Setting Your Hope in God
Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think?
Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18
Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is
passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these believers have is:
“What happens to those who have died?” Paul doesn’t want them to grieve like
others who have no hope. Christians, however, have hope of eternal life through
Jesus and his work on the cross. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose
again we have the hope that through Jesus God will bring with him those who
have died.
The next question these believers have is: “What about
us who are still alive when Christ comes?” Paul tells them that the dead in
Christ will rise first and those who are still alive will be caught up in the
clouds together to meet the Lord in the air. He assures them that they will be
with the Lord forever.
Paul then passes on this telling to all generations by
telling them to encourage – give hope to one another with these words. This is the
truth they can set their hope on.
This is the hope the Thessalonians had to be taught
and reminded of. Thank goodness for the other hope we can cling to – set our
hope on – that Christ is with us during our earthly struggles and will pull us
through them or give us the strength to endure them. Amen.
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