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When Paul the apostle wrote to the Corinthian and
Thessalonian saints, he was aware of two concerns they had
regarding the coming of the Lord. The problems were not the
same: |
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1) |
The Corinthian concern was: “What will happen to those who
are alive when the Lord comes” (1 Cor. 15:51-38) |
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2) |
The Thessalonian concern was: “What will happen to those who
were saved but have died when the Lord comes?” (1 Thess.
4:13-18) |
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Those who died without Christ, die as they have lived. They
live without hope (Eph. 2:12) and die without hope. But for
those who are saved: |
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1) |
While alive they live in hope of sharing (my paraphrase) the
glory of God. (Rom. 5:2) |
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2) |
They “wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” (Gal.
5:5) |
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3) |
They live knowing the “hope of His calling”. (Eph. 1:18) |
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4) |
They live in the “hope of eternal life”. (Titus 1:2) |
Understanding that when God used the word “hope”, it is not as we
use it. When God uses it the meaning is “joyful anticipation and
expectancy”. Since we live in the joyful anticipation and
expectancy of eternal life, death for the believer is not a dark
tunnel when one enters the unknown.
Due to us being in the body, it is hard for us to believe that death
is both a curse and a blessing. It is a blessing in that it brings
to an end the sufferings of this life. Many an individual
is
languishing in a twisted body wrecked with cancer or some other
cruel disease, and longed for death. Others have lived with the
agony of a wasted life, or a mind that no longer knows reality. The
very concept of living forever in such a state is terrible to
contemplate.
God is very understanding of our limited comprehension
and uses Paul to give us an illustration of that which happens a
believer at the moment of death. Our bodies are likened unto a seed
that is sown, after which it rises to a higher life. There is no
such a thing as an unproductive non-germinating seed in the garden
of God. Our bodies will be sown in death with the assurance that we
will rise again. We will be recognizably the same, but distinctly
different from that which we are now. They will be glorified bodies
like to our Lord’s body. But we do not have to wait for that body
to enter fulness of life, that happens at the moment of death. (2
Cor. 5:6; Phil. 1:23)
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Psalm 23 has brought comfort to many thousands of saints,
and in it we find: |
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1) |
God is all the believer needs: |
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a) |
In life: “The Lord is my Shepherd”. (v. 1) |
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b) |
In death: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death Thou are with me”. (v. 4) |
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c) |
For
eternity: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.
(v. 6) |
However, for those who are left, there is an unspeakable emptiness
in the home and deeper in the heart that nothing can replace. It is
often said that time heals. To my mind, time does not heal, one
only gets used to the situation, if such a term can be used.
When our Lord entered physical death and rose, he took away the
sting of death but He did not remove the fear of dying. There would
be very few who would not hope that when death begins to take hold
of the body, it will not be by means of a slow agonizing death.
The following are a collection of promises from God in view of this
situation.
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Promises |
Reference |
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“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens” |
2 Cor. 5:1 |
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“For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain” |
Phil. 1:21 |
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“To be with Christ; which is far better” |
Phil. 1:23 |
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“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:
for He shall receive me” |
Psa. 49:15 |
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“Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive
me to glory” |
Psa. 73:24 |
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“0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?
. . . But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ” |
1 Cor. 15:55-57 |
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“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” |
2 Cor. 4:16 |
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“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" |
Psa. 23:6 |
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“For the LORD
thy God, He it is that doth go before thee; He will not fail
thee, nor forsake
thee” |
Deut. 31:6 |
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“This is my comfort in my affliction: for Thy word hath
quickened me” |
Psa. 119:50 |
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“My times are in thy hands” |
Psa. 31:15 |
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“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
saints” |
Psa. 116:15 |
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“I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning
them which are asleep . . . For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again,
even so . . . will God bring with Him?” |
1 Thess. 4:13, 14 |
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“Absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” |
2 Cor. 5:8 |
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“Meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord” |
1 Thess. 4:17 |
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“His servants shall serve Him . . . and they shall
see His face” |
Rev. 22:3-4 |
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“Worms destroy this body” |
Job. 19:26 |
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“To appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness” |
Isa. 61:3 |
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“Weeping may
endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” |
Psa. 30:5 |
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“I go and
prepare a place for you . . . that where I am, there ye may
be also” |
Jn. 14:3 |
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“To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you” |
1 Pet. 1:4 |
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“Blessed be . . . the God of all comfort; who comforteth us
in all our tribulation” |
2 Cor. 1:3-4 |
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“Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God” |
Isa. 40:1 |
May
God grant us good understanding as He, by His Holy
Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13
Copyright © 2012 by Rowan Jennings, Abbotsford,
British Columbia
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