Only the Beginning

Death is not the end.

What a wonderful thought and phrase. For a Christian, we know that separation at death is only a temporary parting until we see one another in heaven again. More than that, we know that at death, the soul departs the body and enters heaven and the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That became very real to me this week. My Grandpa died. He had been fighting cancer and dementia for many years. The battle took it's toll. He couldn't get out of bed. He hallucinated about people and objects there were not there. His personality changed. As other diseases progressed, he lost his sight. He was a shell of the vibrant person he once was.

So when I got the call early Monday morning that he had passed during the night, I wasn't sad. I was relieved. I knew he was in a better place with a new body and a perfect mind in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could walk and run and see clearly. He was no longer limited by a body of death.

Paul knew that all too well. In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote that to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's strange for us to comprehend, but Paul considering living the greater sacrifice than dying. To die, he said, was to be in the presence of Jesus. How awesome is that?

Too often, especially in our church culture, we spend a lot of time praying people out of heaven. We pray for illnesses, the elderly, upcoming surgeries, and safety for various people. Yet, our list of people needing salvation is always a small corner in the larger list. We spend more time praying for early desires than for a heavenly purpose.

Now, we should pray for the sick and the infirm. We should pray for people having surgery or going on trips. But we should also pray for the lost. We should pray for people to know the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

You see, I know my grandpa is in heaven. It's not because he was a good person or have good morals or did a lot of good deeds. He is in heaven because he has a relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship covers his sins and gave him access to heaven with his Lord.

For him, death was not the end.  What a wonderful thought.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 15, 2017 at 10:27 AM

    Yes, death is a new beginning. I remember when dad died. Matthew said, it is his heaven birthday. We live and love here as we will when we all get to heaven. May he have peace in his travels to the other side.

    ReplyDelete

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