WHAT WE BELIEVE: The End is Only the Beginning

“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 be always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

There are two questions that the parent of every small child dreads to be asked. Ironically the two dreaded questions deal with the bookends of life: where do babies come from, and what happens to us when we die. Fortunately, today’s devotional will not deal with the first question.

If you asked most people what do Christians believe, a large percentage might answer something to the effect of, “If you believe in Jesus, then you get to go to heaven when you die”. Many understand the Christian faith to be like a visa stamp in your passport that allows you to enter into a country. However instead of a 90 day visa to visit a location on your bucket list, you get an eternal visa to live as a spirit in a mansion in heaven, surrounded by angels playing harps. If this is your picture of the Christian life after death, then your picture did not come from the Bible!

The Bible teaches us that we are all infected with an incurable disease that has a 100% death rate. Way back in Genesis 3, we learn that death was a consequence (or curse) for disobedience (or sin). In Romans 5:12 Paul tell us that, “death spread to all because all have sinned”. Many have tried to defeat death, and yet death has won every. single. time… Except one.

The power of death is far greater than any human power. But is the power of death greater than God’s? The showdown of the cross provided us with the answer. As Jesus’ cold, dead body was placed in the tomb, it looked like all hope was lost. But, as Peter proclaims in Acts 2:24, “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Jesus rose from the dead, defeating all power that death held over himself, and any who are a part of his kingdom. This is why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that as believers we do not grieve like those who do not share this hope.

As Paul continues this description in 1 Thessalonians, we see that living as spirits in heaven is not our final destination. When Christ comes again, those who have died and those who are alive join the Lord, not as spirits living in heaven, but as people with an imperishable body, living in his kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:51-55; Revelation 21:1-5). As followers of Jesus we have hope because the best is yet to come!