When we confessed Jesus as lord and believed in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we received salvation. We were and are saved. There is great comfort in knowing that. Because we are saved, we also received the promise of eternal life. How comforting it is to know that about our future. What other comfort can we have as we wait for the hope of Christ’s return? The Hope provides comfort to us now because by it we know that the dead in Christ—born-again believers who have died—will be raised at the gathering together, that we are saved from the day of wrath, and that God will work in us mightily until Christ returns.
Knowing that the dead in Christ will be raised at the gathering together is a comfort.
II Thessalonians 2:1,2:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
It can be especially troublesome when someone we love has died. To me, knowing that there is no consciousness in death (Psalms 146:4) and that the dead are dead was not necessarily a comfort. But when I learned that God is going to raise the dead in Christ, that was a comfort! For the person who has died, there is no consciousness, no thoughts, nothing. But the next thing that a born-again believer will know is the return of Christ, for he or she will be raised incorruptible at that moment. Many, many years may pass, but his or her next conscious moment will be the day of Christ, the gathering together.
I Thessalonians 4:13:
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [are dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
The dead in Christ—those who are asleep when Christ returns for his saints—will be raised from the dead and will put on incorruption, receiving a body like Christ’s glorious resurrected body, never to die again. The born-again believers who are living will put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:53). All born-again believers shall be changed. We will meet the lord in the air, and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Our loving Father tells us in I Thessalonians 4:18, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words,” referring to I Thessalonians 4:13-17.
But, there’s more! We are saved from the future “day of wrath.” At some point after the gathering together, the day of the Lord will take place, which includes wrath, tribulation, and judgment. The born-again believers will never have to endure this wrath period because they will already have been gathered together.
Romans 5:9:
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
I Thessalonians 1:10:
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
If God’s Word says we are delivered, then we are delivered! There would be no comfort if we had to pass through the tribulation period of the Book of Revelation. The Word says we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). How could we have peace knowing we were going to have to go through the wrath to come? You can rest assured that we are not going through the wrath period because we are saved from it. What a comfort!
Today we also have comfort knowing that God will work in us mightily until Christ returns.
Philippians 1:6:
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
God gave us everlasting comfort and good hope from the moment we were saved. That should carry us through our entire lifetime. God’s comfort is everlasting!
II Thessalonians 2:16,17:
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation [comfort] and good hope through grace,
Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
God has given us everlasting comfort, and we can establish ourselves in every good word and deed until the return of Christ!
Yes, God is able to raise the dead upon Christ’s return. And we need not go through the wrath to come because we will be gathered together with him prior to that day. And God will continue to perform mightily in us until the day of Christ. The Hope provides us everlasting comfort, which is vital for us in our walk for God.