On Death and Hope

This morning I am reflecting on some verses from Paul's letter to the Church in Thessalonica, in honor of Don, one of my oldest friends, who passed into heaven yesterday.  Here are the verses - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV:

[13] "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 of mankind, who have no hope. [14] For 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. [15] According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] 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. [17] 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. [18] Therefore encourage one another with these words."

I love how Paul gets right to the heart of the matter, grieving without hope.  We will all grieve the passing of a loved one, but we should know that there is hope in Christ Jesus.  He is our hope, the first born from the dead, the one who makes a way for us to enter our eternal life, one that we enter through our relationship with Him!

Paul was writing to a church that believed the Lord's return was imminent, so they were concerned about those who had passed away before His return. In our humanness we struggle to see past our material existence, our physical bodies, and so when death claims us we are uncertain what, if anything, comes next. Paul is affirming their belief that God is sovereign over everything, even death, and that for Him death is no barrier.  He who has existed before time, continues to exist outside of time, and for Him all things are possible both in the natural worlds as well as the supernatural world and spiritual world or realm.  Christ Jesus provided the proof that there is life after death, life that flows from Him.  In this, and in Him we can place our hope.

Paul actually dealt with death in several of his letters, and in his first letter to the Church in Corinth, he talks about how our mortal bodies cannot inherit immortality, and so we must be changed - 1 Corinthians 15:54 NIV: "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.”

Thus we believe that when our believing loved ones pass into eternity, their experience is one of shedding the perishable to become clothed with their imperishable bodies, and death is defeated.  We, who remain here, don't get to see that change, but we know that it has occurred for Jesus demonstrated this reality after His resurrection.

While I will miss my friend Don, I know that He has passed into a heavenly existence and his body is new and his suffering is over. I will grieve, but do so with hope in Christ Jesus, and believe that I will see him again when I pass into eternity.  Even better, I will be reunited with my family members, my father, my nephew, my grandparents, all who have passed before me. Most importantly, I will see the Lord face-to-face and experience His love and glory in its fullness.  Don is there now, and I am happy for him and blessed to have been a part of His life.

Lord, I pray for all that have recently experience the death of a loved one.  I pray that You will bless them with peace, comfort, and hope.

Amen.