December 23, 2021 – Click here to listen
My wife and I attended a life celebration service for a dear friend last night. It was held on her birthday and of course, Christmas is just days away which doubled the pain of her leaving us. She was just 56 and was sweet as she could be and loved the Lord with all her heart. It was unusually cold, cloudy, and rainy for the keys last night, and I suppose it was fitting for the circumstance.
I would guess that her husband and the rest of her family are already awake this morning and overwhelmed with sadness; I do not envy them. I have been in a similar circumstance. Losing a loved one cannot be described with words; it can only be felt deep within our being. A bright, young successful woman full of life with a lifetime of great promise ahead of her valiantly fighting ravaging cancer and finally succumbing to it far too early.
Our friend’s battle with cancer was a grueling, punishing process, not only for her, but for those who loved her so much as they watched her lose ground day after day. The service was beautiful and included all her favorite hymns sung to perfection while various photos of her were displayed on the giant screen in the church. Her husband had asked us to sit down in front with the family and it was painful to see my friend and those whom she loved enduring so much anguish. I told him that after my guests for the holidays headed back home just the two of us would take my boat and go far offshore and fish and relive the happy times. He smiled widely with eyes glistening with tears and said he would like that.
Initially, there was no death. God warned Adam and Eve that they must obey His command that they may eat of any tree in the Garden except one. If they did so, things would be fine; however, if they disobeyed Him and ate of that one tree, they would surely die. Satan told Eve that she would not surely die and when she put her trust in Satan and rejected and disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and along with Adam ate of the forbidden tree, death descended upon them and all of mankind with a mean, sickening vengeance just as God had warned. If people would spend some time thinking of this scenario, they would stop blaming God when someone dies and put the blame squarely where it belongs on Satan. It is the only logic that makes sense!
Death has been inherited by us all and has been tormenting us ever since that first sin. Death’s sting is harsh, but there is good news in that it has been defeated by Jesus Christ. God provides a way to permanently defeat death and its punishing devastation. His righteous nature cannot tolerate unpunished sin; it had to be punished for holy justice to be achieved. God sent His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin as a righteous sacrifice for atonement that satisfies a royal higher law that we cannot fully understand. Jesus took Adam and Eve’s punishment, Cain and Abel’s punishment, and all of mankind through the ages right down to you and me.
So now, thousands of years after our distant relatives made their fatal mistake, we again have a choice. We can choose to follow God and Jesus Christ, or we can follow Satan. There will be no more second chances. This is it. Trust and obey God and enjoy eternity with God or follow Satan and suffer eternal separation from God and everlasting punishment that cannot be imagined . . . Don’t make the same mistake twice and suffer forever.
My friend understood this and accepted Jesus as her Savior long ago. The only solace we will receive today is our knowledge that our Father has called her home to a place of utter peace, and she is with Him at this moment. She is with Jesus, eternally protected from death, sin, and sadness, and will never endure tears, heartbreak, sadness, pain, or death again.
As for us, well we will suffer for a while, but we will be consoled, and we will endure because that same loving God has already sent His Comforter to console our grief and help us bear the heavy burden. When our personal journey is over and we are called home, the victory over Satan and his sin and death will have been won. 10,000 years from now we will just be getting started, basking in God’s glory and enjoying all of the wonderful, wonderful things He has in store for us “that eye has not seen, nor ear ever heard”. The Bible teaches us to look to the future and not behind. Please pray that peace will come quickly to the family and friends who are grieving.
Jude 1:24
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless, before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our savior who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.