AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR ONCE SAID, "AS A BOY, I THOUGHT OF HEAVEN AS A CITY WITH DOMES, SPIRES, AND BEAUTIFUL STREETS, INHABITED BY ANGELS.
BY AND BY MY LITTLE BROTHER DIED, AND I THOUGHT OF HEAVEN MUCH AS BEFORE, BUT WITH ONE INHABITANT THAT I KNEW. THEN ANOTHER DIED, AND THEN SOME OF MY ACQUAINTANCES, SO IN TIME I BEGAN TO THINK OF HEAVEN AS CONTAINING SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT I KNEW.
BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL ONE OF MY OWN LITTLE CHILDREN DIED THAT I BEGAN TO THINK I HAD TREASURE IN HEAVEN MYSELF. AFTERWARD ANOTHER WENT, AND YET ANOTHER.
BY THAT TIME I HAD SO MANY ACQUAINTANCES AND CHILDREN IN HEAVEN THAT I NO MORE THOUGHT OF IT AS A CITY MERELY WITH STREETS OF GOLD BUT AS A PLACE FULL OF INHABITANTS. NOW THERE ARE SO MANY LOVED ONES THERE I SOMETIMES THINK I KNOW MORE PEOPLE IN HEAVEN THAN I DO ON EARTH."
HEAVEN. ETERNAL LIFE. PARADISE. WE HAVE VARIOUS NAMES FOR GOD’S KINGDOM. ALONG WITH THESE VARIOUS NAMES FOR HEAVEN COME JUST AS MANY, IF NOT MORE, UNDERSTANDINGS AND BELIEFS ON HOW ONE CAN GET TO HEAVEN.
IT IS RATHER INTERESTING THAT IN TODAY’S MODERN, EDUCATED SOCIETY THAT THE REQUIREMENTS ON “HOW WE GET TO HEAVEN” CAN STILL BE A DEBATABLE SUBJECT IN THE CHURCH.
BEING GOOD, DOING GOOD, BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, MARTYRDOM, CHURCH MEMBERSHIP AND A HOST OF OTHER COMMENDABLE THINGS HAVE BEEN ARGUED FOR GENERATIONS AS “HEAVENLY QUALIFIERS” FOR EARNING ETERNAL LIFE.
EVEN IN OUR VERY OWN CHURCHES, WE CAN’T SEEM TO COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION EVEN THOUGH JESUS HAS ALREADY MADE IT PRETTY CLEAR HOW ONE GETS TO HEAVEN. THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS WERE NO DIFFERENT IN THEIR SPIRITUAL CONFUSION.
IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN, JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES, “YOU KNOW THE WAY THAT LEADS WHERE I GO.” THEN THOMAS SAYS, “LORD, WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?’ JESUS ANSWERS, “I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE; NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME.”
THOMAS WAS EXPRESSING THE SAME DOUBT THAT WE ALL FEEL WHEN WE THINK ABOUT HEAVEN AND KNOWING THAT “DEATH” HAS TO HAPPEN BEFORE GETTING THERE. IT IS NEVER EASY OR COMFORTABLE FOR US TO THINK ABOUT DEATH.
WE ASK OURSELVES: HOW CAN I FACE THIS REALITY? HOW CAN I FIND STRENGTH TO COME INTO THE CHAPEL OR TO THE FUNERAL HOME TO VIEW MY LOVED ONE IN A CASKET? HOW CAN I MANAGE THESE LAST FEW MONTHS THE DOCTOR SAYS I HAVE TO LIVE? HOW CAN I LIVE AS IF TODAY IS MY LAST DAY ON EARTH?
IT IS NATURAL TO FEEL ANXIOUS, UNEASY, AND SAD ABOUT DYING AND DEATH. THOUGHTS OF DEATH BRING IMAGES OF GRIEF, PAIN, AND HEARTACHE. THE MEAR THOUGHT OF NO LONGER BEING HERE ON EARTH IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE US TO SHUDDER.
THE GOOD NEWS IS JESUS CONQUERED THESE EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS THROUGH HIS VICTORY OVER DEATH. BECAUSE OF JESUS, EVEN THOUGH WE MAY STILL CRY, WE KNOW THAT JOY COMES IN THE MORNING BECAUSE DEATH IS NOT “FINALITY” FOR A CHRISTIAN. JESUS MADE CERTAIN. JESUS PLANNED, PREPARED, AND POSITIONED HIMSELF TO MAKE SURE THE VICTORY WAS HIS AND THAT ETERNITY COULD BE OURS.
JESUS MADE THE NECESSARY PREPARATIONS TO RECEIVE US WHEN OUR LIFE IS OVER SO THAT WHEN OUR LOVED ONES STAND BEFORE OUR CASKET, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO LOOK DOWN AT OUR EARTHLY BODY AND KNOW DEEP IN THEIR HEARTS THAT WE ARE NOT REALLY THERE.
WE HAVE WHAT IS CALLED “HOPE.” WE FEEL A DEEP SENSE OF A HOLY, RIGHTEOUS HOPE THAT IS SOLID, FIRM AND ETERNAL. A HOPE THAT IS STRONG ENOUGH TO GIVE US THAT SENSE THAT WHAT WE ARE REALLY CONFRONTING TODAY IS MERELY A SEPARATION.
