Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 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. 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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭51‬-‭57‬
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When I was growing up there were two kinds of vegetables: vegetables and vegetables plus.  Take broccoli for example: there was plain ordinary broccoli, and then there was broccoli with nacho cheese sauce on top. My mom was a little more healthy (either that, or as missionaries we were too poor for the nacho cheese sauce) so we just had broccoli. But when I went to my friend's house, I got the nacho cheese sauce on top.

Now one significant distinction needs to be made: kids typically have great disdain for vegetables. They hate the taste of them in general. They loathe them. So some parents try to mix them with something yummy to counteract this bad taste. But the nutrients in vegetables are needed to live a healthy life.

And so it is with death. With the exception of two people, death is something everyone in the history of the world has tasted eventually. It is inevitable. And many, like kids eating broccoli, dread it.  And for good reason — for without the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we would all live for eternity in the pit of hell.

But for the Christian, we have a different hope. This hope is like the nacho cheese sauce on the broccoli. It tastes good. When Christians die, we know we will be in heaven and ushered into an eternity of the ultimate life with God and Jesus! It is a good taste, though physical death here can be a hard pill to swallow.

Paul here, describes the actual process by which we will be raised to life with Jesus: 1) The Lord will come down from heaven and with him the Archangel. And the trumpet of God will blast! (Imagine the amazing power and might of this sound!) 2) The righteous dead in Christ will rise from their graves and go to him. 3) And then the remaining living on the earth will also rise with him together with the dead. 4) And we will all ascend into heaven together, led by God Almighty!

What a glorious day that will be! What a wonderful eternity we have to look forward to!  And so we take courage here on earth amidst trials and persecutions of various kinds.  With the threat of death sometimes close by, we have a prevailing hope! 

Death for most has a sting. This is because of sin in their life. Since they do not measure up to God’s law, the consequences of this sin is an eternal death.  So their physical death has not hope, only dread.  

But death for the followers of Jesus Christ has lost its sting.  Because Jesus defeated sin and death by his sacrifice on the cross, paying the price of our sins and removing the consequence of eternal death from us who believe.  And so instead of a sting, there is a glorious hope with death!  This is why elsewhere Paul said: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬)

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 

Lord, thank you that through the power of the love of Jesus Christ to die for my sins, you have taken away the sting of death and replaced it with a prevailing and eternal hope! No matter the worst this world throws at me, I still believe in and set my hope upon Jesus and the eternity you have in store for your faithful followers!