For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a mighty shout and with the soul-stirring cry of the archangel and the great trumpet-call of God. And the believers who are dead will be the first to rise to meet the Lord. Then we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. So comfort and encourage each other with this news. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16- 18, TLB.
Lord, we are so grateful that life as we know it here on earth, is not the life we will be living throughout eternity. We can hardly wait for our “change” to come. Please prepare us for that grand home coming, as we enter the study of Your Word. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Have you ever sat and thought about, when all of this is over, what then? Many would prefer not to think about these things. It is somewhat unnerving to do so. But it need not be. There are promises in God’s Word, that answer the “What then?” questions. As a matter of fact, God sent us these promises, precisely, because He knew that we would be faced with such questions. He wanted us to know that we have a choice. He wanted us to have peace, and hope, in the midst of our uncertainty.
Our text was written to the early church. When many of them accepted Jesus as the Messiah, the coming Prince of Peace, they were certain that Christ would have returned in their day, and that they would be alive to see it. But time was moving right along. Many of the saints were falling asleep in the Lord, and Jesus had not returned. Had their hope been in vain? Would Jesus not return, after all? When such thoughts come in, peace and hope are crowded out; and anxiety and fear, tend to follow in close succession. Many of them were going back to some of the practices that they had been saved from (1-11). So Paul is encouraging them, by reminding them, of “the blessed hope.”
“You do not have to be grief-stricken like people who do not have the hope that we have. There are better days ahead. Jesus is coming back to earth to take His children home. Even these family members that you are burying, will be raised from the dead. And those of us who are alive, will be taken up to meet Jesus in the air. Knowing this, be consoled, and console each other with these promises.” These promises were given to us, as well. We need not be downtrodden, and downcast. We can look up by faith, and know, beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt, that this is not all there is to life. However, the question that needs to be answered is, “Where will you and I, spend eternity?” Those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, and those who will be waiting for Jesus when He returns, will be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”
After we have spent one thousand years in heaven (Revelation 20: 4), we will then return to an earth that has been rescued from the ravages of sin, and renewed by the grace of God (Romans 8: 19-22). We will have new bodies to live in a new earth, “And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as [H]is children, including the new bodies [H]e has promised us-bodies that will never be sick again and will never die” (23, TLB). What a glorious future awaits the children of God! And this is not even a fraction of what is to come. There is so much to the joys of eternity, that it cannot be contained in our minds (1 Corinthians 2: 9)!
You will notice that our title for today is in the form of a question. Many years ago, as a young girl, I came face to face with that question. I told Jesus, that I wanted to spend eternity with Him. I have always been glad that I did. Have you answered the question? If you have not, I hope that you too, will decide to spend eternity with Jesus. By His grace, you will always be glad that you made your decision, in favor of Him.