2024.05.31

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

I often find that this scripture startles some people because it states that the dead in Christ are still in their graves, not in heaven. Somehow, people have developed this cartoonish vision of rising with a white gown, halo, and harp when crushed by a piano or heading to heaven on an escalator like Tom in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Paul’s vision is one of a massive resurrection of the dead joining the living, and they will “always be with the Lord.” Paul also uses this in 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus says it in John 5, and Daniel sees it in Daniel 12. But my personal favorite comes from one of the oldest books in the Bible, Job 19:

Oh that with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I shall see God… (24-26)

Please don’t get mad at me because this scripture bursts your bubble. This promise is simple and, as Paul says, a great mystery. Either way, there is great joy in knowing that the end result is that those we love who have died and those who are living when he returns will all be together with him. And that my friends is steeped in Hope!