“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” –{1 Thess 4:16}

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.What Glorious news of Hope amidst the sorrows of a loved one “In Christ” who has passed.  Listen to this – concerning the burial place of a loved one who belongs to Jesus Christ. It can be so, so painful, to stand beside the gravesite of a loved one. But I want you to realize that is not their end. For in their story there still is a “But God…” …You are standing beside their launching pad! You are standing beside their RESURRECTION SITE where one day God at His beckoning, according to His timetable will call and they and all who know Him will be launched into His presence with new Heaven- equipped bodies to forever be with their LORD and God Jesus Christ! Take Hope and comfort … you stand beside God’s launching pad – The site of the Resurrection of their bodies for your loved one “In Christ.”

So, the next time you visit the gravesite of a loved one “In Christ,” amidst the sadness and mingled perhaps with tears, let this thought comfort and strengthen you. You are standing beside their RESURRECTION SITE! At His bidding, they will lift off defying all natural laws as their bodies come out of that grave into God’s presence equipped with a new heaven-made, equipped body where you “In Christ” will meet and greet again in great joy!

  • Upon death the soul goes to be with Him, …“but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”-{2 Co 5:8}. And that one day they will receive new resurrected and equipped bodies forever to dwell in the presence of God! Glory! 
  • “… the soul immediately goes to be with God and there is a continuity of personal existence. There is no interruption of life at the end of this life, but we continue to be alive in our personal souls upon death.”-{RC Sproul}  

Consider these verses and praise Him,

1.- “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. “-(1 Thess 4:16)

2.- “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”-(1 Cor 15:55-57)

3.- “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, WILL TRANSFORM OUR LOWLY BODIES SO THAT THEY WILL BE LIKE HIS GLORIOUS BODY.”-(Phil 3:20-21)

4.- “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.”-(1 Thess 4:13-14 NLT)

This is GOOD NEWS… even in the Grave there is a “BUT GOD…”

Because of His resurrection, there awaits our loved ones that have passed a RESURRECTION for them too – and some of you can visit that site- their RESURRECTION SITE!

But for some, it is a CONDEMNATION Site. Without Christ Condemned to Hell! -“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”-{John 3:18};

“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief;”-{1 Thess 5:2-4}

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore, encourage {comfort} one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing.”-{1 Thess 5:9-11}. For the grieving saints who have loved ones “In Christ,” he says that there is to be mutual encouragement, in the coming alongside one another to comfort, encourage with identification, and with these God-given words of hope that the departed believers will not miss the return of the LORD but will be the first to have their bodies in the grave resurrected to meet Him. Their souls are already with Him “Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”-{2 Cor 5:8 nlt}. Now their bodies will be raised and as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, ”

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”-{1 Cor 15:42-44}.

What motivation for us believers to share the Hope of the Gospel is that the grave is not the end but that it can be a glorious end with new resurrected bodies for all those in Christ when He calls those “ In Christ” to come forth from the grave to… forever be with Him!

The Grave of a Believer is their launching pad- their Resurrection site- which you can visit and know that the gravesite of the believer “in Christ,”  where you stand is the place one day when God’s timetable runs down that there will be an emptying of the graves of the bodies of those – “In Christ,” who will be resurrected- launched into His presence to unite their new bodies with their souls to be forever with the LORD- What glorious hope- not even death can separate or conquer, hold down or have the final say because for those “In Christ, ” there is a glorious “But God….” who has the final- resurrected say in their lives!!

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” –{1 Thess 4:16}

God bless, comfort, and encourage you.

Aidan.