What happens to the dead in Christ when they are resurrected?
At the resurrection, the dead in Christ rise first. Their bodies are brought out of the tomb and reunited with their soul and spirit, which God brings from heaven into the atmosphere. Only believers are included, and this occurs before living believers are changed.
Les teaches from I Thessalonians 4 that when the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, the dead in Christ rise first. He explains that their bodies are brought out of the tomb, or wherever they are buried, and reunited with their soul and spirit, which God brings from His presence into the atmosphere. Only believers are involved; unbelievers are excluded. Those alive and remaining are changed later, in the twinkling of an eye, and do not go ahead of those who have died.
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:
More Questions
Why won't living believers precede those who have died in Christ?
The reason living believers do not precede the dead in Christ is that 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.