in eternity before time existed. His birth, ministry, death and resurrection were all exact dates in the timeline of God before creation. Thus, from the exact date of Jesus’ conception to the date of His ascension all dates were pre-ordained. And Jesus was well aware of this and had agreed to this as the Word of God who preexisted before time. Jesus allowed Himself to be placed in the timeline of mankind for our salvation. This is why He could truthfully say, “.. the Son of Man {on earth} which is (present tense) in Heaven.” (John 3:13)

Jesus agreed to His being slain before time existed for a very important reason. The Godhead knew in advance that mankind would chose to rebel against their Creator and sin. The Godhead knew that if God judged them according to His standards, they would be condemned to the grave and everlasting destruction. So, the Godhead devised a plan of salvation for their creation. But this meant that when Adam and his race began to die, there needed to be a place for their immortal intelligent spirits to dwell until God the Word or Jesus, paid their sin debt on the cross. So, in order to rightly create Sheol and designate it as that resting place, the Word of God would need to agree to be born a human, and His ministry would end with His being crucified. Further, this event would need to be preordained and permanently entered into the timeline of the history of mankind. So, this is why Jesus was said to have been the sacrificial lamb slain from the foundations of the earth (I Peter 19-20; Revelation 13:8). This designation was preordained so that the descendants from Adam, deemed righteous by God through faith, would have a spiritual resting place, the promise of salvation and eventually a release from Sheol after Jesus’ resurrection. Then, after Jesus’s resurrection, there would be no more need for Sheol as all spirits of the righteous would automatically begin their journey into the presence of Christ.

One of the great mysteries of the Bible is that it is both profoundly simple and simply profound. Every reader can understand Scripture according to the readers level of knowledge or sophistication. The child and adult can both learn at their attained level. The words are for the child, and the insights for the scholar. As the old saying goes, the Bible is shallow enough for a toddler to wade in it, and deep enough for an elephant to swim in it.

As for the death experience, we often read stories of people who are clinically dead experiencing a freeing sensation. They no longer feel physical aches and pains and no longer have worries. They sometimes report seeing their deceased bodies as they look down at it from above, seeing those who are around their body, and can even hear conversations. But they quickly begin to move away from this death scene as they are no longer attached to nor are concerned about their dead body. When their spirit detached from their physical body, it also detached from the cares and worries of the physical world. They now report experiencing the euphoria of seeing and moving through a tunnel of some sort. This tunnel is often describe as being lined by family member and friends who are all moving in one accord towards a distant bright light. So what exactly is going on?

Scripture tells us that at death, our intelligent spirit leaves the body and goes to be with Christ. There is no ambiguity whatsoever about this revelation by Paul. Jesus told the robber on the cross next to Him that he would be in Paradise with Him that day (Luke 23:43). The thief would have been perhaps the last person to die and be remanded to Sheol to await his spirit’s release from Sheol by Jesus after His resurrection. The robber was in Sheol or Paradise with Christ the day they both died. Jesus remained in Sheol for three days then arose from Sheol and re-indwelled His resurrected immortal body. Then, the evening of resurrection Sunday, Jesus once again descended down into Sheol. This would make the third night He was in the heart of the earth. It was at this time that the robber, along with all of the other righteous spirits in Sheol started their journey out of Sheol and up towards Heaven (Matthew 27:52-53; Ephesians 4:8-10). It was at this time that the Paradise side of Sheol was permanently emptied and closed. Now only the condemned side of Sheol remains open.

The robber, as with all people, went instantly from physical death to spiritual release seamlessly without ever losing consciousness. Jesus spoke about this when He said, “He that believes in Me, although he were dead, yet shall he live.” and, “He that lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26). Interestingly, in verse 25, Jesus is referring to the Resurrection. In verse 26 He is referring to the Rapture. However, we find that there is a slight time lag between traveling to be with Christ, and actually arriving in the presence of Christ and later God the Father.

The spirits of the righteous dead know they are on their way to meet with their Creator. In fact they are extremely excited about what is happening and can vaguely see Him in the distance up in the bright opening of what appears to be a tunnel. The fact that they are surrounded by other happy departed family members makes the trip all the more enjoyable. And, the fact that they are surrounded on all sides by departed family members makes it seem like they are in a tunnel. To their sides they see mothers and fathers and siblings. A little further up from them are grandmothers and grandfathers. Still further up are great and great-great grandfathers and so forth and so on all the way to the top of the family tunnel or tree which are the spirits of their most ancient relatives. While unknown to them, these individuals are none the less a part of their family DNA composition. If they were to look down, they would see the departed spirits of their children, and generations of grandchildren they never knew. If they were to ask their child just below them when did they die, they might say forty three years after you died. How is this possible? Jesus gives us two examples of how He is in control of time. One is hidden and the second is right in our faces.

