“For this we declare to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death].” 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ->me: The passage this verse is taken from is widely used at funeral services. A passage that encourages the saints at Thessalonica to have a hope in the believers that had died before the second coming. In fact, the entire New Testament regards believers who have died as only being ‘asleep’. In the same passage here were Paul talks about believers who have fallen asleep, he says the we can have hope because Jesus DIED and rose again. He did not say ‘Jesus fell asleep and then rose again’, no; Jesus endured the horror of death–> the wages of sin for us so that sleep would take the place of death for the follower of Christ. Is that not awesome??? So all of my loved ones (Papa, Pappy, Grandma, Nana, and all the others) are just sleeping until the Lord returns. If I am ‘awake’ when He returns then the reunion will not only be with Jesus but with all of those who fell asleep before. The other awesome thing about this is that when I see Jesus on that day, I will never be out of His presence again….for all eternity. Ahhhh……
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