Death – Fear it or Rejoice In it?

No one likes to talk about death. Most of our lives are spent trying to avoid it and certainly we must hold life up as something precious.  But if we call ourselves Christians then death must not be something we fear. If our loved ones are Christians then we must not cling to them when death becomes imminent in their lives for the Bible is clear; we are not citizens of this earth, we are aliens here and are just passing through. Philippians 3:20-21 reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

As I was studying in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 I found that in the second half of this chapter Paul has given us what we need to take comfort in the fact that Jesus is coming back for us. Paul has given us five basic facts in which we can take comfort and encouragement in, even when it comes to death.

Fact number one is that we have not been left uniformed about these things. We have God’s truth about death. Paul addresses this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 saying, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” Paul as an apostle from Jesus has been sent to be sure we are not uninformed about death. More often than not fear derives from not knowing, from not sure about how a certain situation will turn out. Christians have enough knowledge of death to live life without fearing it and even to have hope in it. That fact puts us light years ahead of the rest of the world.

The second fact Paul gives us here is the reason we can have hope even in death; Jesus is coming back for us.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For those who believe that Jesus died and rose again can know that the return of Jesus is a fact. Jesus is coming back for us and not only is He coming back for us; He is bringing those who already have died with Him to get us. To fully understand the fact as Paul gives us here, we must understand the term “fallen asleep.” Notice that Jesus is bringing back those who have fallen asleep. That means when they died they did not stay here in the ground. This means there is no such thing as soul sleep. It is the body that went to sleep and lies in the ground as a seed. James 2:26 tells us that “as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” But our spirit goes immediately to be with Jesus as we read of in 2 Corinthians 5:8 which tells us “…we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” So Christians can have a sure hope in death and a sure hope in life.

But what about our bodies? Paul’s third fact here explains how that will work.

1 Thessalonians 4:16
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.

The dead in Christ will rise first. As I alluded to above, the body after death becomes like a seed as it returns to the earth. Genesis 3:19 spoke of this saying “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” And don’t let someone freak you out because your loved one was cremated and not buried. God created us and He can raise us in our resurrected body regardless of what happened to our bodies in death. And God is not going to put your old pieces back together again as if you were Humpty Dumpty. (By the way all the King’s horses and all the King’s men tried that and it didn’t work. God could do so if He wanted however.) No, God will out of the seed of your dead body, raise you to a new resurrection body.

1 Corinthians 15:35-36
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”  You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

The new body will not be like the old.

1 Corinthians 15:48-49
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Is that awesome or what? Our new body will be free of the old flesh and we shall be like Christ.

The fourth fact Paul gives us is that those Christians who have not yet perished at the return of Christ will not face death but will be caught up in the air.

1 Thessalonians 4:17
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…

We will be reunited. Reunited with Jesus and reunited with all those who preceded us in death. Though the word rapture is not used here, the Greek word used means to snatch up or to seize and take by force. Our word rapture derives form this word. It means we will be plucked from this world. Imagine the confusion that will reign when in the twinkling of the eye the masses of believers are suddenly just gone? But as Christians we have the assurance we will not face that.

Paul’s final fact given in this section is that Christians will be with our Lord forever. Read the final words of chapter four.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
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.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

We will always be with the Lord Jesus. Imagine that. Our battles will be over. Sin will no longer seek to control us and lead us away from God. Our worship of Him will be perfected. There will be no more sickness. No more death and no more need for hospitals. We will have eternal bodies that are completely void of pain and our minds will be healed of all the emotional garbage that messes up our relationships.

Death? Be not afraid.

2 Timothy 1:10
And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Encourage each other with these words. Share the Gospel with those who do not have the same hope we have.

Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

Therefore encourage each other with these words.