At the family wedding in Cana, Mary came to Jesus and asked Him to help with a social faux pas. The celebration had run out of wine. At first Jesus politely told His mother that this was not His concern. However, the Holy Spirt must have approved His using His power to create His first miracle. He then turned water into wine. But there was a hidden time element in this miracle. The host proclaimed that the wine now being served was superior to the first wine served. He was remarking that the new wine had been aged to perfection. So Jesus had not only manipulated water on a molecular level, He had even caused the new wine to instantly age. The second time we see Jesus manipulating time was in the story concerning His walking on water. Most people focus on His ability to walk on water. Peter walked on water which was part of the miracle. We can conclude for this part of the story that, if a person can walk on water in the presence of Jesus, Jesus can make them also fly through the air at the Rapture.

Second, Peter began to sink into the troubled water over his head and was destined to drown. But Jesus had the troubled waters securely under His feet, and pulled Peter up out of the watery tribulation. This is a direct reference to the Rapture of the righteous before the Tribulation Period (Luke 21:36). It is also a prophecy concerning Jesus saving people who came to have faith in Him during the Tribulation Period. And a reference to a remnant of Jews He will save on the last day of the Tribulation Period (Zechariah 12:9-11, 13:6). Jesus then escorts Peter back into the boat, a floating refuge of safety above the raging waters. This is a shadow event of Jesus creating a way to have the spirits of the righteous dead delivered safely into His presence. Then, having put Peter back in the boat, He instantly stilled the waters. Jesus stops the storm proving once again He controls nature and all the laws of nature. He will instantly stop the Great Tribulation period and the War of Armageddon at His Second Coming with only a word. And He will also instantly bring nature back to a pristine condition as it was in Eden.

But here is a final part to this event that most people have overlooked. We now read, “And immediately the ship was at the land where they went {were going}.” (John 6: 21) This is saying that the storm stopped, the disciples were looking around astonished that the boat was now only very slightly still rocking in calm water. But, as they looked to the front of the boat, they were further amazed to see they had arrived on the shore of the place they had originally wanted to go. So, one minute they were in a raging storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, and the next they were safely docked with Jesus. The intervening time which should have been many hours occurred in only seconds. Therefore, with Jesus, time is relative when you are in His presence. In other words, time was created by Him and time, as a creation, bends to the will of its Creator.

So we can rightly say that at death, we pass out of time to be with Christ while time on the earth marches on. The seven years tribulation on earth passes in what will seem as just hours in the presence of Christ. When we return with the Christ at His Second Coming, time will resume. However, those resurrected and raptured are now immortal. And as such, time is still no longer relevant to them. That is to say, while there are years going by on earth, the immortals are unchanged. The mortals of the earth will very slowly grow old, but like the Old Testament patriarchs, they are allowed perhaps one thousand years of life before they too are translated to immortality.

Now we can better understanding how it can be that all people of all time since Adam are now moving towards Christ all at the same time with no conception concerning the passing of time. The only spirits of the righteous that are not in the tunnels are those still alive on earth at the time of the Rapture. It is the Rapture that gives this great vortex of upwardly spiraling righteous spirits the opportunity to make their first stop. The stop is brief and in heaven, but not the third Heaven of God, instead the first heaven or atmosphere of the earth.

As the spirits reach Christ, the tunnel once around them consisting of relatives dissolves. It is now that they are actually in the very presence of Christ. They were absent from their bodies, saw Christ in the distance and are now present with Him. They find themselves firmly suspended in the atmosphere of the earth with Him. They look down and see the earth below. They heard the trumpet call of the Arch Angel and heard Christ give the command to “Come Up …” (Revelation 4:1; Revelation 11:12). As they look down, they see the physical bodies of billions of people buried under the ground, at sea and cremated all rising up into the air (Revelation 20:13). These are the resurrected and now immortal bodies of the righteous dead. These bodies immediately locate their corresponding intelligent spirit once contained in the vortex but now spread out in the sky around Christ. This individual body-to-spirit automatic location ability is possible because, when these people were born again, their bodies and spirits were indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It is this power that draws together the correct spirit to the correct corresponding body like two magnets. Moments later, they see living people also now being raptured off the surface of the earth. It is now that theses saints have their bodies also translated to immortality. All physical bodies require immortality in order to withstand the frigid temperatures and stresses associated with the earth’s upper atmosphere. They will also need to be translated to immortality to withstand the trip out of the earth’s atmosphere and into Heaven. Now, surrounded by His followers, or His bride the Church, Jesus leads His wedding party up and through a door that is the entrance or portal to Heaven (Revelation 4:1). Just as the disciples saw Jesus ascend from the earth and disappear into Heaven, so His saints will now do the same (Acts 1:9). Please see related: "Jewish Wedding Symbolic of Rapture"

