The Thessalonians faced stresses, strains, struggles, even outright persecution. In other words, life for them, as for all of us had its hard moments. How easy and understandable it would have been for them to fall into futility, nihilism, and pessimism. Instead, the Thessalonians had a sure hope, a hope based on what Christ had done for them, a hope that pointed to the greatest promise of all – the Second Coming. Though Paul chided the Thessalonians, as they had behavioral, as well as theological issues in the church, it was to them, and to us, that Paul wrote some of the most incredible, uplifting, and hopeful words in all inspiration.
This quarter, through Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, we’ll get a glimpse into the life of an early Christian church – an urban church, really – and see some of the struggles and challenges that it faced, including the difficulties that arose from the fact that Christ had not yet returned. Fascinating, too, is that however different the Thessalonians’ circumstances were from our own, so often the principles reflected in Paul’s words to the Thessalonians deal with the issues and challenges that we too confront as we await, the Lord Jesus, whose death on the cross at the first coming guarantees His return in glory at the Second.
