THE TEMPORARY VERSUS THE ETERNAL
2 Cor. 4:16-5:10
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Today, like many times when we come together because of the occasion of death we have mixed feelings.
A.) None of us enjoy losing a loved one to the grave.
aa.) But at the same time we can come here today with rejoicing knowing that as we remember our loved one today we remember one who had put her life in the hands of Jesus Christ.
2.) What a difference in our perspective this makes at a time when we experience the pain of losing a loved one to death.
3.) Today as we remember and are thankful for the life of our loved one MacLean, there are two truths I want us to see about life and death today.
I. OUR PRESENT LIFE THAT IS SEEN IS ONLY TEMPORARY.
-- 2Cor. 4:18
1.) Many today will live in this life as though it was the entirety of one’s existence.
A.) Those who do so will often live in such a way that they will waste not only this life, but also the life which is to come.
B.) Those with thought only for this life usually come to the end of life with a sense of loss, emptiness, and even despair at the thoughts of death.
ba.) At the end of such a life, the question that comes up is “What now?”
bb.) Sadly, this is the view of life that many will have, and by which they will live their lives.
bba.) But the good news is that this is not the only choice or view of life.
bbb.) This was not the way that Our loved one chose to live her life.
bbc.) