{"id":244,"date":"2013-07-14T17:49:39","date_gmt":"2013-07-14T16:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=244"},"modified":"2013-07-14T17:49:39","modified_gmt":"2013-07-14T16:49:39","slug":"the-jesus-hope-1-thessalonians-413-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=244","title":{"rendered":"The Jesus Hope – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is death?
\n\u201cThere is darkness without and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.\u201d (Bertrand Russell)
\n\u201cWe die only once \u2013 and for such a long time.\u201d (Moliere )
\n\u201cDeath isn\u2019t romantic \u2013 death is not anything \u2013 death is \u2026 NOT. It\u2019s the absence of presence, nothing more \u2026. The endless time of never coming back.\u201d (Tom Stoppard)
\nNearly 2000 years ago the apostle Paul wrote this.
\n1 Thessalonians 4 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
\nWe live in a world without hope. As human beings have run away from God they have turned their backs on the hope which only the immortal God can offer to mortal man. People have turned to substitutes for hope. Some to a na\u00efve optimism, others to the escapism of eastern mysticism or New Age religions or the cults. Some have put their trust in astrology, others in politics or idealism. Many fill the void in their lives with self-indulgence, drink, drugs, sex, \u201cEat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.\u201d Others are realists and facing a future without hope they end up in despair.
\nIn this hopeless world, with no hope for the future and no hope beyond death, the church has the answer. And that answer is \u201cThe Jesus Hope\u201d. Jesus Christ is coming back again. That is the happy certainty the world desperately needs to hear about. That is a message the church has neglected in recent years. But that is the hope that Paul writes about to the Thessalonian Christians who are worried about their friends who have died under persecution. Is there a future for those martyrs? Is there a future for any of us when this life ends? Yes there is a future, says Paul. We have \u201cThe Jesus Hope\u201d.
\nAnd Paul begins by talking about Christians who have already died. We needn\u2019t be worried about them. They\u2019ll be back! Christians who have died will be
\nRETURNING WITH THE LORD
\n13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 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.
\nWhen He returns the Lord Jesus Christ will bring back with Him all the believers who have already died, or using a metaphor, \u201cfallen asleep in him.\u201d Paul didn\u2019t invent that language of course. Jesus Himself said about Lazarus who had died, \u201cOur friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.\u201d (John 11:11) Jesus said of Jairus\u2019s daughter who had indeed died, \u201cThe child is not dead but asleep.\u201d (Mark 5:39).
\n14 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.
\nThey\u2019ll be back. The comic horror actor Vincent Price has as his epitaph, \u201cI\u2019ll be back.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll be back\u201d was the promise of Arnold Schwarzenegger as \u201cThe Terminator.\u201d But of course it was Jesus who first promised to return.
\n15 According to the Lord\u2019s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
\nWe have the promise of Jesus Himself that He will return, and bring with Him believers who have already died. The Greek word for \u201cthe coming of the Lord\u201d is Parousia. It occurs 18 times in the New Testament and seven times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Parousia means a royal visit or a state visit, the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The theme of the Lord\u2019s return is certainly neglected by the church nowadays. Perhaps the rise of science makes it harder to believe that one day the whole of human history will come to an end and God\u2019s Kingdom with come. Or perhaps it\u2019s because 2000 years seems like a long time still to be waiting. But Christ\u2019s return is certain. It is nearer now than at the hour we first believed! And when Christ returns, the whole world will know about it!
\n16 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.
\nChrist\u2019s return will not be in secret, but in public. The Lord Himself will come down. There will be a loud command. The Arkangel will speak and God\u2019s trumpet will sound. Nobody will miss it! Jesus Himself promised in Mark 13,
\n 24 \u201cBut in those days, following that distress,
\n\u201c \u2018the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.\u2019
\n26 \u201cAt that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
\nAnd when Jesus comes, the dead in Christ will rise first. That is the Jesus Hope, the happy certainty Christians have of life beyond death. 1 Corinthians 15 puts it this way.
\n20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.<\/p>\n

