When was the last time you were in a cemetery? What kind of memories or feelings does the idea, thought or sight of a cemetery produce in your heart and mind? I remember as a kid going on vacation to visit my Grandpa Distler who lived in Illinois in the small town of Sutter. He pastored the Sutter Salem Bible Church. Out back of their property this church had its own cemetery. It seemed so big back then. My sister and I loved playing hide and seek in that cemetery. But in all the many hours we spent running and hiding in that graveyard, it never once crossed my mind that years down the road I would be back there to preach my Grandpa’s funeral and then years after that to bury my Grandma. I think about my Grandpa and Grandma often. I miss them dearly.
The church at Thessalonica had been thinking quite a bit about cemeteries and their loved ones who had died as well. However, thought of their loved ones who had already died had created a huge problem within their spirit as seen in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15. The Apostle Paul had earlier spent 3 weeks in Thessalonica on his missionary journey teaching them and grounding these believers in Jesus and their faith but his time with them was cut short due to a plot to kill him.
A while later he sent young Timothy to see how these Thessalonican believers were doing and Timothy returned with a number of questions from them. One of these areas of questioning showed that the believers at Thessalonica were uninformed about those who had already died. They were asking questions like, What was the spiritual welfare of those who already died? Would those who had died miss out on Christ’s return? Or even worse, had they all, dead and alive, missed the rapture completely? These questions brought great dismay to these believers. That is why Paul writes the letter that we know as 1 Thessalonians, to answer these questions. In verse 13 of chapter 4, he writes,
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as those who have no hope.”
As Paul writes this letter to answer their questions, he speaks of those who have died as being “asleep.” Why does Paul and the Bible refer to dead believers in this manner? First, we must understand that there are many incorrect views concerning death. For example, there is reincarnation which teaches that the soul is re-born based on one’s performance in a previous life. There is the belief of restorationism which says that all men will get a second chance to make peace with God after death. Materialism communicates that when man dies he ceases and rots into nothingness. That’s why materialistic people have the philosophy in life that says, “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die.” There are also other incorrect views such as purgatory which is a belief that those who are guilty of lesser sins go through a purifying suffering in a place called purgatory. The Bible using the word “asleep” to describe dead believers has also brought on an incorrect view called soul sleep which teaches that the soul sleeps between death and resurrection. This is not the case. So why did Paul use the word “asleep to describe the dead?” We’ll find out tomorrow.
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