The Return of Christ
What Happens When We Die? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today’s Reading from God’s Word
Today’s Reading from God’s Word
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning 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, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are still 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 always be with the Lord.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Introduction
Introduction
Death is not an easy subject to face.
In a few weeks it will have been 5 years since my father in law passed.
We were all gathered in the room with him.
Our hearts were so heavy.
In moments like that, the finality of death feels overwhelming.
Many Christians ask:
How will we go on without them?
But yet, in these moments, we have hope — because we know if our loved one was in the Lord - we will see them again when the Lord returns.
When a loved one passes, there are so many emotions we wrestle with.
Our culture dresses death up in soft words.
They’ve passed on.
They’re in a better place.
But many stop there and fail to consider what really happens.
The world spends billions trying to slow the aging process, extend life, and push death out of sight.
But death always comes, sometimes suddenly, sometimes after long suffering, and it forces us to face reality.
God’s word does not leave us with silence on this matter.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul addresses the Thessalonian Christians because they were grieving with no hope.
It’s not exactly surprising because they were so young in the faith — many on them had come to Christ only months before.
He wanted to remind them that Christians do not grieve as the world does.
And the reason for this is very simple.
Jesus died and rose again.
That single truth changes everything.
The resurrection of Jesus is God’s guarantee that death will not have the last word.
The New Testament points us to a day still ahead — the return of Jesus Christ.
On that day, the trumpet will sound, the graves will open, and the dead in Christ will rise (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
John tells us all who are in the graves will hear His voice (John 5:28).
No one will be overlooked. No one will be forgotten.
Every person will be raised before the Lord.
These facts should fill you with hope.
For the righteous, the day of Christ’s return is the day of victory!
This perishable body will put on the imperishable.
Death will be swallowed up in triumph.
And with Paul we will be able to say:
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
The Dead Will be Raised
The Dead Will be Raised
Let’s go back to 1 Thessalonians 4 now.
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
Death is often described as “sleep,” which is describing a temporary state, not a permanent one.
Those who die in Christ are not lost. They will not miss the return of the Lord.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
See the certainty here.
It will not be an angel or a messenger.
It will be the Lord Himself.
He will come in power — and His voice will awaken the dead.
Jesus already promised this.
Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice
and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Every person who has ever lived will be raised.
No one will be left behind in the grave. It doesn’t matter how you died or what happened to your body.
You will be resurrected.
Think about this.
Cemeteries that are now filled with silence will one day echo with the sound of life.
Graves that have been closed for centuries will open at His command.
The same voice that called Lazarus out of the tomb (John 11:43-44) will call forth every man, woman, and child from the dust.
The dead will rise — not some of them, not most of them — but all of them.
10-12 years ago I visited San Diego and went to the lighthouse at Coronado.
Just across from it is a military cemetery where thousands of white headstones stretch out toward the sea.
Each stone represents a life, a family, a story.
It was sobering.
When you visit a cemetery, its hard not to think of John 5:28-29.
One day every soldier of Christ will rise at the trumpet of God.
Every grave will give up its dead.
For the Christian, that moment will not be terror, it will be triumph.
The promise of the resurrection is powerful.
But Paul does not stop with the simple fact that the dead will rise.
He tells us what kind of resurrection it will be for those in Christ.
The bodies that come out of the grave will not be the same fragile, broken, decaying bodies we know now.
They will be changed, glorified, and fit for eternity with the Lord.
We Will Receive Glorified Bodies
We Will Receive Glorified Bodies
Now we’ll look at 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul calls all this a mystery:
Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but 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.
Whether alive or dead, all of God’s people will undergo a transformation.
The perishable will put on imperishable, the mortal will put on immortality.
This truth meets us right where we live.
Our bodies break down.
We feel the aches of age, the weight of disease, and the sting of disability.
Our bodies are fragile and temporary.
But look back at v. 43.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;
sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;
God will clothe us with bodies that will never again feel pain, weakness, or death.
Philippians 3:20-21 gives us another picture.
He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
Imagine this.
Bodies pattered after Christ’s resurrection body.
He ate with the disciples.
He walked and talked with them.
Yet his body was glorious, no longer subject to decay.
This is the promise for every Christian.
Think of the imagery Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 15:36-38.
A seed looks weak, small, and unimpressive.
Yet, when it grows, it becomes something entirely different — strong, vibrant, and full of life.
You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.
But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.
How Should This Shape My Life Now?
How Should This Shape My Life Now?
I need to live with hope
I need to live with hope
when sickness strikes or my body weakens, I need to remember this is not the final version of me.
A better body is coming.
I must now allow my present weakness to steal my future hope.
I can face death with confidence
I can face death with confidence
If death is likened to the planting of a seed, what goes into the ground in weakness will be raised in glory.
Death is Swallowed Up in Victory
Death is Swallowed Up in Victory
Now, let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 15.
When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.
See the certainty.
When this happens, not if. God has promised it.
Back in v. 26, Paul calls death the enemy.
It has loomed over humanity since the garden until now.
Every person has felt its power.
But the resurrection of Jesus has changed the story.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Both were defeated at the cross.
Jesus bore our sin and fulfilled the law.
Jesus rose again to break death’s grip forever!
This is why Paul taunts death:
Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?
The grave has no power over the child of God.
Death, once a tyrant, now has been reduced to a doorway - a passageway into the presence of Christ.
Since this is the case, see how Paul breaks out in praise:
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Death is not a defeat, it is victory, because Jesus has conquered the grave.
As We Close…
As We Close…
The return of Christ is not a threat to the Christian. It is our greatest hope.
When He comes, the dead in Christ will rise, the living will be changed, and death itself will be swallowed up forever.
What we see now as weakness, sorrow, and loss, will be replaced with strength, joy, and life everlasting.
Look at how Paul concludes the section in 1 Thessalonians:
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
That’s what today’s lesson is intended to do.
We need to life our eyes from the graves of this world to the glory of the world to come.
No Christian dies in vain, no grave holds the faithful forever, and no sorrow lasts beyond the trumpet of God.
But this promise is only for those in Christ.
Jesus said there will be a resurrection to life and a resurrection to judgment.
and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
On the last day, every person will rise, but not everyone will share in victory.
The question is, “are you ready?”
If you belong to Jesus, you can look forward with joy. You can face the future with confidence. You can live today with courage.
Because soon, we win.
Soon, Christ will appear and death will be no more.
Until then, remain faithful, encourage each other, and long for His appearing.
