Being with the Lord – ‘better by far’
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 for ever.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
How should we as Christians respond when we hear someone speaking of their loved ones being reunited after death? I have heard something like that expressed a number times since Her Majesty the Queen died, with people remarking, with comfort and gratitude, that she has gone to join her late husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Indeed, her son King Charles expressed the same idea in his first televised address as King last Friday: “And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last journey to join my dear late Papa…”
It is of course natural that we should wish that those we love, and who have loved each other, should be reunited after death, and not separated by death. And this desire reveals that there is a longing for life after death within us, which is what the Bible leads us to expect, because “[God] has also set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV). This longing should not surprise us, since we creatures are made in the image of the eternal and immortal God.
At the same time, the Bible says a lot more about believers being with the Lord after death, than it does about them being with each other. That is what Jesus himself, as he was dying, promised the thief dying next to him: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43, NIV). And Paul can even say, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23, NIV).
In the passage above, from 1 Thessalonians, it does speak of believers being reunited after death, whether they are “the dead in Christ” or those “who are still left alive” – but even then it is “to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.” The emphasis is on being with the Lord. It then follows that those who are with the Lord will also be with one another, but it is being with the Lord that matters and is decisive. Alas, we can have no confidence that those who are not “with the Lord” will be reunited with those they have loved after death.
However, in the case of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, we can with confidence rejoice that they are with each other – because each of them has gone to be with the Lord through their faith in Jesus who died and rose again.
Father, thank you for the comfort we can have in knowing that when we die we go to be with the Lord – which is “better by far” – and also to be with all those who have believed in him. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)