1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 • Perspective on Death and the Rapture

Do you have a fear of death? If you are a Christian, did you know there are some things you can be certain about your future existence past this life? In the last article, we looked at how to live to please God with your body as well as with your heart, especially regarding sexual behavior. This is post #8 in the Thessalonians series. In this post, we will gain the biblical perspective on death and beyond, including the promised rapture of believers.

Listen to this blog as a similar podcast from the Perspective Bible Study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians:

When People Vanish

On March 7, 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from radar in flight and never was seen again. In 2018, the investigation of its disappearance ended with no one really knowing what happened to the plane with its passengers and crew. Later, a few pieces of debris from that plane did show up on the beach of an island in the Indian Ocean. We know nothing else about it.

The mysterious disappearance reminded me of the movie, “Left Behind.” That movie depicts the time when Jesus will return to collect all believing Christians from the earth and take them to heaven with Him. In the movie, a plane remained in flight with just some of its passengers missing—the Christians. Left behind were their clothing, jewelry, and other earthly things in their seats. When that really does happen, will there be an intense investigation into what caused the people to vanish similar to what happened regarding the missing flight full of people in that movie?

The End Times Puzzle

Trying to understand prophecy about the end times in both the Old and New Testaments is like having a bunch of puzzle pieces that look similar but without the picture on the box top to tell you how to arrange them. All we know for sure are the border pieces. We can put the four sides of the puzzle together. Those are events we know will definitely happen. But we do not know when or how the rest of the pieces fit inside the border. They are introduced to us in 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

1. The Rapture takes place. One day, Jesus Christ will appear as Savior to gather His own together in the clouds. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
2. The Great Tribulation begins. Known as “the day of the Lord,” it is a time during which God’s wrath against sin is directed toward earth. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)
3. The Antichrist is revealed. The man of lawlessness or Antichrist takes over the world with force and deception. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)
4. Christ’s Second Coming. Christ is coming to exact justice against unbelievers and set up His kingdom on earth. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

Those are the four sides to our puzzle. Here is a possible timeline (graphic by H. Wayne House).

The Promise

What Jesus declared

In this article, we will look at the first side: Christ appearing as Savior to gather all Christians, dead and alive, together with Him in the clouds.

At the beginning of John chapter 14, Jesus declared this:

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)

Jesus said He is definitely, positively, you-can-count-on-it-with-certainty coming back to earth to gather His followers and bring them to live in heaven with Him. There is no mistake about it. If Jesus said that was going to happen, it will happen! After all, He promised to His followers that He would be raised from the dead after being crucified. That happened. God keeps His promises.

The future promise

Through His Spirit, the Lord inspired Paul to write about this glorious event in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we WHO ARE STILL ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND ARE LEFT will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)

Three groups

There are three groups of people referenced in those verses:

1. Those who “sleep in death” (verse 13) or “have fallen asleep” (verses 14-15))
2. Those with no hope (verse 13)
3. Those who are still alive and left when Jesus comes (verses 15 and 17)

From New Testament teaching, we know that those who have fallen asleep are Christians who have died. Their souls are with Jesus in heaven (Philippians 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:8)—every single one of them. That is our inheritance and our promise from God. We get heaven as our home. Death is just the way that we go home.

When a Christian dies, a physician can determine medically that he is dead, but from a theological standpoint a person dies when the soul leaves the body. In 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul speaks of being absent from the body and present with the Lord. When a believer in Christ dies, his soul doesn’t stay in the body. We bury the body, but we don’t bury the soul! The soul goes immediately into the presence of the Lord. (John Walvoord, “Fastening Your Grip on the Blessed Hope”)

We also know that those with no hope are unbelievers who have already died. They do not get heaven because they have rejected God’s invitation to join Him in life. After death, there is no second chance (Hebrews 9:27). There is no reincarnation or purgatory.

This post will focus on what happens when Jesus comes to gather believers at the Rapture.

The Rapture Sequence of Events

Here is the sequence of events according to 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 (adapted from Dr. Wayne Braudrick, “Wake Up,” 5-14-2023 sermon)

Continuing in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, this is what the Lord said through Paul,

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the (1) Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a (2) loud command, with the (3) voice of the archangel and with the (4) trumpet call of God, and the (5) dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16)

1-The Lord visibly appears

Jesus is still in His resurrected human body. He will be visible to all Christians who are still alive. They will see Him in the atmosphere just as is promised in Acts 1:

After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)

2-The Lord commands

Jesus issues a loud command that will be executed with perfect timing. Christians who are alive will hear His command.

3-The archangel speaks

A powerful angel under Jesus’ authority (perhaps Michael) repeats the command which will also be heard by Christians who are alive.

4-The trumpet signals

The trumpet call of God will be heard. Immediately after this, the command for resurrection of all believers takes place.

5-Dead Christians are resurrected

We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him … the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16)

Jesus brings with Him those who have fallen asleep. As I said earlier, those who have fallen asleep in Him are Christians who have died. Their souls are with Jesus in heaven. Jesus brings their souls with Him when He comes to gather His own. Every Christian who has died since Pentecost will be coming with Jesus.

They get new bodies first. Graves will be opened. For every dead Christian, God will fashion new immortal bodies to be inhabited once again by their souls—joining body and soul together in the air with the Lord. Hooray! Celebration for sure!