Here is God\u2019s promise. Those who have already died, those who have fallen asleep in Christ, will not miss out! They will be there when Christ returns, as will those who are still alive on that day. How can we be sure all of this will happen?
\n14 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.
\nOur confidence in the Jesus Hope comes from the death and resurrection of Christ Himself. Jesus is alive and because He lives, we will live also!
\nBut what about those believers who are still alive when Jesus returns? What about us?? We will be busy,
\nWELCOMING THE LORD
\n16 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.
\nCaught up together with them in the clouds. The word which Christians use for this event is \u201cthe rapture.\u201d We sing it in Graham Kendrick\u2019s song, \u201cThere\u2019s a sound on the wind.\u201d
\n\u201cNow the King of the ages approaches the earth, He will burst through the gates of the sky,
\nAnd all men shall bow down to His beautiful name, We shall rise with a shout, we shall fly!\u201d
\nWe have to ask \u2013 is this language of the rapture meant to be literal, or poetic? There are American Christians who buy soft-top cars so that they won\u2019t be hurt if the Lord returns and they are caught up while they are driving. They have bumper stickers which say \u201cIf Jesus returns today, somebody grab my steering wheel.\u201d It may be that this idea of the rapture is a poetic or symbolic way of saying that Christians will pass straight from mortality to immortality without tasting death. We will simply be freed from the limitations of this world and put on our new glorified resurrection bodies. Or maybe it is literal. Maybe we will be caught up in the clouds. Maybe we will fly! I don\u2019t know.
\nWhether literal or poetic, meeting Christ in the clouds is a sign of the glory and majesty and power of God \u2013 just as the cloud covered Mount Sinai as the 10 Commandments were given, and Jesus was surrounded by cloud as He was transfigured and also as He ascended into Heaven.
\nActs 1 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
\n10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 \u201cMen of Galilee,\u201d they said, \u201cwhy do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.\u201d
\nThat was the root of this hope the Early Church had of the way in which Christ would return.
\n1 Thessalonians 4 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.
\nWelcoming the Lord \u2013 in the way that all the dignitaries of a town would go out to welcome a royal visitor on the road so that they could escort them into the town. That is the word used of meeting, giving a royal welcome to the Lord. All Christians will share in this welcoming of the victorious conqueror, Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords as He brings in God\u2019s Kingly Rule.
\nSo the dead will return with the Lord and the living will be welcoming the Lord. But then what will happen? Paul has saved the best until last!
\nBEING WITH THE LORD
\nVerse 17 . And so we will be with the Lord forever.
\nThat is the Jesus Hope \u2013 to be with the Lord forever. There are many pictures of heaven in the Bible. The city where God lives with His chosen people. A never-ending worship event. A heavenly banquet. Whatever heaven is like, it will be better than anything we can look forward to or even imagine.
\n1 Corinthians 2 9 \u2026. \u201cNo eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him\u201d
\nBut the most important thing about heaven is this. Heaven is being where God is. Heaven is being with Jesus.
\nJohn 14:1 \u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
\nThat is the best test to see whether we really understand the Jesus hope. What we most have to look forward to in heaven is simply this \u2013 being with the Lord forever. Timothy Dudley-Smith outs it beautifully in a hymn you may remember from Mission Praise.
\nWhen the Lord in glory comes. Not the trumpets not the drums.
\nNot the anthem not the psalm, not the thunder, not the calm,
\nNot the shout the heavens raise. Not the chorus not the praise,
\nNot the silences sublime, Not the sounds of space and time
\nBut His voice when He appears shall be music to my ears.<\/p>\n

When the Lord is seen again, not the glories of His reign,
\nNot the lightnings through the storm, not the radiance of His form.
\nNot His pomp and power alone, Not the splendours of His throne,
\nNot His robe and diadems, Not the gold and not the gems.
\nBut His face upon my sight shall be darkness into light.
\nBut His face upon my sight shall be darkness into light.
\nAnd so we will be with the Lord \u2013 forever. THIS is the Jesus Hope.
\nRichard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:
\n\u201cCome, Lord, when grace has made me meet, Thy blessed face to see;
\nFor if thy work on earth be sweet, What will thy glory be!
\nMy knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim;
\nBut ’tis enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with him.\u201d
\nAnd so we will be with the Lord \u2013 forever.
\n18 Therefore encourage each other with these words. <\/p>\n

Comfort one another with these words! The dead will be returning with the Lord. Those who are still alive will be welcoming the Lord. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Encourage one another with these words. This is the Jesus Hope. God\u2019s answer to the hopelessness of this sin-spoiled world. <\/p>\n

Do you share this hope? I\u2018ve said before, hope is the combination of expectation and desire. I expect to mow the lawn this week but since I have no desire to mow the lawn it would not be appropriate to say that mowing the lawn is my great \u201chope\u201d. Equally I would love to go on safari in Africa this summer but since I have no expectation of doing that, very sadly I cannot say I hope to go on safari this summer.
\nBut I really want Jesus to return \u2013 I am looking forward to that Day! And I absolutely do expect Jesus to return \u2013 He has promised and it is certain, maybe even today. So the return of Jesus Christ is the happy certainty my life is based on \u2013 the Jesus Hope. Do you share the Jesus hope?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is death? \u201cThere is darkness without and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only…<\/span><\/p>\n

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