So, the sprits of the saints have been reunited with their once dead bodies and have started the next leg of a journey to see what Christ has in store for them. As far as they are concerned, no matter what century they died in, the journey and its destination is the only thing of importance at this time. They died, they were suddenly out of their bodies, they were surrounded by family, and they were suddenly above the earth with Christ. There they were united with thirty year old healthy immortal bodies. And now they have left the atmosphere of the earth and are in a place that contains a throne where Christ sits. This is known as the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ. It is now that Jesus will meet with each of His followers, erase their sins and bestow rewards of governance earned by way of good works they created while on the earth (II Timothy 4:7-8).

An understanding of the time lapse between Adam six thousand years ago, and the 21st century, is never an issue or even a consideration. It is a seamless series of events during which the details are not questioned. They were dead but are now alive with beautiful immortal bodies surrounded by love ones. They are in flight, given rewards and beautiful clothing in which to attending the grandest wedding ever held in all creation. No one will have time nor the inclination to say, “Hey wait a minute … I’m confused?” But, how can several billion followers all be judged for their rewards at the same time? Would there not be a time logjam? The longest que imaginable? The short answer is no, there will be no line as Christ controls time.

We know that when we arrive in the presence of Christ at the Bema Seat, He will meet and talk with us individually. At this time He will reward each person for their continued faith in Him in good and bad times. He will review with the believer the good works produce by them on behalf of Him and the Father. Some will receive crowns to wear that outwardly announce outstanding gifts of service employed in spreading the Gospel of Christ (Revelation 2:10). All Saints will also receive clothing of the finest white linen. This clothing accomplishes two purposes. First, it will cause all the faithful dead from Adam to those raptured alive to be dressed alike. In this way, we will not be able to distinguish an Old Testament age believer from a 21st century believer. We are now all Children of God the Father and all equal in His eyes. We are all one family regardless of the century in which we were born and lived, or what our race was, or what our denomination was and what our social achievements were. Second, our similar clothing is an outward sign that we have been cleansed of our sins, judged for our rewards and it is appropriate for us to now attend the Marriage Ceremony of the Lamb {Christ} to His bride the Church (Revelation 19:7). With out this clothing, a person will be removed from the festivities (Matthew 22:11-13). This event will be officiated in the presence of God the Father. To be in the presence of God the Father with even a faint trace of sin would cause instant annihilation. Along with the previously stated rewards, believers will even get new names from God (Revelation 2:17).

So, what about the righteous since the time of Adam who died before Christ and went down into Sheol to wait? How do they fit in? Well for example, we know about Abraham in Sheol because Jesus specifically mentions Him being there (Luke 16:23-25). So, in Abraham’s case, he remembers dying, he remembers being in Sheol, but he is not sure for how long he was there nor does it matter to him. It may have seemed to him like a day or two but in fact it was for 2,000 years. He, along with many other believers in the One True Creator God, may only have arrived in Sheol like the robber on the cross when Jesus suddenly descended down into Sheol after His crucifixion. It was then that Jesus told all the righteous spirits in Sheol who He was and what He had accomplished. Jesus then arose from Sheol on the Sunday morning of His resurrection. Later on Sunday evening, Jesus returned to Sheol in order to lead those held captive there since the time of Adam on their journey up towards Heaven to be in the presence of God (Ephesians 4:7-9).

Adam, Abraham and the other billions of righteous spirits had no idea about the mission of Jesus, where Sheol was located, or even where exactly Jesus was taking them. They only knew they were now on a journey up and out of Sheol and that the journey would end with them in the presence of their Creator. They did not dwell on the details. However, they did notice that there was a continuously growing trail of spirits like themselves below them on the same journey. But for them, the more the merrier. They were simply on their way to their meeting with God the Father with no concept about the amount of time the trip was taking. From their vantage point, they have just started this leg of the trip having experienced a slight delay of some unknown duration while in Sheol. But, from our vantage point on earth, six thousand years have passed from Adam, to Abraham to the resurrection of Christ until today. For us that is a very long time. But to those who are in their spirit in eternity, it only seems like minutes. And truth be told, all humanity dead or live are all on their way to their ultimate destiny, a meeting with their Creator.

