26 Oct (1 Thes 1-4)

1 Thessalonians 1

This letter was written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica. This church was vibrant and healthy but they were concerned about the return of Christ, and what would happen to those who died before that.

(v.3) Paul hits on the three points of being a Christian:

Faith ~ We have to work to keep our faith strong

Love ~ We have to labor to love others...it's not natural in our sinful state

Hope ~ We have to be patient, knowing that our reward is not on earth, but in heaven

I like to point out that Paul uses these three facets of Christianity in 1 Cor 13:13

1 Thessalonians 2

(v.4) Now that we know what Jesus did for us, we are like Paul, and we are bound to share the good news of the Gospel to others.

(v.13) We should be thanking God without ceasing for what He did for us. This should be the foundation of our lives, and because of that, we are impelled to share Christ with others.

1 Thessalonians 3

(v.12) We are to love and minister to other Christians first, then to the lost. This is not mean or proud, for God wants us to encourage and uplift each other, so collectively, we can minister to the lost.

(v.13) Here is another reference to the Rapture. We shall come with Christ, so we will be with Him before that moment...in heaven!

1 Thessalonians 4

(v.3) We touched on this before, but there are three stages of salvation:

1. Justification ~ When we accept Christ, we are justified to the Father by the blood of His Son

2. Sanctification ~ When we are justified, God gives us His Holy Spirit, and He works in our lives to make us more like Christ.

3. Glorification ~ When we finally reach heaven, we are glorified in our new heavenly bodies that will never decay, tire or have any pain!

(v.7) When God created Adam, he was sinless and holy in the eyes of the Father. However, once Adam and Eve sinned, all mankind is tainted with sin. We are not pure or holy, and it takes the blood of God Himself, Jesus, to wash away our sins.

(v.10) Again, we love and encourage other believers, and because of that, we are equipped and strengthened to reach the lost.

(v.14) When the Rapture happens, Jesus will bring all who died in faith to Him. To be more specific, the faithful are already with Him in heaven in spirit, but at the Rapture, God will lift up their DNA from their earthly bodies and make our new heavenly bodies from them.

(v.17) For the faithful still on earth, they will be lifted up in body, and God will make our heavenly bodies out of our current earthly bodies.

Don't think this is weird or impossible. If we think of how God made the whole universe by His Word, and thought and spoke it into existence, then converting our fallible earthly bodies to immortal heavenly bodies will be nothing for Him to do!!!