10-22-2008, 02:12 PM
We shall always be with the Lord.--1 Thessalonians 4:17
This is the context:
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1Thessalonians 4:15-17.
You can sense how imminent it seemed to Paul. He explains here the circumstances of the out-resurrection - what we call the first resurrection. This implies, of course, there will be another resurrection. Apryl has suggested that there is just one resurrection. If this is the case, then we are talking about the stages involved in that one resurrection. Perhaps this is how it goes:
• The out-resurrection of the saints, both living and dead
• The resurrection of the righteous and unrighteous
Apparently the Thessalonians were very worried for the brothers and sisters among them who had died before the return of Christ. Again, we get that feeling of imminence. One book explains that Paul used the illustration of the conquering general to appease their concern. In those days, the general would pass the graveyards in front of the city gates before he reached the city proper. Jesus, as the conquering leader, would pass the dead first in like fashion, so that ‘we, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep’. Those living at the time of Jesus’ return would join them immediately afterwards, so soon that it would be classed as happening at the same time.
And where would these saints always be with the Lord? That, as they say, is another story...
This is the context:
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1Thessalonians 4:15-17.
You can sense how imminent it seemed to Paul. He explains here the circumstances of the out-resurrection - what we call the first resurrection. This implies, of course, there will be another resurrection. Apryl has suggested that there is just one resurrection. If this is the case, then we are talking about the stages involved in that one resurrection. Perhaps this is how it goes:
• The out-resurrection of the saints, both living and dead
• The resurrection of the righteous and unrighteous
Apparently the Thessalonians were very worried for the brothers and sisters among them who had died before the return of Christ. Again, we get that feeling of imminence. One book explains that Paul used the illustration of the conquering general to appease their concern. In those days, the general would pass the graveyards in front of the city gates before he reached the city proper. Jesus, as the conquering leader, would pass the dead first in like fashion, so that ‘we, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep’. Those living at the time of Jesus’ return would join them immediately afterwards, so soon that it would be classed as happening at the same time.
And where would these saints always be with the Lord? That, as they say, is another story...