1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.  For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Today Paul encourages those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. The message is designed to bring comfort regarding those who have died, or as Paul terms it, have “fallen asleep” in Christ. Those who have placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving salvation by grace through faith in Him – they have reserved themselves a resurrection of their own at the command of Christ. There will come a day when Jesus will come down from heaven and call to life all those who have died believing in Him. They are not lost, and they are not suffering in the meantime. God has a perfect memory, and not one who has faith in Christ will be forgotten – not even one.