1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Not The End

Paul answered the questions every human has about the afterlife.  He did so because he’d received a special revelation from the Lord.  What he taught agreed with what Jesus had said in John 5 & 11.

Paul did not say that the soul went to sleep at death.  “It is not the soul that sleeps; it is the body,” my commentary said.  “The Bible definition of death is given in James 2:26:  ‘For as the body without the spirit is dead.’  At death, the spirit leaves the body, and the body goes to sleep and no longer functions.  The soul-spirit goes to be with the Lord, if the person has trusted Jesus Christ. ‘Absent from the body, and … present with the Lord.’”

Since we were not given a time of His returning, it is said to be imminent – it can happen at any moment.  “He will return in the air, and we’ll meet Him there.  “The dead in Christ shall rise first,” according to my commentary, means that they will receive their resurrection bodies first.  It emphasized that God will not put the elements of their original bodies together again, for that would be reconstruction, not resurrection.

“Death is not the end.  The grave is not the end.  The body goes to sleep, but the soul goes to be with the Lord.  When the Lord returns, He will bring the soul with Him, will raise the body in glory, and will unite body and soul into one being to share His glory forever,” my commentary summarized.

The Greek word from which we get “rapture” has several meanings, and when we consider all of them, according to my commentary, we get a better idea of what rapture means:

                To catch away speedily

                To seize by force

                To claim for one’s own self

                To move to a new place

                To rescue from danger.

According to the Bible, this resurrection of dead believers only will also be a time of reckoning called the Judgment Seat of Christ.  It will occur immediately after the Rapture, and it determines rewards for service, not the amount of judgment.  Judgment only occurs with unbelievers when they are raised at the White Throne judgment later.  There is no condemnation for believers. 

Father, thank You for these assurances.  Thank You for the possibility that we may not have to face death.  Thank You that we can look forward to Your Son’s return.  Thank You for saving me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford