The Second Coming, Part 2
"The dead in Christ will rise first"
1 Thessalonians 4v15-18
14th January 2022
Last week and this week, we're studying:
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left
till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
When Jesus returns, when the loud command is given and the last trumpet is sounded, the dead in Christ will rise first. Christians in paradise today don't have bodies. Their bodies lie in their graves, but their disembodied souls celebrate in Paradise. As Jesus approaches the earth, all these Christians who've spent minutes, days, years or centuries in Paradise, will receive new bodies, and they'll walk on the earth again. As Jesus promised:
John 6:40
"… my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have
eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
What will these new bodies be like? We don't know exactly, but we do know that, as Paul says:
1 Corinthians 15:39-44
Not all flesh is the same: people have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds
another and fish another.
There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendour of the
heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly bodies is another.
The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs
from star in splendour.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable;
it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in
power;
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
I don't know what my new body will be like, but I do know it will be a significant upgrade on the one I have now!
1 Thessalonians 4:17
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
When all the Christians who had died and gone to Paradise have received their new bodies, those who haven't died will rise into the air, will join with their returned brothers and sisters, and will meet the Lord in the air.
The word "meet" translates the Greek word "apantesis" *, which has a rather special meaning, lost in the English translations. It means "the public welcome accorded to important visitors". It's used when local dignitaries welcome an important person, like a king, to their town. I know some of us may find this controversial but this word doesn't mean "meet with him and go off with him"; it means "meet with him and bring him back with us".
The truly gathered church - those who had been in Paradise, together with those who'd remained on earth - will meet the Lord in the air, and will escort Him back down to earth. And so we will be with Him for ever. That's what it means.
If you've been taught something different, and if you're not able to change your mind about this, I don't really mind. I don't think having a slightly different expectation about the wonderful and glorious return of our Saviour will cause us a problem. But I do think you're not arguing with me; you're arguing with the Greek text of the Bible. I have to teach what it says, not what others have misunderstood it to mean.
Instead of debating this point, let's instead obey the next verse:
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
- Jesus is coming back – be encouraged!
- Your Christian friends and family are alive in Paradise, having a wonderful time. Be encouraged!
- In all probability, you and I will join them soon. Be encouraged!
- If we don't join them in Paradise, that will be because Jesus has returned in glory to planet earth. Be encouraged!
When Jesus returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. These are unimaginable to us, but John saw them in a vision:
Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now God's dwelling-place is with men,
and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them
and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying
or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
And John heard Jesus say:
Revelation 21:6-7
… "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is
thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."
Be more than encouraged. Be jubilant. Shout "Hallelujah" to the king of kings!
* This word only occurs three times in the Bible. The other two are:
Matthew 25:6
[in the parable of the 10 virgins]
At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!"
Acts 28:14-16
There we found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to
Rome.
The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they travelled as far
as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people
Paul thanked God and was encouraged. When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by
himself, with a soldier to guard him.