When they arrive at the Bema Seat, they will individually meet with Christ who will call them His "friend" (John 15:15-17). They will be dressed in white linen, and attend the Marriage Ceremony of Christ to His Church (Revelation 19: 7-9). They will then go to the Marriage Supper or Reception of the Lamb. There they will officially toast their adoption into the Family of God. It is now Jesus will drink the Fourth and final Cup of Passover wine which He did not do at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:29-32). Please see related: “Mystery of the Last Supper and Four Cups Revealed”. This fourth cup is the Cup of Redemption of mankind which has now taken place. All the saints are now considered Children of God with all the rights and privileges that this title entails. At the end of the reception celebration, which will seem like perhaps several hours, all will accompany Christ as He descends to the earth and witness His triumphal Second Coming.

On a side note, it is during the Marriage Ceremony of Christ to His Church that Satan makes his last attempt to overthrow the Kingdom of God (Revelation 12:7-13). Michael with his angelic army are dispatched to turn back Satan and his invading forces. They are defeated and Satan is thrown down to the actual surface of the earth for the first time. Once he understands he has lost his kingdom in the earth’s atmospheres he becomes enraged. He now knows that he has 3.5 years to destroy the Jewish race if he is to stop the Second Coming of Christ. It is then that he has his most powerful demon spirit indwell the World Leader while he is recovering from a near fatal head wound. The World Leader now becomes the Antichrist and is a Beast of a man. The Antichrist now declares himself a god worthy of worship. And so begins the time of the Great Tabulation. It is called Great as the people of the earth will now simultaneously experience the wrath of God, Satan and the Antichrist all at the same time. However, the wedding party is completely unaware of this brief war and continues their joyous celebrations.

Seven years has now passed on earth from the time of the Rapture to the end of the Marriage Supper. The War of Armageddon is coming to a close as the Antichrist is about to annihilate the Jewish race in Jerusalem. Jesus will announce to the wedding party that the time has come for all attendees to follow Him down to the earth and reclaim it as their eternal home. The saints, angelic armies of God, along with the righteous people on earth who have survived the Tribulation Period will all eye witness the unrighteous destroyed with only a Word from Christ (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17; Revelation 19:15). The Antichrist and his false prophet are immediately thrown into the Lake of Fire. They have the honor of being the first in the Lake based on the incredible destruction of wars and the billions of deaths they were personally responsible for (Revelation 19:20-21). All of Satan’s followers both human and demonic will be confined down in various levels of Sheol. Satan will also be confined in the lowest depths of Sheol referred to as The Pit for the next one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).

Now, with the earth at last completely purged from all unrighteous people and spirits, Jesus will begin His Millennial Reign. There are three major changes that will now take place. First, Christ will be acknowledged and worshiped as the visible image of the Triune Godhead. Second, He will send those saints who received positions of governance at the Bema Seat, to various parts of the world. There they will monitor and assist these people in rebuilding their civilizations and restoring nature as it once was in Eden. And lastly, while all nations, races and many customs will continue for a time, all mankind will now live in peace and harmony with each other. It may be that all mankind speaks one language. This could be the language spoken before the Tower of Babel event. The Jews believe the language will be Hebrew.

While this might all sound like a scenario out of ones wildest dreams, God has repeatedly given all people through all the ages a sneak preview of how it will feel to escape the time space continuum. And here is how He has done it.

When we dream at night, our dreams seem to last a long time. In fact, some might say their dreams were so intense and lasted so long that they awoke more tired than when they went to bed. Does this sound familiar? But the science of dreams has discover by way of measuring brain waves exactly when a dream starts and when it ends. It turns out that a dream can last just a few seconds or up to 10 minutes. A few can last as long as 20 minutes. But either way, you think the dream has lasted for hours or all night. This is because when you sleep, you are in a semiconscious state. In this state, time is no longer experienced. In fact, during REM periods of sleep, the human body is actually frozen and incapable of moving. Thus, a dream lasting a few second or a few minutes seems to last hours or longer with our bodies out of our control. This is a real physical example of how it is possible that when a physical person is in the dream world, they are conscious of who they are, but are also unconscious of time. They are suddenly involved in a trip that they have no control over but go willing along for the ride. Death, or the Rapture will in many ways mimic sleep.

One minute you are conscious in the physical world, then in a heartbeat, you are conscious that a transition is taking place. All physical body sensations quickly fade. You are in a state of complete comfort with no cares. You see that you are out of your body which has died but you are strangely not upset. You find yourself being drawn from the room and are suddenly surrounded by family members who have recently passed away. You have an understanding that you are now on your way to Heaven. You have no control of the trip but are simply going along with the flow. People who have reported near death experiences say they could see, hear, smell and find the adventure exhilarating. You are now officially caught up in an event that will end with you in the presence of Christ.

