12. Hope / No Hope
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
The holidays can be a very difficult time for some people. For different reasons of course but one of those reasons is because they have loved ones that have passed on into eternity. Quite possibly it happened recently but it could have been a long time ago.
Paul encourages the Thessalonians by saying that their grief should be attended to by hope because those who have dies (fallen asleep) will rise first. Christ will certain return and all believers of all time will meet Him in the air. There is the hope. And all believers of all time will be with the Lord forever. There is the hope. The separation is not forever. There is the hope. The loss will not last. There is the hope.
Beloved, in this season of arrival. One day Jesus will come again and we shall meet Him. He will wipe away all the tears. We who have a union with Christ by faith will have a reunion with Him. May we all like Paul says, “Comfort one another with these words.”