The first words in this verse (Behold! I tell you a mystery
) indicate that Paul is about to share a revelation that he has received from God. Elsewhere he refers to this same teaching as a word from the Lord
(1 Thessalonians 4:15).
The word we
in this verse refers to believers in general. Some believers will still be alive on the day when Christ returns (sleep
being a metaphor for the death of a believer). But all
believers, both dead and alive, will be changed.
Our perishable bodies will be transformed into imperishable bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50).
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,