Resurrection is God's final solution for sin and death through the permanent destruction of the old sin nature that was the consequence of Adam's original sin.
God was free to completely resolve the problem of sin and death because He judged every sin in Jesus' body on the cross thereby resolving the issue of sin and death. 2Cor 5:21; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:23;
Resurrection Sunday is the day that has been set aside to specifically remember Jesus' resurrection after 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb.
His body was in the tomb for only 3 days and nights because God would not and could not permit His body to undergo corruption (decay) because He had no genetic old sin nature from Adam because of His unique virgin birth. John 3:16; Psa 16:10b;
His physical death was also unique because His was the first where the human spirit went to be with the Father in heaven, His human soul went to the paradise compartment of hades and His human body went into the tomb.
During His ascension He transferred all the souls of believers who had died before His ascension from the paradise compartment of Hades into heaven (Eph 4:8-9;) at physical death every believer's soul and spirit goes into heaven to be face to face with the Lord and their body goes into the grave to await their resurrection.
Because He had no genetically formed OSN His resurrection was also unique because in His resurrection only mortality was exchanged for immortality there was no need to exchange corruption for incorruption like every other resurrection because He had no genetic corruption from Adam's original sin. 1Cor 15:53; 2Cor 5:21;
Even though they didn't know it Jesus' resurrection was celebrated in the ritual plan for Israel during the Festival of Unleavened Bread with the wave sheaf offering that was presented the day after the weekly Sabbath or the first day of the week that became Resurrection Sunday that occurs during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Lev 23:10-14;
This offering celebrated the first fruits of the harvest that corresponded to the fact that His resurrection Jesus is the first of the four echelons of the resurrection into eternal life. Jesus was the first fruits of God's harvest that ends with the resurrection of the millennial saints. 1Cor 15:23;
The four echelons in their order are our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church, the Old Testament Saints and Tribulational Martyrs, and the Millennial Saints.
Each one of these resurrection echelons is celebrated in God's ritual plan for Israel.
Jesus is celebrated with the wave sheaf offering.
The Church is celebrated with Pentecost.
The OT Saints and Tribulational Martyrs are celebrated with the Feast of Trumpets.
The Millennial Saints are celebrated with the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day of the Feast.
Following the last echelon of the first resurrection, the resurrection of all unbelievers occurs followed by the last judgment after that the entire universe will be consumed by fire to eradicate sin and death forever. 2Pet 3:10-12;
Every generation of Old Testament believers died a physical death. but there could not be any resurrection in the Old Testament, because the first resurrection in history was that of our Lord Jesus Christ on that Resurrection Sunday nearly 2000 years ago.
No one could precede Jesus into Heaven. This is why Old Testament believers' souls were temporarily housed in the paradise compartment of Hades until Jesus took them with Him to heaven at His ascension.
This is why Old Testament passages state that after death there is no knowledge of God. Eccles 9:10b; OT passages such as this are the basis of the false doctrine of "soul sleep."
So we celebrate resurrection as God's final solution for sin and death because resurrection means a person returns from physical death in a body of incorruption that can never die nor is ever subject to death so it is the beginning of eternity in a body capable of living with God in eternity.
In resurrection every believer will have a resurrection body similar to Jesus Christ's, but not all resurrection bodies will have the same glory.
There is a different glory in each resurrection body that is determined by the believer's attitude toward and compliance with God's Word during their life in the devil's world in their corrupted mortal body before their physical death. 1Cor 15:40-44;
Because the Church is next in the order of resurrection Paul instructs us regarding our hope or confidence in the resurrection starting in 1Thes 4:13.
v13 "But I would not have you ignorant, Brethren, concerning those who are asleep."
"I would not" means "I do not desire." Paul is expressing His desire for the brethren who, of course, are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is that they would not be ignorant.
Remember knowledge of truth sets us free but rejection or ignorance of truth enslaves.
It was Paul's objective in life to see that no believer remained in slavery to ignorance. The ignorance that is expressed at this particular point is the ignorance with regard to what has happened to those who have departed from this life in physical death.
The Thessalonian believers understood the exit resurrection for the living but they were concerned about the status of their fellow believers who had already died and gone on to be with the Lord.
The phrase "those who are asleep" refers to those who have died before the exit resurrection.
Remember all the believers in the first century church correctly understood the exit resurrection was imminent but they also incorrectly expected it to be soon so that was a false expectation.
They expected Jesus to return before they died physically so they were concerned and surprised that some of their friends and family had died before the resurrection.
The phrase is a present middle participle. The present tense means that believers had died from time to time as is normal for those who live in mortal bodies.
Rev 21:4; states that for the believer who departs from this life in physical death there is no more sorrow. The sorrow is with those who remain behind and it is that sorrow that Paul is noting.
The phrase "Those who are asleep" is also in the middle voice so it also means the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. Paul is telling us that that departing from this life in physical death benefits the believer, because the believer who is absent from the body is immediately face to face with the Lord.
The verb itself means sleep in the sense of the believer's physical death. This word "sleep" is never used for physical death of the unbeliever, it is exclusively used for the physical death of the believer.
This is because the body of the believer "sleeps", the soul and the spirit are awake in the presence of the Lord waiting to be reunited with the body in resurrection.
Resurrection of the believer is simply the soul and the spirit rejoining the and the body wakes up, and at that particular point it takes on a resurrection body, a body like that of Jesus Christ.
"Those who are asleep," therefore, refers to believers who had died and some of the people were upset because they were afraid that loved ones who had already died and had gone to be with the Lord were going to miss out on the exit resurrection or Rapture of the Church. "
" so that" introduces a purpose clause, and here is the purpose for this particular passage on the Rapture of the Church: "you do not sorrow as others who have no hope."
