Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 1 Thessalonians 3-4 and Psalm 149

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

Paul commended the Thessalonians for doing a great job of loving one another. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that their love for each other led to much grief when some of their community died. Grief in a time of loss is a result (and an expression) of our love for those who have died, and from whom death has separated us.

For believers, however, there is no reason for hopelessness and despair in our grief. In Christ, we live with the conviction that our separation from loved ones who have died in the Lord is only temporary. At present, we who are still alive are with the Lord in the Spirit, while our loved ones are with Him face-to-face. But the glorious day of reunion is coming. If we should die before the Lord’s return, we will immediately meet them around the throne in glory, to behold the Lord face-to-face together. If we should live until the Lord returns, then Paul’s explanation in v.15-17 refers to us:

¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ 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. 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.

We grieve with hope because, whether through our own death or through the return of Christ (whichever comes first), we will be reunited with the ones we love who have died in the Lord.

Life application: It is absolutely natural and right to grieve when we are separated from our loved ones by their death, but we are encouraged to allow our grief to be tempered by the sure and certain expectation that, in Christ, we will meet again.