When It Comes to the Rapture, What Comes Next?

Most people envision this life as a series of choices. What should I wear in the morning? What will I have for breakfast, let alone lunch and dinner? Which book will I read today? Who will I marry? What will I name my children?

In some situations, the choices seem unlimited. In fact, there is a psychological condition where people lose the ability to make a decision because they simply have too many choices.

Scripture simplifies our choices down to an either/or, A or B, black or white option: either accept Christ as Savior and Lord OR reject God’s gracious offer of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. The choice is yours, but the ramifications are everlasting.

When it comes to the Rapture, “What comes next?” depends on the decision you have made leading up to that instant in time.

For Those Who Choose… Wisely

The Rapture is the Blessed Hope of those who have trusted in Christ during the Church Age. In an instant, the dead in Christ will rise and those who remain here on Earth will rise to meet Him in the air. We will all be transformed in the twinkling of an eye.

In our newly glorified bodies, we will follow Jesus to the place He has been preparing for us. We will undergo the Bema Seat judgment to be rewarded with varying degrees of crowns, and we will rejoice with the heavenly host as we gather around the throne of God. At some point, we will participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb—enjoying the sumptuous feast Jesus spoke of in parable (Luke 14:16-24).

Some Christians like to imagine what Heaven will be like. As Shakespeare said, ” ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.” Hamlet recognized that our speculations are just that; but Scripture says the Spirit reveals glimpses of the unimaginable glory that awaits us (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

Sadly, some Christians have not given much thought to what comes next. Others are frankly ignorant about the Rapture and some are even dismissive of that great promise. While I cannot imagine pooh-poohing Jesus’ own promise to gather His beloved to Himself, I realize that our salvation is not dependent on the fullness of our knowledge or the perfection of our attitude but only on our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our constant plea to believers, however, is to be alert and be watchful—working in the day while there is still time, even as we await His imminent coming. Our mission field is all around us—and growing more “target-rich” every day.

Those “targets” represent the other side of the equation: those who have chosen… poorly.

Destined for Doom

John 3:36 tells us that “…he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” How do we obey the Son? By taking Him at His Word and believing in Him unto salvation. This is consistent with the working of the Holy Spirit, which explains why anyone who denies the veracity of the Holy Spirit’s testimony commits the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).

The wrath of God is not something that is imparted on an unbeliever at some point in their life or when they pass from life into death. It is a sentence that abides on them. King David understood the inherent condition of every mortal man and woman: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). We don’t become sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.

It is “only by grace [we] have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). Even that is a gift of God. But those who reject that gift have already chosen their eternal fate. As one of my favorite song lyrics related to this topic points out: “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice” (“Free Will” by Rush). Rejecting the grace, mercy, and love of God relegates a person inevitably to Door #2—eternal damnation and separation from God.

Post-Rapture Peril

In the short term, following the Rapture, those who rejected Christ in the Church Age will soon be overwhelmed by a world thrown into chaos. With the restraining influence of the Church removed, humanistic, pagan, and ungodly policies will proliferate at every level of government. It is likely that the global economy will collapse and wars will break out as nations jockey for position. Wickedness and violence ill multiply on the Earth. And then it will get even worse.

In the midst of that turmoil, the Antichrist will arise and God’s wrath will be poured out on the Earth for seven years. Even those suffering through this period will realize that they are being inflicted by “the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16). In short order, a quarter of the world’s population will be killed. Then, another third will perish. By just the mid-point of the Tribulation one-half of mankind will be dead—including many who chose to “wait and see” instead of embracing Christ in the Church Age. Then, life on Earth will go from bad to worse.

As awful as the suffering on Earth will be—and make no mistake, it is awful enough that at one point “men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death [will] flee from them” (Revelation 9:6)—death will merely subject a person to a greater, more lasting torment, to put it mildly.

Far from the “snuffing out” some humanists imagine death to represent, the Bible explains that the spirit of every person who dies awaits final judgment in one of two places (here again with the Door #1 or Door #2 motif)—either Paradise or Torments. Paradise is also described as the “bosom of Abraham.” It was a place where the “righteous” awaited the adjudication of their sins throughout the Old Testament era. Between Paradise and Torments a great chasm existed—signifying that there could be NO transition from one destination to the other.

As affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed (dating to the forth century), I believe that when Jesus Christ died, He descended into Hell. More specifically, He went to Paradise, that compartment of Hades where those who had been credited with righteousness awaited release. Think men like Noah and Abraham and women like Rahab and Ruth—declared righteous in their generation, but whose inevitable sins were not yet covered by saving blood. When He resurrected, many of those newly freed “saints” (Matthew’s description) were raised from their graves and seen by many (Matthew 27:52-53). Those Old Testament saints are now in the true Paradise (Heaven) but will not receive their glorified bodies until the Great White Throne judgment at the end of the Millennium.

For those in Torments, however, there was no reprieve. Like the rich man of Luke 16:19-31, they long for even a drop of water to cool their tongue. But there is no relief, no escape, no hope. That is where those who have rejected Christ go upon their death. Yet, again, as bad as that is, it will get even worse.

In addressing the Great White Throne Judgment, when “the dead, the great, and the small” are brought before the Righteous Judge at the end of the Millennium, those whose names are NOT found written in the Book of Life will be thrown intothe Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15). There, Jesus says, “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:46).

A future none but a psychopath would wish on their worst enemy. A fate worse than death.

One More Chance?

Many people have heard the options laid before them and delude themselves into thinking that they can put off a decision. I can wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or next year. If worse comes to worst (literally), they think, I’ll come to my senses when the Rapture occurs and the Tribulation begins.

Here is why that is a fool’s choice.

One – You are not promised another day or hour of life. Like the rich man of Luke 12:16-21, the Lord may say, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you.”

Two – You may be deluded and deceived even after the Rapture. Scripture says that at the beginning of the Tribulation, God will send a deluding influence upon those who have rejected Christ. He will do this to essentially lock in the fate of those who “did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). God is patient right now, not wanting any to perish, but at some point, your fate will be sealed.

Three – If you are fortunate enough to slide into Heaven by the skin of your teeth—waiting until the last moment and then confessing faith in Christ—I believe you will still have many regrets as you stand before the righteous judge and realize how much time and how many opportunities you wasted. As Erwin Lutzer described, you might be saved “as through fire,” but you’ll have very little gold, silver, or precious stones to present back to the Lord as an offering of worship.

The stakes—and the eternal consequences—of the choice you make are far greater than I can convey. I pray this has pricked your heart and provided an opening for you to invite the Holy Spirit to press into and produce real and lasting fruit.