It has been customary, since the earliest times within the Christian era, for writers from the Apostle Paul onward to write about the resurrection as if they would be alive and present at the time. Not being a particularly sanguine person about long life, I would like to comment about some familiar perspectives from the point of view of the dead, assuming that I will be among the dead who sleep and who are awoken at the seventh trumpet that heralds the return of Jesus Christ to rule and govern the earth. In particular, I would like to examine the sense of disorientation that will result upon waking up from the sleep of death, after having been unconscious for whatever length of time, in an incorruptible body. While this cannot be done directly, at least it can be done indirectly, since I know my own general attitudes upon waking up in unusual places, and after a long sleep.

First, before discussing the likely feeling upon being raised up from the grave, it would be worthwhile to place as a context of any sort of speculations the texts from which we depart, as a way of at least grounding a discussion on uncertain matters in something solid. The passages we will be looking at are at least somewhat familiar, but what will be noted is the use of the first person plural, and the special attention paid afterward to the point of view of those who are asleep. First, let us examine the various passages to set the context:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58:

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

In both of these passages from the Apostle Paul, we see a focus on life, eternal life to be precise. In both cases, Paul assumed, at least for rhetorical purposes, that he would be alive at the return of Jesus Christ. This did not end up being the case. This has also been a frequent assumption among believers from the very beginning of the Church, and it has not been true for them either. Given this nearly universal tendency to assume that we are further along in the plan of God than is actually the case, and given that I am pessimistic about long life, at least in the flesh, given family history and the course of my own life so far, I generally decide to assume the opposite, in the hope that if things go better than expected for my life, they will have gone worse for the world at large, I suppose. After all, it is not a particularly wise thing to wish for the time of the end, given the difficulties that these times bring.

When we dead awaken, if we are part of the resurrection of the blessed, we will arise incorruptible, in bodies like the one that Jesus Christ had when resurrected from the grave (see also 1 John 3:2). I do not wish to speculate on what that will be like, but to be sure, it will be the end of our aches and pains and all of the other ways that our lives fall short of perfect health. Additionally, there is likely to be a sense of disorientation, after having been asleep for so long without consciousness or awareness, until we arise with our personality and memories, and also a growing awareness of the new life that we will be given. Let us hope that we are able to enjoy that new life, and to overcome the sting of death that we have to face in this life. After all, the dead that awaken will get a little bit of a head start on those who are alive when the trumpet sounds.