I Thessalonians 4:13-18 speaks to us about the second coming of Christ. We are told that in that day Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
WOW!
Paul tells the believers that there is a two-fold purpose for writing these words. In verse 13 he tells them that he does not want them to be ignorant. Aren't you glad that Christianity is not a brain-less faith. God wants you to be educated in the truth. The other reason is found in verse 18 where Paul says to comfort one another with these words.
Do those words comfort you? Are you comfortable with the thought that at any given moment on any given day that Jesus Christ can and will return? If not, why? Why would you be fearful of His return? If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior there should be an expectancy within you that looks forward to His coming.
His coming is the final fulfillment of salvation in our lives. We have been saved from our sin. We have been delivered from the sting of death. His return brings about our deliverance from the destruction of this world as we know it and ushers in the glory of the Kingdom of God.
I don't know about you, but I look forward to a time and place where Jesus sits on the throne. I look forward to a day when there is no sorrow, no pain, no death, and no tears. I look forward to a day when I don't have to deal with the struggle of sin. I look forward. That's what the Christian faith is all about. It's a looking forward with the understanding that we are pilgrims in this world. This world is not our home. That's why we are not to lay up treasures here.
Be encouraged today...Jesus is coming soon!
1 comment:
Hallelujah! I love this passage, the read it at my mom's memorial, it's so full of hope!
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