Hello Throughfaith
1. The bible says that Jesus is coming after the tribulation
Matthew 24:29-30
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
2. The bible also says that the tribulation will be great and will be shortened for the elect’s sake.
Matthew 24:20-25
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
Greetings Godcares!
The scripture above is not referring to the gathering of the church, but to the Lord's return to the earth to end the age. It is paramount to understand that there is a difference between these two events. At the gathering of the church, the Lord will descend to the atmosphere and with a voice like a trumpet will up the dead first, immortal and glorified. Immediately after that, those in Christ who are still alive will be changed and caught up with those who will have just resurrected. At this point and in accordance with the Lord's promise in John 14:1-3, the Lord will then take the entire church back to the Father's house to those places that He went to prepare for us. Once there, we will stand before the Bema Seat of Christ for judgment, not for sin, but to receive reward or to suffer loss of reward, as our sins have already been forgiven. Another event that will take place will be the wedding and wedding feast of the Lamb. After the 7th bowl has been poured out which completes God's wrath, the Lord will descend from heaven riding on a white horse and the armies of heaven, which is His church/bride will be following behind Him also riding on white horses and wearing the fine linen, white and clean that the bride will have received at the wedding of the Lamb, as described in Revelation 19:6-8, 14.
The following bibles verses states that when Jesus comes back, the dead will rise first and those who are alive at his second coming will meet him also in the air.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-18
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
From these two verses, it states that there will be faithful Christians who will be alive when Jesus comes back after the tribulation. Meaning that God preserved them through the tribulation.
I hope the above answers your question.
The scriptures that you posted above, including I Corinthians 15:50-53, are not in reference to when the Lord returns to the earth to end the age, but is in reference to when the Lord appears to gather His church and take us back to the Father's house.
Jesus already took upon himself the wrath of God that every believer deserves, satisfying it completely. Therefore, the wrath of God no longer rests upon those in Christ. In addition, God does not punish the righteous with the wicked.
During the tribulation period, God's wrath will be carried out via the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments, as well as all of the plagues that the two witnesses will bring. Since believers in Christ are not appointed to suffer God's wrath, then the gathering of the church must and will take place prior to the first seal being opened. Consider the following verse regarding the Lord's return to the earth to end the age:
"They (beast and ten kings) will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—
and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
The above is regarding when the Lord returns to the earth to end the age where the beast, the ten kings and all of the nations will be gathered for Armageddon. As the scripture states, as the Lord is descending to engage the beast, the ten kings and their armies, with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers, which are all of the dead who will have previously been resurrected in their immortal and glorified bodies, as well as those who were still alive, changed and caught up. All of these will descend with Christ to end the age. In support of the church descending with the Lord to end the age, we also have the following scripture:
"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” - Jude 14
1 Corinthians 15:51-53/I Thessalonians 4:13-18/John 14:1-3 = Refers to the gathering of the church prior to the beginning of God's wrath via the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments
Matthew 24:30-31/Revelation 19:11-21 = The Lord's return to the earth to end the age. The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire alive, all who worshiped the beast, his image and received his mark are killed by the Lord and Satan is thrown into the Abyss and sealed in it so that he cannot deceive the nations during the thousand year reign of Christ on this present earth
Understanding the difference between the gathering of the church and the Lord's return to end the age is paramount to understanding end-time events. Because of failure to do so, expositors confuse scriptures for both events as referring to the Lord's return to the earth to end the age and by doing so, put the church through the same wrath of God as the wicked.