An Awesome Hope- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Crystal's question:

Daniel,
I want to know or learn more about " The dead shall rise first" in 1 or 2 Thessalonians. What does that mean in the whole picture of things?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (TNIV)

EXPLANATION:

We can conclude just from reading this passage that the Christians in Thessalonica weren’t completely sure about what happened to their fellow Christians who had died. Paul gives the reason for teaching this lesson on resurrection in verse 13. Paul didn’t want the believers in Thessalonica to grieve for the believers who had died as if they didn’t have any hope of seeing them ever again. Some scholars suggest that the church in Thessalonica thought that the believers who had died before Jesus’ return would miss out on the resurrection. Paul counters this false idea by teaching and emphasizing that it is the believers who had died that would be the first to experience resurrection not those living at the return of Christ! The main emphasis of this passage is the hope that all Christians look forward to whether alive or dead.

Paul then goes on and gives the resurrection hope that all Christians share based on the resurrection of Jesus. God is going to bring the dead Christians with him when he returns at the Last Day and at that time they will be the first to experience their life in their new resurrected bodies! The time between the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection of the living won't be long though. All resurrections will happen on the same day, there is just an order that God has for the resurrection.

When Paul says that the believers who are still alive at the return of Christ will not “precede” those who have died in Christ he is saying that we will not be the first to be raised! It says that the dead in Christ will rise first. So Crystal to answer your question, what Paul is talking about when he says that the dead will rise first is that on the Last Day, the Day that Jesus returns, the Christians who have died will be resurrected first and then the Christians who are still alive will be resurrected second.

In the whole picture of things this is an encouragement that all Christians will be resurrected and will be with God and that God has an orderly plan for how things will proceed on the Last Day. This is meant to be an encouragement to all Christians so that we can rejoice in what awaits us!

HOW ARE WE TO APPLY THIS MESSAGE?

As Christians we need to have such a firm confidence of our hope of being resurrected that when the death of a believer occurs we will not grieve like the world. In William Barclay’s commentary he quotes an ancient letter that says,

“Irene to Taonnophris and Philo, good comfort.
I was sorry and wept over the departed one as I wept for Didymas…But nevertheless against such things (death) one can do nothing. Therefore comfort one another.”

That’s it? That’s all the world can offer to encourage people who are experiencing the painful loss of a loved one? That is pathetic! How different is the hope that we have as Christians? Paul tells us that the dead will be resurrected into a new healthy, powerful body and that Christians will be reunited to their loved ones that have died. Best of all, after our resurrection we will be with the Lord FOREVER! That is why Paul says “Encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:18). We can encourage each other with a genuine hope.

Another way that we can apply this passage is by being active in sharing our faith. Something that scares me more than anything is when my friends tell me that someone close to them has passed away and I ask them, “Was he a faithful Christian?” Something that you may want to highlight in your Bible is the phrase “in him” and “the dead in Christ.” This hope and promise is only for the person who has trusted and believed in Christ unto death. What hope can we offer as Christians to people that are grieving over the loss of a loved one who was not in Christ? None. That is a hard pill to swallow but it is the truth. God doesn’t expect us to evangelize the world but he does expect us to be a light to the people he has placed in our lives.

If you aren’t a Christian you can claim this hope for yourself by learning what Jesus has done for you then repenting of your sin and being baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and also to receive the Holy Spirit. You need others as well. Talk to a friend who is a Christian for guidance.

Finally, I would encourage all of you to imagine what that Day will be like when God will raise his people. Think of both the resurrection of those you love and also of your own personal resurrection. For me this passage is so encouraging. I ponder the resurrection of my Dad. His body has been battered because of all the years he has been a mechanic. He has been through 5 surgeries. I have cried every time I have visited him before he goes into surgery. It hurts me to hear how bad his back is killing him. I remember seeing him with 2 large metal staples in his neck. His body hurts and he’s my Dad! I can’t wait to see the resurrection of my Dad! I wonder how God will do it? I want to watch as God removes the metal from his bones and then maybe I will see my Dad’s flesh return to a young healthy state. I want to see his cuts vanish and his glasses broken. I want to hear shouts of joy instead of painful groans. I want to see my Dad sprint to me as God renews me! What a day. It will be better than we could ever possibly imagine!

Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-58.