Need to Know. 1st Thessalonians 4:13 A lack of knowledge about a subject is not sinful, but to learn the truth and then deny or reject it is. The ignorance mentioned in this scripture passage was that this purifying hope had not been fully taught before. It had only been spoken of in general terms. The Lord's coming is both a personal and a public event. When He comes, He is coming to take us to a specific place—heaven; those He will accept are believers only. This is the first resurrection.
Those whose bodies are asleep due to physical death will have their spirit and body reunited at this resurrection. The sleep of bodies is specifically mentioned concerning believers. The true person is currently with the Lord and will be reunited with a transformed body that will be like the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Regarding believers, Christ addressed our death and judgment when He died for us on the cross. Therefore, the bodies of believers are considered to be asleep when they are "present with the Lord." That body will be awakened at Christ's return, and physical personhood will be eternal.
Those who do not have the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior lack hope for the future and do not know God. They do not possess eternal life. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” For people who live only for this life and what they can get from it, death is a frightening thing to face. It grieves those who are near death and those who love and know them. The “pains of hell” are an absolute horror when there is no hope. The confidence, good health, and success that give people strength fade away when weakness overtakes the body and a frightened look into the future takes hold of the soul. No hope! What despair those two words evoke!
The Greeks in Paul's time had a hopeless religion, much like many today. Fear of death tightly grips the souls of those without hope, Christ, or God. Christians have a "blessed hope." Our hope is based on the fact that Jesus died for us and rose again physically. Just as it happened to Him, it will happen to us at the rapture of the church. Those who endured severe persecution in the early church—and even today—are put to sleep by Jesus. Through the Lord Jesus, God will bring them with Him. Sleeping bodies and redeemed living spirits will be reunited—one from earth and the other from heaven.