All Christians know that Christ forgives our sin so that when we die, we go to heaven. But fewer Christians realize that “going to heaven when we die” isn’t our final blessing. For after believers have gone to heaven, the day will come when Christ returns to earth and His people will be raised in the glory of the final resurrection. According to Paul, this is the hope that sustains God’s people in the trials of this life. “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” he writes. We wait now with hope for “the redemption of our bodies,” when we will finally “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:18-23).

The resurrection is absolutely necessary for our salvation. Without the resurrection of the body, Christians may be forgiven of our sins, but we are not delivered from the futility of our present mortal existence. If the dead are not raised, then despite our justification through faith in Christ, our sanctification will never be complete and we will remain eternally unfit for the glories of Christ’s kingdom. “I tell you this, brothers,” Paul wrote: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50). This is why he was so determined to inform his readers of the resurrection, the knowledge of which brings hope to our present lives of faith: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16).

Paul’s teaching on Christ’s return in 1 Thessalonians 4 is an eschatological treasure trove. While addressing the salvation of believers who have died, Paul gives straightforward teaching about Christ’s return, life after death, the rapture, and the resurrection of the dead. Each of these topics is worthy of study from this vital passage. In considering the resurrection, we will ask a number of questions, receiving answers that will not leave us uninformed (v. 4:13), but will encourage us with the apostle’s words (v. 18).

The first question to ask is: What is the resurrection of the dead? The Greek word for resurrection is anastasis, which comes from a verb that means “to raise up.” The resurrection, then, is the raising of our bodies after we have died. It is important to note the bodily nature of the resurrection, because this truth has often been neglected or assailed. The Bible values the body as God’s good creation, and Christian salvation positively affects our bodies, both now and forever. Christians are not to be radical ascetics who harmfully deny the body (1 Tim. 4:3-5) or libertines who sinfully misuse the body. Paul reasons: “Do you not know that your body in a temple of the Holy Spirit…So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). In the future resurrection, our same bodies that lived and died will be raised. The body is not simply replaced with a new body but is changed into a glorified body suitable for the new heavens and new earth in which Christ will reign forever in glory.

Realizing that our bodies will be raised and glorified should transform how Christians think about our present lives. The resurrection conveys dignity to the most humble Christian soul and body, both of which are destined to “shine like the brightness of the sky above” (Dan. 12:3). Our bodies are holy to the Lord. Reminding us that our bodies are united with Christ “in the resurrection like his,” Paul urged, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Rom. 6:5, 12). The next time you are tempted to use your body to sin, remember that it is intended by God to be transformed for a holy eternal existence.

A second question asks: Who will be raised from the dead? The Bible’s answer is that everyone who has ever lived will be raised in the body on the last day when Jesus returns. Paul speaks of the “dead in Christ” as rising when Jesus returns (v. 16), but the Bible elsewhere informs us that all will be resurrected to stand in their bodies before the final judgment, receiving either eternal punishment or reward. The angel spoke of this to Daniel in the Old Testament: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). Jesus was even more emphatic, teaching that “an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).

It is clear in these statements that while believers and unbelievers will alike be raised, they will experience radically different results. Jesus taught that on the day of judgment He will “separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:32). This indicates that there will be a tangible difference between the resurrection of the godly and ungodly. To His justified people, on His right hand, Jesus will declare, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). It will be exactly the opposite for the ungodly: “Then he will say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matt. 25:41).

If Paul tells us what the resurrection is and who will be raised, the third question we wonder about is when the dead will be raised. His clear answer is that the resurrection of the dead will occur when Jesus returns from heaven to earth in all His glory: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16).

Passage after passage in the Bible tells us that the resurrection will take place when Christ returns, as the immediate precursor to the final judgment of all mankind. Jesus combines these three events – return, resurrection, and judgment – in Matthew 25:31-32: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations.” Jesus said that “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out” (John 5:28-29), a description echoed in Paul’s statement that Christ will return “with a cry of command” (1 Thess. 4:16).

The fourth question that we should ask about the resurrection is how the dead will be raised. This question may be approached in two ways: first, asking, “By what power does the resurrection take place?” Paul answers in verse 16 by pointing to emblems of divine authority and power: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of and archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Here, God’s sovereign power is symbolized in Christ’s return by the call of the archangel and the trumpet blast of God. Jesus said that “the Father raises the dead and gives them life” (John 5:21). Realizing this divine cause for the resurrection should relieve any concerns over how bodies long decayed or otherwise damaged can ever be raised. Just as God created all things out of nothing, no barriers can thwart the Almighty in raising our bodies to glory on the last day.

The second way to approach the how of the resurrection concerns the nature of our transformation: How will believers be changed when our bodies are raised? This matter is most fully addressed by Paul in the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians: “Someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come’” (1 Cor. 15:35). The apostle answers by outlining four dimensions to the transformation of the believer’s body in the resurrection.

First, the resurrected body is imperishable so as to partake forever in the reign of Christ: “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:42). Our bodies are prone to disease and decay, our natural beauty fades over time, and ultimately the body gives way to death. But in the resurrection “the mortal puts on immortality,” so that “death is swallowed up in victory” (v. 54). Second, the resurrection body is glorious: “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory” (1 Cor. 15:43). The term dishonor is usually used by Paul with reference to the disgrace of sin, to which our bodies have been corrupted in their present desires. But in the resurrection, our bodies will shine in the glory of perfect holiness. Third, the resurrection body is mighty: it “is sown in weakness” but “raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:43). Unlike our current condition that so often falls short of what we desire, the resurrection body serves God tirelessly and powerfully in the redeemed creation. Finally, whereas we presently inhabit “a natural body,” the resurrection body is spiritual in nature: “It is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44). This statement does not mean that the resurrection body lacks material substance, but rather that it is ideally designed for the spiritual life in the age of glory with Christ.

This study of Paul’s teaching on the resurrection leaves two vital questions unanswered. A fifth question is: Why will the dead be raised? The best answer for the why of salvation is always this: that God may be glorified in the mighty working of His grace. There is another reason why the dead are raised on the last day, a reason given by Paul at the end of 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “And so we will always be with the Lord.” The eternal age of glory is designed to fulfill the covenant purpose of God. God’s purpose in salvation is “to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (Titus 2:14).

This leaves one last, vitally important question: How do we know that we will be raised? How can we be sure that there will be a resurrection of all the dead on the last day, the just into glory and the unjust into eternal death? Paul gives the answer in verse 4:15: “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord.” Paul does not seem to be referring to any statement of Christ’s that is known to us, so this is probably a revelation given directly by the risen Jesus to the apostle. Where else can we learn about life beyond the grave and the end to the history of the world than from the One who is the Alpha and Omega of all things? If the Bible is true, as it can be shown to be by its many proofs, then God’s Word is the message to which we must affix our hopes and commit our hearts in faith.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 Study Questions:

How are you glorifying God with your body? Are you a good steward of the temple (your body) of the Holy Spirit?

What is the purpose of the resurrection body?

What happens to the body of an unbeliever?

How does this study encourage you to share the gospel?