Dr. Ben Stubblefield
Visiting Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
Promised
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
Morticians can only do so much. I don’t blame them for it, but I’ve yet to see a body that looks in death just like it did in life.
This highlights the mixed emotions I have every time I preside over a funeral service, and it captures the struggle over what the Christian sees and what the Christian knows. That is our friend in the casket, but it’s not really the person we knew.
When the deceased is a Christian, he or she will be buried, and a headstone will list a name, a date of death and perhaps other information, but the person is really not resting there. The Christian is more alive in death than he or she ever has been. We who are left behind are sad, crushed and lonely, but we are also jubilant, triumphant and hopeful.
Paul wades into the theology of death and resurrection in our passage this week because his friends are sad and confused about it. They’re burying their church family members, believing these deceased loved ones have been excluded from the coming Kingdom.
Hope (13–14)
Scholars debate the exact nature of the errant theology bothering the Thessalonians, but it’s clear they have come to think dead Christians will be left out of the new heavens and the new earth. Paul informs them that God has not forgotten the dead in Christ. In fact, they are “with Him” and have “fallen asleep in Jesus.”
I’m so glad our hope doesn’t die with us, aren’t you? The place we will one day belong isn’t a few square feet in a cemetery. Instead, we have a place in glory, so Paul can say: “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
Return (15–16)
Not only has God not forgotten about the dead in Christ, He’s going to raise them in their order of importance. All those who’ve gone through the crucible of death get upgraded to priority seating — they are the first ones on the Lord’s agenda.
It’s worth pointing out that the sounds associated with the Lord’s coming are familiar to many passages in the Old Testament. God’s theophany at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19), the summons for the exiles to come back to Jerusalem (Isa. 27:13) and the days of final salvation (Zech. 9:14) all include the same sounds mentioned here. Most likely, Paul has those passages in mind and also Jesus’ teaching that the Son of Man will send his angels with a “loud trumpet call” (Matt. 24:31).
“The Lord Himself will descend from heaven” — no ambassador, no apostle, no angel. Paul wants the church to know that the Lord, Who has promised victory over death, is coming Himself to make sure that all of His own receive it. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
Reunion (17–18)
Paul’s words bring tremendous comfort throughout verses 13–16, but two of the most encouraging points he makes are in verse 17. First, we, the dead and the living in Christ, will all one day be “together.” There will be a great reunion at the appearance of our Lord. And all those who have gone before us will be with us again.
Second, Paul writes, “We shall always be with the Lord.” I bet you have had people in your life that come and go. People move, die, stop calling, stop coming by. For all kinds of reasons, people are in and out of our lives. Goodbyes are just sad.
But nothing will separate us from the Lord. Death, time and distance are not obstacles for His friendship. And He guarantees it with the most extraordinary of promises: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). Paul also assures readers of this truth in verse 17: “So we will always be with the Lord.”
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