Reading: 1st Thessalonians 4:13-14

1st Thessalonians 4:14 – “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.”

As we turn to 1st Thessalonians 4 today, Paul turns to a question that Timothy brought back with him after his check-in visit with the Thessalonians. The belief in the early church was that Christ would return very soon after his death and resurrection – certainly within their lifetimes. But then friends and family members who were believers began dying. This created an anxiousness in these new believers. It raised many questions.

What will happen to their friends and loved ones? And perhaps an even more stressful question: Had they missed Jesus’ return? With all of these questions and worries, they were like those we know who “grieve without hope.” Paul wants them to have hope. He wants us to have hope. So he writes to them, offering words of assurance and of hope. He writes, “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.”

Jesus was the first of many brothers and sisters who will die and be raised to new life. There is great hope in this belief and understanding. Jesus’ victory over sin and death is the victory that all believers will one day experience. May this be our hope, today and every day!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for making a way for all who believe. We know that Jesus was the first of many brothers and sisters to enter new life in eternity. Walk with us daily. Lead us to be true to you alone. Guide us to live faithfully in this life. Bring us home one day into your eternal glory. Amen.