Sorrow Is Softened By Hope

Took a trip to Oklahoma to visit my son Tim. He's doing well. I'm back home now, so here is a new Bible Insight:

First Thessalonians 4:9-12 dealt with the problem of how to live in light of the expectation that Christ could return at any moment. Do we keep on working or should our life change in some way? But soon, life in the church was further complicated by another question. As Christ tarried, some believers began to die. What happens to them in the rapture? Paul wrote to comfort these believers.

In First Thessalonians 4:13, Paul begins with a favorite phrase: "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren." "Ignorant" (v. 13a) means "not to know, not to be informed." Paul tells the Thessalonian believers that he does not want them to be uninformed or unaware of the truth concerning those who have died in Christ. The double negative that is implicit here "is used by Paul to stress that he wishes to end his readers' lack of knowledge by making them share in his knowledge" (Colin Brown, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2, [Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967], 406).

He goes on: "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep" (v. 13b). The key word in verses 13-14 is "fallen asleep." While asleep can refer to normal sleep, in the New Testament it is most often used to refer to believers who have died. This verb is used in the figurative sense, "emphasizing as it does the close relationship which exists for the observer between a person asleep and one dead" (Ibid, 442). In this sense, "asleep" refers only to the body. When a believer dies the body returns to where it came—"For dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Gen. 3:19b). The spirit, on the other hand, returns to God—"And the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Eccles. 12:7b). This is important, because those who die in Christ are not in any state of unconsciousness. Rather, their spirit is conscious and with Christ in heaven, as Jesus told the thief on the cross who believed, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise (or heaven)" (Luke 23:43).

Note the entire statement here: "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13). There is the statement of purpose—"lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (v. 13b). The spiritual truth that Paul is about to explain gives us hope that does not disappoint. In fact, the truth that Paul is about to relate in verse 14 is intended to soften our sorrow by giving us hope. It is intended to stop us from grieving and give us joy.

When a loved one dies we experience a normal sorrow caused by the pain of separation and loneliness. But that is not the kind of grief that Paul is dealing with in this passage. He does not say that we are not to miss the fellowship we once had with a believer who has died. He says we are not to grieve "as others who have no hope" (v. 13b). In Ephesians 2:12, Paul described unbelievers as "having no hope and without God in the world." For the unbeliever, there is an awful, terrifying, hopeless finality when a loved one dies. They have no hope of reunion and so their sorrow has no relief. Not so for believers. Count it all joy to know that one day you will again fellowship with your departed brethren. As believers in Christ, we never say a final farewell to one another. We part only temporarily. We know there will be "a gathering together (of believers) to Him" (2 Thess. 2:1). That day is what Paul is talking about.

Paul continues by pointing out to us what we already believe. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus" (1 Thess. 4:14). Note the two pillars of faith in this verse: (1) "Jesus died" (v. 14a), and (2) "(Jesus) rose again" (v. 14a). Everything is based on the basic gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross conquering our sin. Jesus rose again conquering death. As a result, Christ became the source of resurrection life for every believer.

"Even so" (v. 14b) links the resurrection of believers to the resurrection of Christ. Second Corinthians 4:14 says, "He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus." Not only will God raise up these believers who have died, but He will "bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus" (1 Thess. 4:14b). They will not miss anything. They will be raised up in that day and return with Jesus. At the Rapture, God will bring all believers, living and dead, back to heaven with Christ.

And so our sorrow is softened by hope. We know that all believers, those who have died in Christ and those who remain alive in Christ until His coming, will be gathered up in that day to spend eternity with our gracious Lord. Amen.