Thank you for the question on the rapture, “Will the rapture occur when all the world has heard the gospel?”
There are varying views by Christians on what will cause the rapture to occur. One of the views is the proclamation of the Gospel throughout the world. I like to suggest that the rapture will occur when the last believer trusts Jesus Christ before the Tribulational Period.
Here are some thoughts for one’s consideration:
A. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.
Colossians 1 says this, “18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (NIV). Citations are from the NIV).
The headship of Jesus Christ is more than just being the Chief Shepherd of the local churches. It’s my understanding that Jesus Christ is the head of the Universal Church, of all the believers attending or not attending local churches. He is The Shepherd of his flock.
B. Every believer is part of the Body of Christ or the Universal Church.
I Corinthians 3 says that believers are part of the building or Temple of God. We are part of the Body of Christ.
I Corinthians 3 says this, “9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building” ….16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple”
I Corinthians 12 says this, “12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many…27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
C. The proclamation of the Gospel is to complete the Body of Christ.
Jesus commanded the believers to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). The spreading of the Gospel is more than letting the world know of God’s wonderful salvation, but it is the ingathering of individuals to complete the Body of Christ.
Roman 9 says this, “23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” 26 and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,” there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
Thus, in my understanding that God is calling both Jews and non-Jews to salvation. It is through this new entity, the Body of Christ or the Universal Church that is God’s representative on earth. They have the responsibility to proclaim the Gospel of salvation. It’s end is to call individuals to believe so that the Body of Christ may be complete.
D. The ingathering of the Gentiles before the Tribulation.
In Roman 9, Paul indicates that when the full number of the Gentiles has come in that this paves the way for the events when all Israel will be saved.
Roman 9 says this, “25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is[f] my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
What is that full number of the Gentiles who will come in? Can it be the completion of the Body of Christ? The Gospel must be preached to the world so that the ones who believe will complete the Body of Christ.
The preaching of the Gospel is not an end in itself. It is to call the non-believers to come faith. In our modern technological age, many people have access to the internet to hear the Gospel. We are waiting on God’s timetable when the last non-believer to come to faith that the rapture will soon occur after that. That is the reason for imperative to preach the Gospel. The Bride of Christ must be complete.
Summary: When the last person who comes to faith in Jesus Christ to complete the Body of Christ, then the rapture will occur.
-Kingston