Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - The Coming of the Lord

Purpose of Passage: What happens to believers who die before Christ's return?
The ultimate destiny of all believers, regardless of when and if they die is to be with the Lord forever. (vv. 16, 17)

For believers in Christ

1. Our future is not so much about a place as it is a relationship.
   • Phil. 1:21,23
   • Who we'll be with will bring us joy and delight.
2. Our future relationship is guaranteed by what already happened during Christ's resurrection.
   • v. 14
   • 1 Cor. 15:20
   • Our confidence of the future is grounded by what has happened in the past.
3. Death is never about an ultimate end, but a temporary transition.
   • v. 13
   • "Death is not a period that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that punctuates it to more lofty significance. Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but an open door which leads man into life eternal. Let this daring faith, this great invincible surmise, be your sustaining power during these trying days."
   • What Paul prohibits is not grief, but hopeless grief.
4. Our faith about the future needs to shape how we live in the present.
   • How have we coped with death? Gripped by fear? Denial?
   • Paul wrote about the dead for the sake of the living.
   • v. 18
   • Genuine hope in time of grief - the difference from other religions, views, etc.

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