All Things New, Pt. 2
Last week we began the series by comparing the Biblical picture to the Western Folk Religion story about what happens after we die. While there is some overlap, it’s very limited, and the focus isn’t the same at all. This week, we’re looking at some of the earlier verses in the New Testament that talk about what happens to followers of Jesus who die before his return.
The Blessed Hope - Nathan Greene (nathangreene.com)
While people die before Jesus’ return seems completely normal to us, to the first Christians to whom the New Testament was first written, it was a source of many questions and even anxiety. Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended and angels declared to the first followers: 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 1:11) - but now Christians were dying and Jesus hadn't returned - what was happening to them, and would they miss some significant part of salvation when Jesus returned?
Anchor Texts:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESVUK - The Coming of the Lord
1 Corinthians 15:35-49 ESVUK - The Resurrection Body
Questions to Ponder:
What questions to you have concerning what happens to your loved ones when they die? Feel free to pass these on to Pastor Nate to help shape the rest of this sermon series.
Have you ever imagined being reunited with loved ones who have followed Jesus but have died? How does the passage in 1 Thessalonians 4 influence the way you imagine being reunited? What questions does it raise?
Re-read 1 Corinthians 15:42-49. Can you try to summarize what this section is saying about our future existence at the resurrection?
Have you usually read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 with a focus on an event called the rapture? How did what Pastor Nate preach differ from this “rapture” focus? In what ways are they similar?
The Theme in Song:
Yes, I am aware it’s not Easter season, but this song covers the themes of our passages so well that I can’t pass it up. It’s a new hymn to me, so I have included the words first for you to read, then you can hear a lovely choral version of it from King’s College.
This joyful Eastertide,
away with sin and sorrow!
My Love, the Crucified,
has sprung to life this morrow:
Refrain:
Had Christ, who once was slain,
not burst His three-day prison,
our faith had been in vain;
but now has Christ arisen,
arisen, arisen;
but now has Christ arisen!
2 Death’s flood has lost its chill
since Jesus crossed the river;
Lover of souls, from ill
my passing soul deliver: [Refrain]
3 My flesh in hope shall rest
and for a season slumber
till trump from east to west
shall wake the dead in number: [Refrain]
Here are the lyrics from a very different style of music for you to consider as well. The song is call “Alive” and it’s by Kings Kaleidoscope, a hip-hop artist. It’s written from the perspective of one who is speaking to the enemy, Death.
Don't you get that I'm defended?
I will never die.
It's a battle that you can't win
This love, it keeps me alive
And I won't ever have to die a death
My final breath, the birth of life,
And I will rise up resurrected
My past and future in Christ.
You will never feel my freedom
The embrace of life
Know the power of a new life
Where fear and faith can collide
You'll never see me in the fiery depths
My soul is kept in paradise
Until I rise up resurrected
I'm right here, right now, alive
And I can hear the beat of heaven
Feel the pulse of life
In my blood and in my future
It keeps my feet in the fight
You'll never see my in the fiery depths
My soul is kept in paradise
Until I rise up resurrected
I'm right here, right now, alive.