IN CHRIST, GOD IS FOR YOU, NOT AGAINST YOU!

WORD FROM THE CENTER: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Welcome to “Word from The Center” MONDAY, a devotional word from the Center of our faith, Jesus Christ, with reflections on His Word. I’m Gregory Seltz. Today’s verses are 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 where St. Paul writes,

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are 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.

IN CHRIST, GOD IS FOR YOU, NOT AGAINST YOU!

We’re not exactly sure what was troubling the Thessalonian Christians. But one thing is clear. They were confused about the Second Coming of Christ. They may have even worried that their loved ones would somehow miss out because they had died before Christ had come back again. Death is one of those realities that shakes us all. It confronts each one of us with not only our mortality, but our sinful inability to be the people God created and intended us to be, people united in life and hope. In this letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul comforted these worried and weary believers with the fact that their loved ones who died in the Lord would not be forgotten or miss out on Jesus’ return. There was a much better plan than they were imagining. God is gracious and will take care of every detail. INDEED, IN CHRIST, BELIEVERS ARE BLESSED IN ALL THINGS, EVEN IN DEATH. “BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHO DIE IN THE LORD” (Revelation 14:13). WOW!

That's great to hear, isn't it? But isn't it ALSO true that you and I tend to be like those Thessalonians? WHEN FACED WITH TROUBLE, even those of us who know and trust in God’s grace still tend to doubt His goodness.

How many times have you experienced a blessing and, suddenly, as you reflected on it, you wondered, “When will the other shoe drop?” Or just after you got that great job or promotion, you immediately began to doubt if you can handle the job or you wonder if there’s another person more qualified or talented than you. Or perhaps you looked at your beautiful sleeping child and immediately began to dread the thought of losing him or her when they get older. Maybe you celebrated your wedding anniversary, but thoughts of losing your spouse came swooping in amidst that moment of joy. Perhaps you enjoyed an invigorating walk or run and immediately started to worry about losing your health. “This can't last,” you think to yourself. “If things are good right now, I’d better prepare myself for the worst!” All of this thinking imagines that God is not for you, but against you at every turn. We so easily doubt that God is for us, AND THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST SEDITIOUS RESULTS OF OUR BROKENNESS AND SIN.

But the Apostle Paul EMPHATICALLY PROCLAIMS WHAT WE NEED TO HEAR DAILY. God is not against us; in and through Jesus Christ, He is ACTUALLY on our side amidst it all

(see Romans 8:31-32). In today’s reading, Paul unfolds God's beautiful end-time plan FOR ALL BELIEVERS.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are 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 (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

Who could imagine a better chain of events AT THE END OF THE WORLD? God will not only take care of our deceased loved ones. They “will rise first” WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.

That's the truth about God for you right now as well. Many feel like the world is unraveling as never before. We wonder if “end time” chaos might be upon us as we speak. We don’t see many quality leaders anywhere. We don’t see sane policies or civil politics even in this, the freest country in the world. Wavering, duplicitous, cowardly, brash, and arrogant are adjectives that describe many in our day. But what happens when death is all around us, or the uncertainties of life besiege us? In the midst of such realities, Paul reminds us about who God is and what He has done for us all. He reminded those believers in Thessalonica that God, unlike us, doesn’t waver. He makes His promises; He fulfills His promises. And because He fulfilled His promise to send our Savior Jesus Christ, their future and ours is secure in Him even now. In the fickleness of this moment in our culture, when you can’t get anyone to say a clear “Yes” or “No” and actually mean it, “St. Paul comforts us with the fact that God’s promises are always “Yes” in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 1:20).”And that’s something to be counted on today, tomorrow, and even when Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead.

PRAYER – Dear Lord Jesus, teach us to be useful instruments in Your hands so that we might be a blessing to the culture in which we live. But never let us forget the ultimate mission of our time on this earth. It is the work of offering real hope to all people in the message of eternal life that comes by grace through faith in You alone. May we continue to comfort each other with those words. To those ends, bless us. AMEN

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