Time, Time, Time

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  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.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.   And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words. - 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

It seems that the congregation there at Thessalonica had some questions about those that had died before them.  Paul writes this to assure them that the grave is not the end for the Christian and he proceeds to prophesy about how Jesus will return.  His main point, which we should always take great care to acknowledge and remember, is that we will all be with Jesus together one day.  The dead are not left to the grave and we are not left in this life.  All of us are with Him.

"Time, time, time, see what becomes of me" sings The Bangles in the late 80's tune Hazy Shade of Winter (although someone old like Russ will say that Simon and Garfunkel sang it).  Time is really confusing for most people although it is apparently very simple and steady in how we exist in it physically.  I don't think about it much but I do get lost in it occasionally (they just keep coming!).  None of this has anything to do with these verses except there is an element of time in it.  The description purposely  indicates that the dead will rise first and then those alive will rise and all will be together "to meet the Lord".

I comprehend this as follows.  Time is irrelevant to God.  He is in the past, present, and future at the same time.  We see life one day, minute, and second at "a time".  Each moment is separate.  God is in all moments at the "same time".  (It's kind of like the old slide show projectors, we see a slide at a time while God sees all the slides all at once.)  If we grasp that then we can understand that to God all people die at the same time.  And so "that to [Jesus] every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess" (Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11) and give account of ourselves to God at the same "time".   If you dwell on this concept it can be confounding, but at the same "time" if you consider it in light of many of the promises of God it makes a lot of sense.  God knew us before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5).  He goes before us (Isaiah 45:2).  He is with us (Matthew 28:20).  (Past, future, present)

We can get confused and bent on how to comprehend time, but it really doesn't matter much in light of these words.  "And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words."  In fact, does any topic really matter much by comparison?  What a glorious thing to comprehend!  We ... Will ... Be ... With ... The ... LORD ... Forever!  Not maybe, not could be, not might be, not wannabe, but WILL BE.  Praise God that He took mercy on me!  (Be encouraged :) !)