In the case of the Rapture, for all people involved, they will hear the command of Christ to, “Come up! "Instantly they will find themselves ascending and in the presence of Christ. At that time they will look around and see billions of people suspended in the air around them. Yet, this feeling of being at one moment on the earth and the next in the presence of Christ, will be the same for those who have been on the journey to their own resurrection from the time of Adam. Thus, Christ is gathering all his saints to Himself all at the same time. They all arrive to meet Him at the same time. Both the once dead and the living will now be with Him where ever He is (John 14:3). At death they were with Him. At the Rapture they arise to be with Him. When He ascends into Heaven, they go with Him. When He is married to them, they are there with Him before the Throne of God. It is then that His followers become one with Christ and are officially grafted into the family of God. They become His Beloved Children with all the rights and privileges that status affords. Not only life eternal, but all of creation is available for them to experience. When He holds His wedding reception, they attend with Him as His Bride. When He returns to earth reclaim it, they go with Him. When He rules the earth for one thousand years, they assist Him.

If this sounds to incredible to believe, think about this. Quantum Physics currently theorizes that all of creation began with a Big Bang. This occurred when only a few extremely dense atoms which had eternally existed in perfect balance, became out of balance. This imbalance caused these molecule to rupture spewing out matter and gasses in immeasurable amounts. Theses solid and gaseous emissions, because of gravitational forces, eventually coalesced into all the planets, stars and perhaps trillions of universes. This may very well be the way the Holy Spirit devised a way to create a physical world separate from a spiritual world. However, if you can believe a few molecules created all that we know exist, it is completely believable that God can very easily create an intelligent immortal spirit and manipulate time so that thousands of years pass in minutes. Therefore, the trip from the physical word into the spiritual realm can seem to take only seconds when in fact many thousands of years have gone by in earth time.

This then is how all believers since Adam, both dead and alive, could be raptured all at the same time, and all arrive at the Bema Seat Judgement at the same time.

And further, this ability to manipulate time will allow billions of saints to have private one-on-one time with Christ all simultaneously at the Bema Seat. Jesus said to His followers, “I will go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you may be where I Am.”(John 14:3) So we will always be with Christ and regularly talk with Him, but we will not always be in His direct physical presences as we will have tasks to perform on behalf of Him. Just as Adam and Eve had tasks to perform in Eden, they still walked and talked with a preincarnation of Christ in the cool of the evenings (Genesis 3:8).

As for the stories of those who died, went to Heaven, met Jesus and got a personal tour, there are two possible explanations. First, while in the throes of dying, they had a dream or hallucination that seemed very real. But in reality, it was only a vision composed of previous thoughts they had about what Heaven would look like. In fact, some people who experienced near death say that Heaven was exactly what they had imagined it would be. On the other hand, some people may very well have been selected by Christ to have a vision of Heaven for reasons known only to God. Paul and John had just such experiences and were told by Christ to tell followers of what they heard and saw (Acts 22: 13-18, 21; Revelation 1:19).

Two last notes to consider. In 2011, a Harvard scientist was able to create a gas cloud in a chamber that had been cooled to within two degrees above absolute zero. A short blast of light from a laser beam was shot into one end of the tube. The moment the beam of light entered the inside of the tube, the head of the light beam appeared, but it had now dropped from a speed of 186,000 miles per second to one mile per hour. Then, the end of the light beam appeared in the tube. The now one inch capsule of laser light slowly made its way from one end of the tube to the other. When the head of the beam hit the glass end of the tube, the laser beam once again appeared and shot across the lab. Then, seconds later, the end of the beam reached the end of the tube, passed through the glass, and the light beam ended. So, the speed of light had been slowed to a crawl inside the tube. This experiment showed that even though light normally moves at a constant rate of 186,000 miles per second, under certain conditions, it can be slowed down to a point where it almost stands still.

The second note concerns time itself. We know that the further a space craft moves away from the earth, the faster the clock on board will run due to a lessening of gravity. Conversely, the greatest forces of gravity are found in black holes located at the center of every universe. When an object such as a planet or sun is pulled into a black hole, it will eventually appear frozen on the edge or horizon of the hole. This is because gravity is so tremendous at this point that time has stopped or ceased to exist for this object. The object was actually pulled into the hole, but the second before this event happened, its image was forever frozen at the edge of the black hole. This was the exact moment where time stopped for this object, and it’s last in-time image is all that is left to prove it once existed.

And you thought an intelligent spirit body and the slowing down of time was an impossibility?