15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.ReflectionsWritten by Ryan PhungThe fear of uncertainty is a common experience for humanity. This could include the uncertainty of what will be in an exam, the uncertainty of waiting to hear back from a job application, the uncertainty of where money will come to pay for a huge expense, and so forth. I think the one that triumphs them all of course is, the uncertainty of what happens after death – despite death being the only certainty in this life.For the unbeliever, death seems like the end with no hope and no future. But for the Christian, death is only the start of something much better. In today’s passage, the Thessalonian believers who were alive at the time were uncertain of what would happen to their brothers and sisters who had already died. They thought that believers who had already died might miss out on the blessings of Jesus’ second coming.Paul’s response is one based on comfort and assurance. Believers who have already died will be raised to be with God when Jesus comes back. Believers who are still alive will then also be taken to be with God. It is easy for us to get concerned and caught up in exactly how the timeline of bodily resurrection works, but Paul’s message is simple: he reminds Christians of the absolute certainty of an eternity where all believers will be with the Lord forever (v17). What a wonderful hope we have!The implication for the Thessalonians was to ‘encourage one another with these words’ (v18). I think we all recognise that life often feels out of control. The broken nature of our world and death disrupts the seemingly normal flow of life, but God’s word reminds us that we do indeed know exactly where we are going after this life. This leads me to reflect and pray about two things. Pray that we would continually remind each other to live in light of Jesus’ return one day.How can we point others who have no hope to the certainty and hope of an eternity with God?About the AuthorRyan is part of our Bossley Park Morning Church.