To answer your question, it will be Jesus who comes back for us. But, since He is both God and Man, then God is coming back for us. Either way, it is Jesus, the fullness of God and fully human Person who is our Savior and Lord.
Hello Shellon. I appreciate your good question that refers to 1 Thessalonians 4:14: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
When reading it, the easiest understanding would be that it is God Who comes for the catching away of the saints, with the spirits of the departed believers from Heaven. But we know from reading other Scriptures of this particular time & of the future Millenium period, that God's Presence is nowhere seen, except finally after the creation of & habitation in the New Jerusalem in the new heavens & Earth ( Revelation 21:1-4; Revelation 22:1-3).
And then in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, we read: "To the end he (Jesus) may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." So, Paul states here that it is Jesus that comes with the spirits of the saints. Then when we align this verse with the one in question, we could read 1 Thessalonians 4:14 as, '...even them also which are asleep in Jesus will God send along with Jesus'. As well, we see the clear distinction of those who are asleep in Jesus awaiting resurrection (v16), & those who are asleep in Jesus in Heaven (v14); these are not Old Testament saints, but those who have put their trust in Christ & have since passed on. When we die, our spirits leave our body to return to the Lord Who gave it, awaiting the day of resurrection when both spirit & body will be reunited & living forever with the Lord (v17). This was the great comfort to the despairing Thessalonians, who believed that the dead would not be raised or in the case of 2 Timothy 2:18, where those two false teachers taught that the resurrection of believers was already accomplished.
But we are assured that our rising to be with our Saviour is certain & those who have died 'in Christ', are not forgotten, but will come with Jesus & together we will join Him to reign with Him for eternity.
To answer your question, it will be Jesus who comes back for us. But, since He is both God and Man, then God is coming back for us. Either way, it is Jesus, the fullness of God and fully human Person who is our Savior and Lord.
When reading it, the easiest understanding would be that it is God Who comes for the catching away of the saints, with the spirits of the departed believers from Heaven. But we know from reading other Scriptures of this particular time & of the future Millenium period, that God's Presence is nowhere seen, except finally after the creation of & habitation in the New Jerusalem in the new heavens & Earth ( Revelation 21:1-4; Revelation 22:1-3).
And then in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, we read: "To the end he (Jesus) may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." So, Paul states here that it is Jesus that comes with the spirits of the saints. Then when we align this verse with the one in question, we could read 1 Thessalonians 4:14 as, '...even them also which are asleep in Jesus will God send along with Jesus'. As well, we see the clear distinction of those who are asleep in Jesus awaiting resurrection (v16), & those who are asleep in Jesus in Heaven (v14); these are not Old Testament saints, but those who have put their trust in Christ & have since passed on. When we die, our spirits leave our body to return to the Lord Who gave it, awaiting the day of resurrection when both spirit & body will be reunited & living forever with the Lord (v17). This was the great comfort to the despairing Thessalonians, who believed that the dead would not be raised or in the case of 2 Timothy 2:18, where those two false teachers taught that the resurrection of believers was already accomplished.
But we are assured that our rising to be with our Saviour is certain & those who have died 'in Christ', are not forgotten, but will come with Jesus & together we will join Him to reign with Him for eternity.
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