People die every day. There are illnesses, accidents, crimes. The losses are the most difficult experiences of life on earth. Nothing can interrupt a life and send you into a tailspin like the death of a loved one. Nothing else comes close. Not losing a job, losing a dream, losing a friendship—nothing will rock your world like saying goodbye at the edge of a grave.
However, “We do not grieve like those who have no hope” 1 Thessalonians 4:13.
We know Jesus and we know He conquered death. We have hope in the face of death. We KNOW we will be reunited. We KNOW we will have no more tears. We KNOW there is more to this life than living and dying and pushing up daisies.
“DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory” 1 Corinthians 15:54.
Paul quotes the Old Testament: “O Death, Where is your victory? O Death, Where is your sting?” I Cor. 15:54-55. The resurrection of Jesus and the coming resurrection of His people remove the sting of death.
Death is a paper tiger. It’s not easy—it will always be difficult. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
Jesus told the Sadducees they were wrong to doubt the resurrection, to believe people die, go into the grave, and that’s it:
“Moses taught that God IS the God [present tense] of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, because to Him all are alive” Luke 20:27-28.
Thank Jesus for HOPE. Thank Him that we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We WILL see our loved ones again. We WILL meet ancestors we have so far only heard about. We WILL walk and talk with Jesus and Peter and Paul and Noah. Heaven is your real home and that hope makes every hard day on earth bearable.
Thank God for that hope, and ask Him to help you share it today.
Read Luke 20.
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