Hope

Have you sat down to read whole books of the Bible in one sitting?  I haven't with some of the longer books, but recently I've been reading the New Testament epistles.  It  has been so helpful to read the letters as a whole, and not just by chapters.  It keeps the context fresh & really highlights the overall themes.

I mentioned how thankful I am for the book of Acts & the insight it offers in reading the epistles.  I was struck when I was reading 1 Thessalonians that as Paul is encouraging the believers in their faith, the hope he offers them is the return of Christ and the resurrection.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

And then I started thinking that in 1 Corinthians Paul offers those believers the same hope!

Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:12-24

 So the interesting thing to me is this.  The letter to the Thessalonians was to encourage them to continue to believe and preach the gospel in the face of severe persecution.  The letter to the Corinthians was to exhort them to put away the sin in their lives and be loving and generous in the face of extreme prosperity.  But both are supposed to be encouraged by the hope of the resurrection!  God chooses to grow the members of Christ's church in different ways, and use us for different facets of His glory, and our future with Him is what gives us hope no matter the circumstances.