(Revelation 3:21) This glory that they shall enjoy will be so transcendently more wonderful than all the things of earth that could be glorious, that St.Paul describes it as a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory".

The members of the church while undergoing development bear the image of the earthly.

Imperfect human beings they are, with imperfect bodies and minds.

But the promise to them is: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" .-- 1 Corinthians 15:49.
[498]From the time of Pentecost until the coming of the Lord, those dear and faithful saints who died in Christ slept and waited for his coming; but as the Apostle says, these would be the first to be honored with an awakening from the dead.

Hence we understand that shortly after the second appearing of the Lord Jesus, during the time of the shout of encouragement that was going on among the peoples of earth, these dead saints in Christ were resurrected and caught up with the Lord Jesus in the air, to be for ever with him, as stated by the Apostle.
-- 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17.
[499]Those remaining, who had not died up to the time of the Lord's appearing, but who since die as do other men, have their change instantaneously.