The pagan world in Paul’s day had no hope of life after death. A typical inscription on a grave demonstrates this fact: “I was not, I became, I am not, I care not”
While some of the philosophers, such as Socrates, sought to prove happiness after death, the pagan world had no word of assurance.
The believers in Thessalonica were concerned about their loved ones who had died. In this paragraph, Paul answered their questions. He based His encouragement and comfort on five fundamental facts.
- Revelation: We Have God’s Truth (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 15 a)
How can mortal man penetrate beyond the grave and find assurance and peace for his own heart?
Paul solved the problem when he wrote, “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you…” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). We Christians need not wonder about death or life after death, for we have a revelation from God in His Word. Why substitute human speculation for divine revelation?
It is important to note that the revelation concerning death and the afterlife was not given all at one time. Many cults use verses from the Psalms and Ecclesiastes to “prove” their false doctrines. These verses seem to teach that the grave is the end, or that the soul “sleeps” till the resurrection. We must keep in mind that God’s revelation was gradual and progressive, and that it climaxed in the coming of Christ “who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10, NASB). We look to Christ and the New Testament for the complete revelation concerning death.
God gave Paul a special revelation concerning the resurrection and the return of Christ in, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, “51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”.
What Paul taught agreed with what Jesus taught. John 5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live…” John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
And God’s revelation is based on the historic fact of Christ’s resurrection. Since our Savior has conquered death, we need not fear death or the future 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
The authority of God’s Word gives us the assurance and comfort we need.
- Return: Christ Is Coming Again (1 Thessalonians 4:14-15)
In this paragraph, he related it to sorrow, and he showed how the doctrine of Christ’s return can comfort the brokenhearted.
Paul applied the word sleep to those believers who died. Jesus used the same expression (John 11:11-13). Paul was careful to state that Jesus died; the word sleep is not applied to His experience. It is because He died that we need not fear death.
However, Paul did not say that the soul went to sleep at death. He made it clear that the soul of the believer went to be with the Lord: “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. (1 Thessalonians 4:14). He cannot bring them when He returns unless they are with Him. It is not the soul that sleeps; it is the body. The Bible definition of death is given in James 2:26 – “For as the body without the spirit is dead.” At death, the spirit leaves the body, and the body goes to sleep and no longer functions. The soul-spirit goes to be with the Lord, if the person has trusted Jesus Christ. “Absent from the body, and … present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
The fact of our Lord’s return is comfort to us in bereavement, because we know that He will bring with Him His people who have “died in the Lord.” I recall stating to a friend, “I hear you lost your wife. I’m very sorry.” He replied, “No, I didn’t lose her. You can’t lose something when you know where it is – and I know where she is!” On the authority of the Word of God, we also know what will happen: Jesus Christ will one day return and bring His people with Him.
When will this event occur? Nobody knows, and it is wrong to set dates. The fact that Paul used the pronoun we in 1 Thessalonians 4:15,17 suggests that he expected to be alive when the Lord returned. Theologians call this the doctrine of the imminent return of Christ. Imminent means that it can happen at any moment. As Christians, we do not look for signs, nor must any special events transpire before the Lord can return. These great events will take place “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
Jesus Christ will return in the air, and this is where we shall meet Him. “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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Whether we Christians live or die, we have nothing to fear because Jesus will come either with us or for us! The fact of His return is a comfort to our hearts.
I once saw a quaint inscription on a gravestone in an old British cemetery not far from Windsor Castle. It read:
Pause, my friend, as you walk by;
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
Prepare, my friend, to follow me!
I heard about a visitor who read that epitaph and added these lines:
To follow you is not my intent,
Until I know which way you went!
We Christians have wonderful assurance of hope, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His promised return.
Do you have that hope today?
– Warren Wiersbe
