Despair Not!

Foundational to the believer’s future hope is the bodily resurrection of the righteous dead when Jesus arrives in glory.

Paul’s description of the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians was written to comfort the congregation concerning the fate of fellow believers who die before Christ returns. They must not sorrow “like the others” since the righteous dead will be resurrected when the Lord “arrives” from Heaven.

This passage remains relevant for all followers of Jesus throughout the present age. Suffering, death, and separation from fellow believers and loved ones because of death continue to occur in our lives. Our faith in the promises of God certainly provides us some comfort in difficult times, yet the pain and sense of loss remain all too real. Thanks be to God! We do not need to despair for our Savior will set all things right when he arrives from Heaven to gather his elect.

[Photo by Aneta Hartmannová on Unsplash]

When Jesus returns to the Earth, both the living and newly resurrected saints will be reunited, and together, they will “meet him” as one people as our Savior descends from Heaven - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

For the Church, the deaths of believers will be reversed by the coming bodily resurrection when Christ appears. While we grieve in this life, we need not succumb to the depths of despair that often overwhelm nonbelievers who are without this hope.

Paul addresses the question of dead Christians in the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians. Some members of the congregation were concerned that dead believers might miss out on the glories of that final day. Precisely how they came to this conclusion Paul does not state.

However, the Apostle does reassure us. Not only will dead believers participate in the events of that day along with those of us who remain alive, but they will also rise from the dead “first” and be reunited with the rest of the saints. Then, the entire body of believers will ascend to “meet” Jesus as he descends from Heaven to “gather his elect.” Thus, all believers together will be “with him forevermore,” and we are “to comfort one another” with these words – (Matthew 24:31, 2 Thessalonians 2:1).

What Paul links to the return of Jesus is the collective bodily resurrection of believers. We will all be raised or transformed bodily at the same time. The “mystery” that Paul revealed in his letter to the Corinthians is that believers who are still alive when Christ appears will be physically transformed and receive immortality without first undergoing death:

• “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed” - (1 Corinthians 15:57-52).

Precisely where we will go after we meet Jesus “in the air” is not stated in the passage, whether we will accompany him to the Earth as he continues his descent or return with him to Heaven.

As he does elsewhere in his letters, in 1 Thessalonians, Paul bases the future resurrection of the righteous on the past resurrection of Jesus - (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 15:12-23):

• “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also who have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

NOT IN DARKNESS

The Apostle continues this subject in the Letter’s fifth chapter. We are not in darkness, therefore, the “Day of the Lord” will not “overtake us as a thief.” This is so, not because we know all the appropriate “signs” and prophetic timetables for that final day, but because we “are all sons of light, and sons of the day” – (1 Thessalonians 5:1-12).

We live in the light of the Gospel and no longer in the darkness of sin. We prepare for the end and Christ’s arrival by “putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

God did not appoint us to “wrath.” Even now, Jesus is delivering us from the coming “wrath.” We are destined instead for the “acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”

Implicit in Paul’s declaration in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is that salvation is completed through the future resurrection. He concludes this section of the Letter by encouraging the Thessalonians (and us). God will sanctify us wholly in preparation for that day:

• “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved whole and without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calls you, who will also do it.”

The point of this last statement is not the tripartite nature of man, but that the whole person will be saved on that Day when Jesus “arrives from heaven,” including his or her physical body.

Bodily resurrection is foundational to Paul’s understanding of salvation and the future. All dead saints will be raised when Jesus arrives, and together with those who remain alive, the entire Body of Christ will “meet” the Lord as he descends from Heaven.

These words should be of great comfort to every true disciple of Jesus. Through his Death and Resurrection, Jesus defeated death already, and death will not have the final word on the Last Day.

• “Through death, Christ nullified the one who had the power of death, that is, the Devil, and delivered all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” – (2 Timothy 2:10, Hebrews 2:14-15).

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SEE ALSO:

• Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Jesus Conquered Death! - (Paul reminded Timothy of the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death since false teachers were denying the future resurrection of believers)

• Completing our Salvation - (Central to the hope of the Apostolic Faith is the bodily resurrection of the dead. This will occur when Jesus appears at the end of the age)

• Ne Désespérez pas!- (La résurrection corporelle des justes morts, lorsque Jésus arrivera dans la gloire, est fondamentale pour l'espérance future du croyant)