We believe that Jesus… rose again. 1 Thessalonians 4:14, NIV

Jesus died on the cross. But death could not hold Him. So, on the third day, He rose from the grave.

But here is the great enigma for us: our Christian loved ones who have died, have not yet risen. If you go to the cemetery where your loved one is buried, or to the place where her ashes were scattered, what do you see? Your Christian loved one has gone through Good Friday, but she has not yet reached Easter Sunday. It is like an unresolved chord. No wonder it seems so incomplete to you. It is incomplete. It is unfinished. There has to be something more.

Paul tells us what that something more is: “God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (4:14). Christians who have died will come with Christ and will rise in Christ. Paul makes it pretty clear that they are with Jesus now.

He goes on to say that “the dead in Christ will rise first” (4:16). Notice the phrase “dead in Christ.” Even death cannot break your union with Christ. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When our Lord appears, “the dead in Christ will rise” (4:16). This means that they will enter into the full blessing of the resurrection, experienced in a glorified soul and body.

Have you felt the “unresolved chord” of a Christian loved one who has died? If so, how does understanding what still lies ahead help you?