The mother of a good friend of mine passed away last night. She had been battling cancer for some time and was in pain all the time. It was a blessing that the Lord took her peacefully after just a day in hospice. Her husband, my friend’s father, is not in the best of health either and is in his late 80s. If I were to guess, I would imagine he will be joining her soon.
My friend sent me a text when she passed, indicating she had died peacefully. He loved both his parents but was a mama’s boy through and through. The last time we talked he was understandably emotional, and it is obvious that he will miss her, and the grieving period will hurt. When I got the text, I replied that I was happy for her but sad for him. The good news is that the entire family loves Jesus and have followed Him since childhood and her salvation is assured.
The death of a Christian should not be mourned. I told him that Jesus had prepared a welcome home celebration for her that we cannot imagine. It is already in progress, and it is glorious. My Bible Study partner wrote just yesterday: “Jesus is the source of life not death . . . and while all people die physically, Christ died so we would not have to die spiritually”. It is rare for him to write anything so profound, but it just goes to prove the adage that “even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then”, and that little nugget was beautiful. LOL
At death we are physically released from this flawed fleshly prison, we are afforded an imperishable beautiful, glorified body that will never be cancer-ridden or faulty in any way. The good life begins when the followers of Christ finally end their struggle.
My Bible partner’s comment occurred as we were studying Hebrews chapter 9 and I had written: Today’s read details the earthly sanctuary referring to the tabernacle that housed the Ark of the Covenant. The High Priest only entered the sanctuary once a year and offered a blood sacrifice. However, this action was limited and had to reoccur every year. Jesus came and offered His life as a blood sacrifice for our sins once and is now sitting next to God interceding for all who have believed.
It is done and nothing further needs to be accomplished!
The greatness of Christ’s sacrifice cannot even be fathomed. He put away sin by sacrificing Himself and since it is appointed for men to die once, and after this the judgment we can know that we will be saved and as chapter 8 pointed out, our sins will not be remembered. I believe God will only see the blood of Christ and our black sins will be covered by it. What a nice thought.
The death of those who belong to Christ should never be mourned. Yes, we can and will grieve for ourselves because we will miss them until the day we physically die and join them again, but we should keep in mind that once that occurs, we will never cry again.
2 Tim. 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.