We Have A Hope

We have a Hope

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no Hope. - I Thessalonians 4:13

When Jenny was five, she asked her mother, “Does heaven have a floor?” Surprised, her mother said, “Well, Jenny, what do you think heaven is like?”

Jenny looked up at the sky and clouds and replied, “Well, I can’t see any floor, so I guess people are up there on shirt hangers!"

The mother told her five-year-old daughter that, in heaven we will have glorified bodies. Jenny asked, “Do you think we’ll look like Barbie?”

Today we are going to talk about heaven and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re not going to try, like some of those children, to describe heaven. We don’t know much about what happens to us after we die. The Christian believers in the city of Thessalonica faced persecution from the outside. In spite of this, the Thessalonian church appeared to be a faithful community of believers. The apostle Paul, author of I and II Thessalonians, often praises them for their faithfulness, holy living, and generosity. Yet he also wants to make sure that they are thoroughly instructed in the issues of the faith, because he knows they will come under great pressure from the surrounding society.

Keep away from looseness, he says to them, follow Christ as an example of holiness, work hard to support yourself, live at peace with your neighbors. The first half of I Thessalonians, chapter 4, teaches the believers in Thessalonica how to LIVE as Christians. For example in verse 7, For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to live in holiness. The second half of this chapter teaches them how to DIE in the same manner. We all want instructions on how to live better, but rarely we ask the question of how to die better. In fact, we would rather avoid the subject altogether.

The Apostle Paul gives us godly hope for our faithful christian lives. He tells us that God will bring back those who sleep in Jesus, the Lord will descend from heaven with glory, and we shall always be with our Lord. Through these words, he comforts every one of us and the church of Thessalonica.

I. God will bring those who sleep in Jesus:

Paul writes, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

That is what he wants to communicate to the church Thessalonica. And that is what he wants to communicate to us as well. We believe that God will bring with Jesus, those who have fallen asleep in him. He was describing the difference between the way pagans greet death and the way Christians greet death. “They rejoice and offer thanks to God,” he said, speaking of Christians. Can we face death with rejoicing and thanksgiving? I’m not suggesting that we deny ourselves the chance to grieve. We must grieve--but we grieve in hope. Jesus came to save us from death, and he gave his life as a sacrifice so that we could live forever in communion with him. Amen.

The Bible presents us with a few precious details. We are given little information about heaven, and we are expected to say that there will be no more death and no more tears. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Rev. 21:4). Another thing is, who’s going to heaven and who’s not. We don’t know. But the scripture says, we will leave that-up to God. Life does not end at the grave. Life does not end in this world. We do not lose our loved ones forever to death. Those who die in Christ live with him forever.

Paul is not writing these words to the Thessalonians to give them a definitive description of the nature of eternity, but to encourage them. Notice that Paul does not make light of losing a loved one. He does not tell his friends in Thessalonica not to grieve. Grief is one of the most natural and even essential experiences of life. A wise person once said, “Tear-less grief bleeds inwardly.” Watch out for someone who does not grieve when a loved one dies, who always keeps from shedding a tear. Feelings are being stuffed down that need to come out.

When a Christian grieves, he or she grieves with hope, in the knowledge that their loved one has met the Lord face to face. Believers find their completeness in death, because it leads to the life that is truly life abundant.