A pastor writes: ‘The great preacher Dr Donald Grey Barnhouse, whose first wife died, was driving his kids from the funeral. One of the kids said, “Daddy…where did Mommy go? I don’t understand what it means that she died.”…Just then, a truck passed by and cast a shadow over the car. He…said, “Kids, would you have rather been hit by the truck or hit by the shadow?”…Then he said, “Kids, when you die without Christ, you are hit by the truck. When you die with Christ, you are only hit by the shadow.”’ Paul writes: ‘We want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: we who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever’ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NLT).

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.