Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4.18
There is hope! The hope of the resurrection! Many would look at the context of this passage and go off on rabbit trails. Rabbit trails regarding the rapture, the return of Jesus and how the world will end. All things worthy of discussion but can nevertheless detract and distract from the reality we currently live and the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Death is very much a reality. We will all face it. Some sooner, some later. Some suddenly, some in painful expectation. It is the end of our life as we know it. Yet this is not the final word. The death of Jesus Christ on a Roman cross is the place and time where even death died. That is not the last word.
This same Jesus is raised from the dead, resurrected, new life and new creation are, and continue to be, affirmed in that event. We can live in the face of death with an unbound hope. A radical hope that can infuse our life with an eternal newness. A life that gets to participate in the coming of a new creation. Encourage your sisters and brothers! Take courage in the word of the resurrection!
