“But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
Nothing is quite so awful as the sorrow
of one without hope. The weight of trials are hard enough and living without
hope of relief can be more than most can bare. The saints living in the city of
Thessalonica were despondent over their departed loved ones, fearing their
fate. Paul didn’t want the church clueless about those who died in Christ and
their problem their sorrow but sorrowing the wrong way, as hopeless men. The
saints arrived at their precarious condition because of Biblical ignorance. It
is ok to mourn, just in the right way as Christians. When these Christians
thought of their loved ones in Christ, who had died, they acted like lost
heathens because they did not know, or they did not remember the truth about
death and how to apply those truths. They were not mourning like Christians.
Had they forgotten the gospel? Did they
not remember what Christ had done for them? After beating the Lord and mocking
him, Roman soldiers took a hammer and nails and drove them through the hands
and feet of Jesus, fastening him to a cross. They lifted him up off the earth
on that cursed tree, and there he suffered, bled, and died. He was removed from
the cross, buried in a tomb. His cold, lifeless body laid there for 3 days and
three nights before He rose from the dead. Jesus rose, stood up, and walked out
of the tomb. Because Jesus lives, we who are in union we Chris will live. We
serve a living Saviour, who defeated death, or overcame the grave, and in his
victory promises all those who put their faith and trust in him, likewise shall
have eternal life.
Christians have hope, and we must live
in that hope, trusting in the promises of God. These are not platitudes,
because those pithy sayings don’t help us when we grieve. Our hope is based on
the risen Lord Jesus and his promises to us. I can stand and look at the grave
of loved ones who trusted their soul to Christ with sorrow, but also with hope.
Their bodies laid to rest, but only for a little while. Paul used the euphemism
“sleep” for death for that very reason. The soul goes on to be with the Lord,
but the body is laid to rest until the Lord himself descends from Heaven with a
shout, and those dead bodies will rise from their graves and be transformed and
glorified. Sown in corruption, they will rise in incorruption. One day, I will
see them again. I have hope even at the grave. They will rise – I will rise –
because He is risen.
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