A HOPE, BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST, IS WHAT GIVES US THE ASSURANCE THAT DEATH IS NOT FINALITY AT ALL. DEATH IS NOT “THE END,” BUT SIMPLY A TRANSITION PROCESS FROM THE REALM OF “TEMPORARY” TO THE REALITY OF THE EVERLASTING WHICH IS ETERNITY IN GOD’S KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
DEATH FOR SOMEONE IN JESUS CHRIST WILL NEVER, EVER BE A “GOOD-BYE,” BUT A STATEMENT OF HOPE THAT PROCLAIMS TO OUR LOVED ONE AS THAT CASKET LID IS CLOSED, “I’LL SEE YOU LATER!”
FOR A CHRISTIAN, OUR DEATH OR THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE CAN ONLY SEPARATES US PHYSICALLY FOR ONLY A BRIEF MOMENT IN TIME. YES, THAT TIME COULD SEEM BE LONG, BUT HOWEVER LONG OR SHORT IT MAY BE OR SEEM, IT WILL NEVER BE FINAL.
BECAUSE OF THE VICTORY THAT JESUS CHRIST HAD OVER DEATH, HELL AND THE GRAVE, LOSING A LOVED ONE IS NOT A TOTAL LOSS OF CONTACT FOREVER. OUR LIVES ARE TOO PRECIOUS AND THEIR LIFE TOO MEANINGFUL FOR THEM TO JUST SIMPLY END WITHOUT A TRACE OR FOR OUR LIVES TO JUST CEASE TO EXIST.
THIS IS WHAT WE BECOME DEEPLY CONSCIOUS OF WHEN WE FACE NOT ONLY THE DEATH OF SOMEONE THAT WE LOVE, BUT OUR OWN DEATH AS WELL. THAT’S WHY I’LL SAY IT AGAIN: AS CHRISTIANS, WE BELIEVE THAT DEATH IS NOT AN END. IT IS A TRANSITION. IT IS NOT A BREAK IN EXISTENCE. IT IS A TRANSFORMATION INTO WHAT IS INCORRUPTABLE AND ETERNAL.
WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH ARRIVES, WHEN OUR EXISTENCE ON THIS EARTH REACHES ITS END, WE WON’T HAVE TO FIND OURSELVES FACING NOTHINGNESS.
WHAT WE DO AT THE MOMENT OF OUR TRANSFORMATION IS TO INSTANTANEOUSLY FACE THE MERCIFUL, EMBRACING HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD WHO WELCOMES US AND CONVERTS OUR DEATH INTO THE BEGINNING OF OUR RESURRECTION.
WE SHOULD NOT DOUBT THAT DEATH IS THE MOST SERIOUS CRISIS THAT WE WILL GO THROUGH IN OUR MORTAL LIVES. DEATH RIPS US OUT OF OUR BEING ON EARTH. IT IS A CRISIS WITHOUT REMEDY TO WHICH WE HAVE NO MEANS OF STOPPING OR PREVENTING FROM HAPPENING.
ONLY GOD CAN RESPOND TO THE UNCERTAINTIES THAT WE FEEL ABOUT DEATH. BECAUSE GOD IS REALLY OUR MERCIFUL FATHER, OUR FRIEND AND OUR ALLY, GOD CANNOT LOOK INDIFFERENTLY AT DEATH.
GOD IS THERE TO WELCOME US! GOD IS HERE TO SHOW US THAT THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, HE HAS MADE ALL THE PREPARATIONS AND HAS FULFILLED ALL THE SACRIFICES NECESSARY FOR US, THAT THE ANSWER TO DEATH WILL ALWAYS BE ETERNAL LIFE AND, ULTIMATELY, OUR RESURRECTION.
IN 2 TIMOTHY 2:11, PAUL SAYS, “YOU CAN DEPEND ON THIS: IF WE HAVE DIED WITH CHRIST, WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM.” SOONER OR LATER THIS EARTHLY SEPARATION WE HAVE FROM OUR LOVED ONES WHO HAVE ALREADY GONE ON BEFORE US WILL COME TO AN END AND WE WILL ALL BE REUNITED.
THEREFORE, KNOW TODAY, THAT BECAUSE OF GOD’S SON, JESUS CHRIST, DEATH DOES NOT NEED TO BE FINAL. BECAUSE OF JESUS, WE CAN BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD AND BEGIN OUR ETERNITY WITH HIM, THE SAINTS AND OUR LOVED ONES.
JESUS IS PREPARING ROOM FOR YOU. JESUS WILL COME BACK TO GET YOU SO THAT WHERE HE IS, YOU CAN BE ALSO. HE HAS PREPARED THE WAY. HE IS THE WAY. WILL YOU BELIEVE?
LET US REMEMBER THE CONSOLING WORDS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO SAID, “DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND FAITH IN ME… I SHALL COME BACK TO TAKE YOU WITH ME, THAT WHERE I AM YOU ALSO MAY BE.
