The Hope of Christ's Return

The first thing to understand about the Hope is that the dead really are dead.

Notice God says, "in death there is no remembrance of thee."  If in death, there is no remembrance of God, how can the dead be conscious in heaven with God?

Right!  "The dead praise not the Lord," because they can't; they're dead!  And notice God says they "go down into silence."

So the dead don't remember God; they can't give Him thanks; they don't praise Him; and they're silent.

Notice God says, "the dead know not any thing."  If they don't know anything, they don't know anything!  If they were conscious, they'd know something.

"The memory of them is forgotten" is a poor translation.  It doesn't mean that other people forgot them.  If it did, we wouldn't be able to remember anyone who had ever died.  It means that what they remembered is forgotten; their memory is gone; they don't remember anything.  Everything they knew, they forgot.  And God says they no longer have a reward.

Let's read the next verse.

All their emotions - everything they thought and felt is perished!  And they're no longer a part of anything that's done under the sun forever!

This is a figure of speech.  The grave is put for the people in the grave.  And God says they can't praise Him and they can't hope for His truth!

So the dead don't remember God; they can't give Him thanks; they don't praise Him; they're silent; they don't know anything; they no longer have rewards; they don't remember anything; their love, hatred, and envy is gone (perished); they're no longer a part of anything that's done under the sun forever; and they can't hope for God's truth!  That kind of limits their abilities, doesn't it?

Why did Peter remind them that David "is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day"?

Notice that Peter, by inspiration, said, "David is not ascended into the heavens."  Then where is he?  He's in his sepulcher!  So how can people believe that they can die and go immediately to heaven?  If you could die and go immediately to heaven, wouldn't David already be up there?  After all, David was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22).  But David is not in heaven; he's dead!

So who has the power of death?  The Bible says it's the devil!  Then how is it that people say, when someone dies, that God "called him home"?  If the devil has the power of death, then the devil caused him to die, either directly or indirectly.

But God wouldn't "call him home" in any case because, as we read before, he wouldn't remember God, wouldn't give Him thanks, wouldn't praise Him, wouldn't love Him, couldn't know anything, couldn't remember anything, and couldn't hope for God's truth!  It'd be like having a dead body lying around the house.  (Hey, it would be a dead body lying around the house!)

Now let's look at the resurrection.

If the dead are already in heaven, why do we need a resurrection?  In our society it seems that the idea of the dead being already in heaven has replaced both the earnest expectation of the Hope of Christ's return, and the resurrection.

Hardly anyone yearns for Christ to come back anymore.  They say when they die they go to heaven.  If that were true, death would be a joyous event.  But the sorrow at funerals reveals the lie!

Besides, if Jesus Christ had to be raised from the dead before he ascended up to heaven, what makes people think that they can go to heaven without being raised from the dead?

If there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ is raised from the dead!

Notice God says, "if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."

So are we saved by the cross?  If Jesus Christ had done everything he did, including dying for our sins, but God hadn't raised him from the dead, your faith would be vain (empty); you would still be in your sins!

So without the resurrection, Christ is not raised, our believing is vain, we are yet in our sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  But if people die and go immediately to heaven, they're not perished; they're alive in heaven without a resurrection!  How can that be if, without the resurrection, they would be perished and still in their sins?

Notice also that God says the dead in Christ are "fallen asleep".  He does not say they're "awake".  That's a euphemism, but it's accurate.

When I go to sleep at night, I'm not aware of anything and I don't remember anything until I wake up.  That's what death is like, except the dead don't dream.  Also, when one goes to sleep, the duration of the sleep is uncertain, but the expectation is that the sleeper will awaken.  That, again, is what death is like.  God has promised to raise us up, but we don't know when.

Yes, because if God does not raise us up, when we die we'll be gone forever; we'll cease to exist.

Notice God says that all shall be made alive in Christ, but each in his own order.  Christ was the first one, nearly 2000 years ago.  But when shall they that are Christ's be made alive?  At his coming.  When will that be?  According to the next verse, it's just before the end.

Notice God says that death is an enemy!  If, when we die, we go immediately to heaven and live in glory with no death and no sickness, loving each other and praising God, then death would be a welcome friend, not an enemy!

If the dead rise not, then this life is all there is!  We might as well enjoy what we can of it!

Now let's look at a couple of places where God talks about the gathering together.

He says, "We."  He's talking to believers, not the entire world.  And notice the accurate euphemism.

The "corruptible" is that believer who has corrupted or can corrupt - in other words, the dead.  The "mortal" is that believer who will still be alive when Christ returns.

Notice that when we're raised or changed, we'll be incorruptible and immortal.  We'll literally have new bodies that will be like the body Jesus Christ has now (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2)!

Notice God's Word says "then".  Death is not swallowed up in victory yet.  But at the gathering together when we get our new bodies, it will be!

And what a victory that will be!

Our labor is not in vain because, even if we die before Christ returns, God will raise us up!

When one of the believers falls asleep (not awake), I don't have to sorrow like the unbelievers who have no hope because I know that God will raise my brother or sister in Christ up at the gathering together and we will be together throughout all eternity.  And I imagine that about a billion years after the gathering together, this life will be only a dim memory, about like our childhood is now.

The word "prevent" is old English.  Today we would use the word "precede".  Those who will be alive when Christ returns will not be gathered before those who have fallen asleep.

The dead believers will rise with new bodies.  Then we who are alive will be changed.  Then we all go together to meet Jesus Christ in the air.  Notice God does not say that Jesus will set foot on the earth at that time.  That comes later.

Notice God says, "comfort one another with these words."  He does not tell us to comfort one another by saying that the dead are already up in heaven!

After the gathering together there is a period of wrath or tribulation.  That doesn't interest me all that much because we'll miss it entirely (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  Instead, we'll be at the bema getting rewards (1 Corinthians 9:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4).  After the wrath, the devil is thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10) and everyone not in the gathering together is raised from the dead and judged according to his works (Revelation 20:11-13).  Then there'll be a new heaven and a new earth which will last forever (Revelation 21:1-4).  There's not much in the Word about what we'll be doing there, but just the fact that we'll be dwelling in righteousness will make it wonderful!

This study was written by Jeffrey Moore, who lives in Southern California