The Church's Eternal Glory (2 Thess. 1)

Church, there is an eternal glory coming!

We’re continuing our study through the 2 letters to the Thessalonians from Paul. We’re starting the second one today. In studying this passage, it gives insights to the answers of 2 common questions you will hear today:

Why do bad things happen to good people?

How could a loving God send people to hell?

Quick Notes on 2 Thessalonians

Pauline authorship (same as previous letter)

Date of writing was about AD 49-52, months after the first letter.

Same audience: Thessalonians

Common greeting of grace & peace

Paul’s Thanksgiving (v.3-4)

Abundantly growing faith (v.3)

Increasing love for one another (v.3)

It’s interesting to note that the Thessalonians became an example to other believers. Paul says he boasts in them, and we know he continued to do that:

2 Cor. 8:1-5 (just reference it) in the next chronological letters, Paul refers to them (churches of Macedonia), so he continued to use Thessalonians as examples.

Also interesting to note: Paul’s thankful for faith & love, but doesn’t mention hope. Must have been b/c they were still struggling, most likely in light of their affliction.

The Affliction of the Thessalonians (v.4)

a. Recurring topic in Paul’s letters to them.

b. Their Steadfastness through affliction is evidence of the righteous judgment of God

Look at it this way: God is giving them grace to persevere, which proves that He is on their side and will present them as worthy. This is part of the righteous judgment of God.

What is the righteous judgment of God? (v.6-10)

Upon Jesus’ return, God will…

Repay with affliction those who afflicted the believers

Bring relief (or “rest”) to the afflicted

Send to eternal punishment and separation from Himself those who don’t know Him, and those who do not obey the gospel of Jesus.

Question #1- Why do bad things happen to good people?

The simple answer: We live in a sinful, fallen world, and every single dimension of creation is marred by the effects of sin. The effects of sin touch the redeemed and the unredeemed.

There is no immunity for anybody from bad things.

There is also no immunity from the sinful fallen condition of each human heart—we are born into sin. It challenges the idea of “good people.”

So, suffering will come. And 1 reason for suffering is it prepares us for the kingdom of God.

Many claim that God is not fair by allowing bad things to happen. Fairness is not the standard of measurement in the Bible— justice is. And we absolutely know: God is just.

When God would judge the Thessalonians they would be declared worthy of God’s kingdom.

Endurance in trials does not make one worthy of heaven; one does not earn heaven by suffering. But endurance in trials does demonstrate one’s worthiness.

A Christian is made worthy by God’s grace, which he receives as a free gift by faith in Jesus Christ. His trials simply expose what is there already and since the character that emerges through the fire of testing is God-given, God receives all the glory.

The grace of God that makes it possible for a Christian to withstand the fires of fallen humanity, and grace is a Christian’s only claim to being worthy of God’s kingdom.

~Many complain that God is not fair. The wicked prosper, and the good suffer.

Paul insists that God is not simply fair. He is just. And justice requires that He “repay with affliction those who afflict you” and “grant relief to those who are afflicted.”

But He does not balance the books every weekend.

Farmer illustration- two farmers, one a believer and the other an atheist. When harvest season came, the atheist taunted his believing neighbor because apparently God had not blessed him too much. The atheist’s family had not been sick, his fields were rich with harvest, and he was sure to make a lot of money.

“I thought you said it paid to believe in God and be a Christian,” said the atheist.

“It does pay,” replied the Christian. “But God doesn’t always pay His people in September.”

God is just; it might seem that the wicked prosper and there might not seem to be a reconciling like we’d like to see. But there will come a day when all justice will be served.

Part of God’s judgment is eternal punishment.

Question #2- How could a loving God send people to hell?

If you skim v.5-9, these aren’t the only verses, but they certainly are some where the Bible teaches there is a literal hell, literal heaven.

If hell is not real, then God is not who the Bible says He is.

b/c to believe that people could not end up in hell is to doubt the very nature and character of God.

Remember that God is just.

Those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel are describing those who are afflicting the believers. So they are against God and against believers.

No surprise b/c: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18, ESV)

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36, ESV)

People who say, “I cannot believe that a loving God would judge sinners and send people to hell” understand neither the awfulness of sin, nor the holiness of God, nor the wrath of God.

Question #2- How could a loving God send people to hell?

This argument focus on God’s love to the exclusion of the rest of his character.

There must be eternal punishment just as there is eternal reward b/c God is just.

He is holy and must uphold that holiness.

He has made righteousness available to you through the work of Jesus on the cross (GOSPEL).

Only through Christ can you be made righteous enough to stand before the One True Holy God.

Without Christ, you are guaranteed to suffer the punishment of eternal destruction.

With Christ, you are guaranteed an eternal glory that will be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18, ESV)

Concluding Prayer: (V.11-12)