For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 KJV
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 NASB
In these well-known verses of 1 Thessalonians, Paul is seeking, by divine revelation, to “perfect that which is lacking” in their faith. Persecution was rocking the new believers in Thessalonica. Added to that was Paul’s absence which some used as an occasion to criticize the apostle. As a result of persecution, it may be that some of their number had been martyred. This raised questions in their minds about those who had died and their future place in the kingdom.
So, Paul put pen to paper to diffuse their worries and teach them the great truth of the Lord’s return for His saints and then with His saints into the kingdom. We can be thankful that Satan hindered Paul from coming to see them (1 Thess 2:18). The result of his inability to be with them is that he was relegated to writing this letter, a letter which has been a comfort to countless believers through the ages.
There may well be technical and exegetical difficulties in the section, but what is of value to us at this moment is:
A Great Confidence
The future resurrection of departed saints is just as sure as the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. “If we believe that Jesus died and rose …” is the foundation for all that follows. Every Christian burial can have this confidence: that as assuredly as Christ died and rose, so the believer who has fallen asleep will share in His resurrection. All the power of Satan and his horde of demons could not keep Christ in the grave.
A Great Contrast
Jesus died but believers sleep. The difference in wording is intentional. He passed through death. He experienced what many who will be alive at the rapture will never know. He died! Elsewhere, the Spirit of God tells us that He tasted death (Heb 2:9) for everything. He experienced death in all its dimensions.
Believers, however, are characterized as “sleeping.” This, of course, relates to the body. But the imagery is intentional. When a saint breathes her last on earth it is similar to going to sleep. The terrors of death no longer surround that last moment. The body sleeps, awaiting a wakening shout. The spirit and soul depart to “be with Christ,” to be “at home.”
A Great Comfort
He died; we sleep. Some translations suggest that the expression should be “put to sleep in Jesus” or “by Jesus.” Whichever translation you prefer, the truth which it contains is still an infinite comfort. In a world that sees only the material, which for convenience and cost reduction, cremates a body because it has no future, we can have great comfort that a body sown in death will know not only resurrection but resurrection in power and in glory (1 Cor 15:43). (There are countries where cremation is mandatory and is not a reflection of a secular worldview).
Paul closes his section of teaching with the exhortation to comfort one another with these words. Again, there are many nuances to the meaning of “comfort” in the text. Whichever you take, you cannot help but be comforted, exhorted, challenged, and helped.
But never lose sight of the cross: He died that we might sleep.