From your argument, I'm not quite sure how you draw your conclusion. Allow me to elaborate a bit on my views. The rising of the dead in Christ is a resurrection of all the righteous dead, and not merely of New Testament believers, at the time of Christ’s return.
We clearly hold to different views of eschatology. I hold to the Preterist view, the belief that most of the "end times" prophesies in the Bible were fulfilled with the Jewish Wars (AD 67-70), ending with the destruction of the Temple. I definitely agree that Armageddon is not the Second Coming. I believe Armageddon is not a great "end times" battle, but a 1st century conflict between Rome and Israel. Megiddo is symbolic of war between kingdoms (compare Judges 5:19 and 2 Chronicles 35:20-25). Armageddon is a symbolic term, much like "Waterloo" is used symbolically today. The Second Coming of Christ will be without the signs that people expect.
Finally nothing has happened to the fact that the Church is presented to God complete and glorified as one body. I'm not disputing that. I appreciate your views, but I do not agree with them.
For starters there are no physical dead people in Christ period. Paul clears that up in 2 Thessalonians 5. The soul leaves this temporal tent and immediately passes into a permanent incorruptible body. The soul does not wait any where.
Yes, up until the point on the Cross where Jesus declared, "It is finished", the soul was in a temporary state. This was Abraham's bosom. That is the direct words of Christ. Luke 16:22
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
This was a literal place not some phenomenon. There was not a permanent body until the Cross. Matthew 27:51-53 gives us the first resurrection at that moment on the Cross when a permanent body was available. I would contend that Lazarus, as the brother of Martha and Mary was indeed resurrected from this place and given an incorruptible body prior to the Cross to prove to them the Cross was the Last Day, a soul would spend in Abraham's bosom. At the Cross, the angel with the flaming sword was taken from the entrance of Paradise, and now Adam's descendants could enter freely. Paul confirms this in Ephesians 4:8. All those in Abraham's bosom were given permanent incorruptible bodies and ascended with Christ into Paradise the temple of God, the future New Jerusalem.
This transfer takes place now immediately when a souls leaves Adam's flesh and blood into the permanent incorruptible body not made by human hands. There is no resurrection of Adam's corruptible sinful flesh. Flesh and blood cannot enter Paradise. Only God's permanent incorruptible body can exist there. Paul is declaring in these verses attributed to living people that many will die and be changed, but at the Second Coming the living themselves will be changed from a corruptible to an incorruptible body. At that moment, all of the church will then be glorified. At the Cross all were given an incorruptible body. At the Second Coming all will then be glorified.
As for Armageddon it is just the battle name for the place fought at. Revelation 16:14, 16
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
12 The sixth one poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water dried up, in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs; they came from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet.
14 They are miracle-working demonic spirits which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world to assemble them for the War of the Great Day of
Adonai-Tzva’ot.
16 And they gathered the kings to the place which in Hebrew is called Har Megiddo.
The valley of Megiddo has probably seen many battles.
To say it all happened in the 1st century begs a lot of things including why is the church still going strong, and why is there not an earthly Kingdom now. These OT prophecies have never been fulfilled. And Christ appearing with an army in The first century was never witnessed much less a fact of history.
The Second Coming is another multi year earthly ministry which leads up to a millennium reign. This is part of the final 7 years of Jacob's trouble when the Messiah, God Himself deals directly with the house of Jacob. Paul says his people rejected their Messiah for the saving of the whole world. That was their trouble the first half of the 3.5 years of the 70th week, when Jesus had the first earthly ministry. There is still another earthly ministry that will finish out the last half of this 70th week. It cannot happen during the time of the church. THE CHURCH HAS TO BE TAKEN OUT. Then The Messiah will deal with Jacob during another time of trouble. The church in the world never stopped in the first century. It has been going for 1990 years strong.
Preterest would have to totally deny any existence of a church. What we have been would not be a church at all. Since that is nonsense, so is the point every thing was complete during the 1st century.
