I Thessalonians 4:13,14

I Thessalonians 4:13,14 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Death is a great mystery. Everyone goes through the door of death, but no one comes back to tell us what it was like. That is no one except Jesus Christ. Oh, there are stories of what people call near death experiences, but that is only near death. Lazarus was the only one who was really dead for any amount of time. And the evil men who killed Jesus wanted to kill Lazarus too. Lazarus must have been a powerful speaker for Jesus! So in our verses for today, Paul says that God wants us to know what happens at death. God doesn’t want us to be afraid of death. When a Christian dies, their body is buried, but their soul goes immediately up to Jesus. We aren’t really dead, it is as if we are asleep. Because when Jesus comes back at what is called the Rapture, we will wake up! Our soul and our body will be reunited; our body will be changed and come up out of the ground to meet Jesus in the air. This changed body will be our heavenly body just like the one that Jesus has. We will never face death again. We will live forever with Jesus and God the Father. What a wonderful time that will be!