Ezekiel Kimosop Supporter

Where are the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16)?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 says:

"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." (NKJV). 

This passage of Scripture affirms that those who die in the Lord are not lost. They have simply exited this earthly life.

The bodies of those who have died in Christ lie in their earthly graves. Their souls are however preserved in the presence of God to await the rapture (2 Timothy 4:7-8). This is the reason that 1 Thessalonians 4:14 speaks of Christ coming with them. 

Scripture elsewhere teaches that to be absent from this world is to be present with Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 says"So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." (NKJV)

We learn from 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 that "...the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (NKJV). 

This Scripture reveals the distinction between the perishable earthly body and the spiritual body that the dead will adorn upon their resurrection. The earthly body is marked with dishonour, weakness, and familiarity. The resurrection body will be glorified and spiritual. The spiritual or glorified resurrected body is incomprehensible to our natural finite minds but this reality will be made manifest upon the coming of Christ. There is a residual mystery of the heavenly life that God has concealed from us until Christ is revealed. 

As we yearn for the coming of Christ, we are confident that the souls of the dead in Christ are preserved by God for the special eschatological event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

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Truth Finder Supporter

The position of the human body at death resembles that of a person engaging in sleep. This is merely a euphemism. The spirit either returns to the Father if they are part of the redeemed and remains with Him until the resurrection of their bodies in the last day, or the damned go to hell to suffer and await their future resurrection of their bodies to be cast into the lake of fire.

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