1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 [NLTse]
413 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
5 Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.
4 But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ’s return or the end of time. Of the 216 chapters in the New Testament, there are well over 300 references to the return of Jesus Christ! 23 of the 27 New Testament books specifically mention Jesus’ return. Well-known and reliable men of God like Job, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, as well as most of the shorter prophetic books mention Jesus’ return in their writings. And the Lord Jesus Himself often spoke in great detail about His future return to the Earth.
Even so, after 2,000 years of waiting, I know that many Christians struggle to live eagerly expecting His return. And we’re not alone. Within only 40 years of Jesus’ ascension into Heaven some had already begun asking, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” (2 Peter 3:4)
Is He really coming back to the Earth? And if he is, why, for what reason? And, how will it happen, what will it be like?
Well, first off, our reading this morning tells us that one of the reasons Jesus is coming back is to take us out of the world. The Bible has promised a time when God the Father would destroy this creation (because it’s been so marred by sin and suffering and death), and at that time He will replace it with a new creation where there will be no more occasions for sadness or crying or pain or death, ever again. And the Lord Jesus will come to take Christians out of the world before that wholesale destruction will happen.
He’s also coming back to show everyone who has ever lived that He is truly alive, that He is risen from the dead; that He really is the “Son of God” and “God the Son”; and that He is the power in Heaven and on the Earth, the true Ruler of all, supreme over all earthly kings and presidents and congresses and parliaments, etc… And though the Scriptures show us – when He returns – that many will prefer dying than facing Him and having to acknowledge His supremacy, that when He returns that everyone will recognize His majesty, and every knee will bow and every tongue will declare Him to be God the Son to the glory of God the Father.
Over the centuries, some have argued that Jesus has already returned: Invisibly, and to only a few of the faithful. And that sounds nice, and mysterious, and very “spiritual”, but the Bible never even hints at the idea that Jesus might ever return in secret.
No, the Lord Jesus Himself taught that His return would be not only visible but worldwide! “For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes,” (Matthew 24:27) Jesus said. Yes, He Himself said that every person alive at that time will see Him when He returns, because He said, “The sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the Earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30)
Not everyone will be happy about Jesus coming back. Even while the Christians in Asia and Africa are pointing and cheering and clapping! even while Christians in South America and Europe are crying out to Him and rejoicing! the unbelievers around them will be mourning and wailing at His coming! Even while the Christians here in North America (us with them, if we’re alive then) are dancing together and jumping up and down! and the Christians in Australia and Antarctica are weeping with joy and reaching up their hands to Him in the air! the atheists and freethinkers and agnostics and others around us will be shrieking and trying to run away. Because what for us will be – I hope – our greatest joy and the fulfillment of everything we’ve lived for and sacrificed for, will be for them the unimaginable – and for those who hate Him, their worst nightmares come true!
Even so, it won’t just be a visual spectacle. Jesus’ return will be loud! The Lord states, “And He will send out His angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather His chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the Earth and Heaven,” (Matthew 24:31) because the resurrection of the faithful will happen when He returns, as well. As Paul wrote more fully in our reading this morning, “For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.” (v. 16) Yeah, when He comes we’ll see Him coming with Ivah and Benny, and Frances and David and Dottie will be there, too, vibrant and celebrating with us all! We’ll see Steve and Bob and Ed and Wil… [Call out to the congregation] “Who will you be hoping to see?” … Yeah, and there will be Adele and Jean and Sterling and Catherine…
And as the creation begins to break apart we’ll find ourselves – while we’re cheering! weeping! laughing! dancing! – we’ll start slowly rising up off … wherever we are at that time … as gravity loses its hold on us and Jesus draws us to Himself. And there will be Elise and Bea, and Karl and Katarina, and Fred and John. (Anybody else you’re wanting to see?) And there they’ll be, already with the Lord! And we’ll join them, all of us laughing and grinning ear-to-ear together! Because He’s finally come for us! (There’s Sandy! And Charley! And Leona! And Emma!) But, of course, best of all: Jesus! He’s really come! At last He’s come back for us!!
I can say all this with such confidence because Paul goes on in our reading, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) (And with Helen and Gerry and Brian and Carolyn.) (And with James and Bill and Vinnie and Eva…) And our bodies will be gloriously transformed as we are raised up to Him, even as we see that Art and Laura and Joan and Elaine and Aimee’s bodies having been gloriously transformed, too!
And it will all be so wonderful! But at the same time it will all be so serious, because the Lord will come as Savior, yes! but He will also come as Judge, and He will reward or punish everyone – each of us – according to our good or bad words and deeds, and if forgiven because of our faith or not forgiven because of our unbelief, and according to those deeds done in faith and those deeds not done in faith… (Revelation 22:12)
And as Jesus judges – every judgment fair, every judgment the very best decision that could be made, what each and every one deserves and requires – around us creation is being remade, but this time nothing less than perfection. And as everything and everyone who is selfish and loves wickedness and prefers sin and cares no more about life than about death are taken away and destroyed, we realize there is nothing that can or will every mar or mess up this new creation ever again! Paradise! Eternity! And with Christ – face-to-face – forever and ever and ever!
I know that we can get so distracted by the good stuff and bad stuff that happens to us here in the world. But it’s this life-to-come with Jesus that He has promised to bring us that we need to be living for, and motivated by. Good things, horrible things, will always be a part of our living in this life. But the new Heaven and the new Earth will be everything we’ve ever hoped for, everything we’ve ever wanted, what human beings were made for – fulfilled! And so very far beyond our wildest dreams! We dare not miss it!!!
And we’ll talk next week about the life that Jesus calls us to for us to look forward to all of it with assurance and confidence (and servant-heartedness and love)!