1 Thessalonians 4

Imagine you are having coffee with friends after church. A visitor, who has been blind since birth, is brought by a friend to your table just as you are describing the magnificent sunset you saw at the beach last evening? In your mind’s eye you still vividly see the awesome display of color that was painted across the sky. How do you describe that scene to the visitor? Of the five senses, sight is the only one the visitor is missing. How do you describe color using only sound, smell, touch or taste? Now you have a measure of the difficulty Paul faced when he needed to explain the second coming of Christ to the Thessalonians (and us.)

Paul relied on metaphors that were inspired from Old Testament events such as Moses descending from the mountain. It is so very important that we do not get lost in the details of the metaphors and try to translate Paul’s imagery into a literal expectation of what it will be like when Jesus comes again. Stand back a bit and try to take in the big picture. When I do, here is what I see in Paul’s description:

This is not about where the dead go when they die or what state the dead are in. It is an affirmation that the dead are in God’s care and when Jesus appears again, they will too.

Now all God’s children are equal in His sight. When Jesus comes again, we are still equal. Those who have died do not have an advantage over those who are still alive, or vice versa.

Our future resurrection does not mean 'spiritual' life in some faraway place called heaven. It means God’s people will have new and glorified bodies to live with and for God in the new redeemed world God will create.

There is grief when those we love die. But there is also hope. And Christian hope remembers Psalm 30:11

You have turned my mourning

into joyful dancing.

You have taken away my clothes of mourning

and clothed me with joy

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?