Thursday, November 13, 2008
1 Thessalonians 4:16 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.
FACTS CONCERNING THE FINAL RESURRECTION: DETAILS OF THAT DAY
In yesterday's devotion we had a chance to talk about how when it comes to that final day when Christ returns to this earth in power and glory, the dead in Christ won't miss out on anything since before anything else happens, the dead in Christ will be raised. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the early New Testament Christians at Thessalonica, "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" (1 Thessalonians 4:15).
In the following verse of the book of 1 Thessalonians, our reading for this morning, we are enlightened with some facts as to exactly how this will be the case. As Lord Himself comes down to the earth on this most wonderful day, we are given three pieces of information concerning the sound(s) that will accompany Him: a shout (or maybe more accurately "the sound of a loud command"), the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. Over the years there has been some discussion as to exactly how all of this will play out, but one thing we know for sure is that when this all occurs, there will be no mistaking what's going on! The sounds that will occur in connection with Christ's descent from the heavens will be the wonderful signal which will tell the bodies of those who have fallen asleep in Him to rise up immediately.