Paul does not say, "Don't sorrow." You have a perfectly legitimate right to sorrow about those who have departed. However, that sorrow should never be the desperate sorrow of those who have no hope or confidence in God and His Word.
Believers should never sorrow in the same manner of those who have no hope. We definitely have a right to sorrow when loved ones depart to be with the Lord, but we have no right to get all panicked about it and carry on as though it is the end.
1Thes 4:14; the first answer to this sorrow problem is introduced by a first class condition; " if and it is true. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again," and we do.
The emphasis here is on "we believe," the fact that Christ died and rose again.
The word "believe" is a transitive verb. There are two facets of believe: First is salvation. Believe is the key to salvation because faith is a system of perception common to all normal members of the human race and the only system of perception that is non-meritorious.
The power of belief is the object of faith and in salvation the object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ, the subject is any member of the human race who believes in Christ who is the savior.
The transitive verb "believe" has no merit in itself the merit is in the person who was judged for sins and died spiritually as our substitute. Acts 16:31;
Secondly, we also believe the doctrine about Christ or doctrine that has to do with the work of Christ.
There are two facets noted regarding what we believer here, "if we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead and we do.
All of this is doctrine, and the point is that we believe in doctrine here. "If" is a first class condition, which means that if we believe in this doctrine, and we do.
Remember, in the function of the faith-rest technique there are several types of objects. First of all there are the promises of God.
During our life in time we have over seven thousand promises from God that sustain us as we live on the earth in time. We take these promises, we claim them, and we believe them.
When we do we are freed from worry and anxiety, and we have the peace, the power and the inner happiness that belongs to us.
We also believe the doctrine and when the doctrine becomes the object of our faith we have a stabilized, powerful, dynamic life re-presenting the Lord Jesus Christ as an ambassador while we are on this earth in our corrupted mortal body.
Paul recognizes that they believe the doctrine "if we believe that Jesus died (and we do)." The word "died" is an aorist tense that refers to the cross where He took our place, where He suffered for our sins and died as our substitute in spiritual death. Rom 5:8;
The Greek word translated "rose again" is another aorist tense that refers to the resurrection. The two words are linked together because Jesus' death cannot be separated from His resurrection because it is Jesus' resurrection that validates His death.
It is the resurrection of Christ that proves that His death was efficacious and unique because He was impeccable.
1Thes 4:14; "even so those who have fallen asleep in Jesus" refers to those who have believed in Jesus Christ and been born again who have lived their life and died physically are presently in the presence of the Lord.
The believer's body is in the grave waiting for the moment when the Lord Jesus will call, and they will rise out of the grave in their glorious incorruptible immortal resurrection body.
"God brings those who have fallen asleep with him" and unites them with their resurrection body at the exit resurrection.
1Thes 4:15; In this verse we see that " by the Word of the Lord" or Bible Doctrine that we know that; "we who are alive" referring to believers on the earth, and includes us because the Rapture could take place at any moment. We could go at any time without dying a physical death.
"and remain" The Greek word translated "remain" means to survive. The word is in the present tense so we keep on surviving and no matter how much we are blessed in time it is still just sheer survival. "Survival" isn't a very complimentary description for life in the devil's world.
As long as we live in the devil's world we are only "surviving" because the devil and his world are our enemy. However we will survive because God says that we are not going to leave until He wants us to leave and nothing can remove us from this life until God permits it.
The passive voice tells us that the subject receives the action of the verb. The subject is the believer surviving on this earth. The action of the verb: we remain alive and survive because of God's grace provision.
We can take any and all possible precautions to survive but we are not going to survive if God wants us to go, and if God wants us to survive there isn't anything or anyone who is going to remove us from physical life on the earth.
"until the coming of the Lord" refers to the exit resurrection or Rapture, when the Church leaves. We meet the Lord in the air in clouds He doesn't come down to the earth.
"shall not prevent them which are asleep" in other words, living believers are not going to keep dead believers from getting in on the Rapture. Dead believers will be there just as much as living believers.
This is what the Thessalonian believers were concerned about. 1Thes 4:16; For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." There is going to be a loud shout in heaven as the angels form up.
"with the voice of the archangel" - the commanding officer of the angels; "with the trump of God" this is a military trumpet that is assembling the angels for this engagement in the Angelic Conflict.
"and the dead in Christ shall rise first" - those believers who have received Christ as savior and have departed from this life through physical death, whose soul and spirit are in the presence of the Lord are going to rise first.
1Thes 4:17; "Then we who are alive", present active participle, we kept right on surviving until the end.
"shall be caught up with them in clouds" in a glorious reunion. Future passive indicative of the Greek word "harpazo" that is translated into Latin as "Rapturo" and transliterated into the English as "Rapture"
'to meet them with the Lord in the air" the word "to meet" looks like a verb but it is a noun, for emphasis.
We are going to meet our loved ones again, we are going to be with them again and be with them and the Lord for eternity. We will meet them in the air.
This is the next event in prophecy, the Rapture or exit resurrection of the Church.
"and so shall we (believers) will ever be with the Lord."
1Thes 4:18; "Therefore" in other words, stop all of this unnecessary worrying from lack of confidence in doctrine.
"comfort one another with these words" Imperative mood so this a mandate to stop worrying and start comforting each other with the doctrine.
If you know doctrine and you do you have the basis of comforting anyone who is bereaved and in sorrow from the death of a loved one.
The Power is in the Word it is the Word of God that is alive and powerful that makes the difference, not human viewpoint sentiment.
Comfort is found in what the scripture that never fails immutably promises is true and truth makes you free.
He has Risen and you, your fellow believers and your loved ones who have passed on and are now with the Lord are next. Thank you Lord Jesus.