The dead in Christ shall rise.
Posted by appolus on February 7, 2023
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
One wonders how such a simple verse could have ever taken on such controversy. To me, it is simply a devotional verse rather than some kind of eschatological controversy. Paul was comforting this newly founded gathering. He loved them so much and he knew they were suffering persecution, therefore he did not want any needless suffering to add to their afflictions. Paul states to them that he does not want them to be ignorant on the issues of death. He did not want them to suffer as the world sufferes when it came to the death of a loved one. Rather the opposite because of the great blessed hope that lay within them. The unsaved around them did not have such hope, therefore there should be a sharp distinction between them in this matter.
As Jesus died and rose again, so to we! This is our blessed hope. While there is certainly sorrow at the loss of a loved one, and we mourn our own loss of their company and fellowship, we also rejoice in the fact that their eternal life has only truly begun. And when Jesus comes again, they come with Him and those of us that are still alive here on earth shall be changed in the twinkling of the eye and be raised up to join them. We are changed so quickly because we were still alive and did not go through the typical death process. We still have to be raised in in-corruption, therefore something very mysterious takes place in us, a process without explanation or words and then we join them in the sky. And the most important verse in this whole chapter follows “and thus we shall always be with the Lord, comfort one another with these words.” And just as it comforted the Thessalonians, let us also be comforted.
A Call To The Remnant 
Mary said
Seems so simple, doesn’t it.
If I die before the Lord returns, I will rise first.
If I am still alive when the Lord returns, I will be changed and caught up. How did it get so complicated?
Thanks for sharing the comfort.
💜
Mary
appolus said
Theologians and pet doctrines made it complicated Mary………………….bro Frank
The dead in Christ shall rise. – Online Answers said
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