The phrase “will rise” (verse 16) translates a Greek word that means “to stand on human feet.” Isn’t that wonderful? God loves human bodies! He gives His children new human bodies again.

Christ’s resurrection guaranteed our resurrection. It is important to know that the term “resurrection” is only used for the body, not the soul.

Recommended: For a better understanding of the meaning of resurrection, read “Resurrection…What Does It Really Mean?”

6-All Christians get snatched

The Lord’s instructions to Paul also included those who are still alive at His appearing.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be (6) caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Those who are still alive will be caught up together with them. The phrase “caught up” in Latin is rapturo. This has made its way into English as rapture during the Middle Ages. So, this event has been called “the Rapture” for many years.

That is such a descriptive word—rapture. According to the dictionary, rapture is “the state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstasy.” Yes, we believers will be in ecstasy to be with our Lord, to see Him with our eyes and hear His voice with our ears. We will truly be with Him. What a time of true rapture!

7-Bodies and souls of living are changed.

We will also be given new immortal bodies like Christ’s resurrected body. This will happen instantly as we get a resurrection body but without having to experience death first. All Christians will have immortal bodies like Christ’s body.

A parallel passage to this one is in 1 Corinthians 15:

Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but (7) we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

8-We are with Jesus forever

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so (8) we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

This coming of Christ for living believers is the only interpretation that fits with Jesus’ statements in John 14:2-3 where He promises to personally come back and take His followers to heaven, to the place prepared in the Father’s house.

Notice that we who are alive and transformed will join together in the clouds with those who had died and received new bodies. We will be with them together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. He is calling. We all join Him as one group of Christ-followers.

What a multitude that will be! Millions and millions of newly fashioned perfect bodies of men and women, boys and girls. So we will be with the Lord forever. Does that not knock your socks off? Does that not get your blood pumping with excitement for that future event which could happen at any moment? It does mine.

This gathering of believers apparently will only be visible to believers—living and dead. Later, Jesus Christ will return to earth as the powerful king and stay on earth. That is His official Second Coming as described in Revelation chapter 19. That will be visible to everyone.

Those Left Behind

Sadly, many will not experience such rapture—the ones who are left behind because they have not believed in Christ. Friends and family will suddenly vanish from this planet. Those who are left behind will mourn the vanished. What kind of speculation will happen then?

Some will believe the Bible’s promise about the Rapture to have been true and believe in Jesus at last. Others will probably come up with some really weird explanation—snatched by aliens or vaporized by an unknown weapon of some sort. Will the world be sad or happy to get rid of all the annoying Christians?

Whoever has said “yes” to trust in Jesus as Savior will meet Him in the air when He comes. We have made the choice. Those who might get left behind also have a choice before the Rapture happens. Anyone who has ever heard the gospel or heard about Jesus can join the ecstasy simply by trusting in Christ now with their lives.

How do we get this message out to them so they will take it seriously? One way is for us to have the biblical perspective about spreading the light of the gospel now before we are raptured (or die and be with the Lord, whichever comes first).

Conclusion

Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

The hope of heaven transforms our perspective on death. We can encourage one another with our hope of life after this one. The Scriptures nowhere teach that we believers are immune to grief or should deny the sorrow that death can bring. But in Christ, we share in His victory over death! We grieve, but we don’t grieve as those who have no hope.

• We can be certain of our reunion with Christian loved ones who have gone before us.
• We can be certain of receiving a glorious body that will never weaken or decay.
• We can be certain of entering a wonderful new life beyond our fondest dreams.
• And we can be certain of forever being with the Lord!

If you have not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, being separated from Him forever is the punishment for sin. Why should you be separated when that penalty was paid for you? All you have to do is recognize that you are a sinner and worthy of the punishment then believe that Jesus Christ took that punishment for you and accept Him as your Savior. A pardon cannot be forced on anyone. A pardon must be accepted.

Remember what Jesus promised in John chapter 5,

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

Isn’t that wonderful? The way to heaven is a one-way street. There is no going back. Eternal life would not be eternal if it did not last. Because our God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, the sting of death has been removed. It has no power to enslave us any longer.

If you have never trusted the Lord, I invite you to do so today—right now. Pray this prayer with me. Thank you, God, for loving me and for sending Your Son Jesus to die for my sins. I trust in Jesus Christ to be my personal Savior and turn my entire life over to You. Amen.

If you did that, tell someone today. You can now know with certainty that whether dead or alive when Jesus comes, you will spend eternity with Him.

The next post will be addressed to believers alive now who can shine God’s light to those who are needing to know the way to be with Jesus forever.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His perspective on life in the present and in the future. Then, live securely in Him during this time of waiting.

The above information is covered in our Perspective Bible Study of 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

Related Resources:

• Satisfied Series 13 Podcasts on 1 and 2 Thessalonians
• The Biblical Perspective on Death
• What Doesn’t Happen to the Soul at Death?
• Why the Soul Does Not Go to Purgatory for Purification
• Some Frequently Asked Questions about the Dead
• What Happens to the Soul of a Dead Christian?
• Angels, feathers, and needing comfort for grief
• Resurrection…What Does It Really Mean?
• “Wake Up” sermon by Dr. Wayne Braudrick

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