⁵¹ But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

¹⁵ We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.^{[a] 16} For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died^[b] will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

²⁰ But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

⁹ God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan.

Paul’s Relationship with the Corinthians

4 So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries.

⁶ After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers^[a] at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

⁷ No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God^[a]—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.

³² This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

³ As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.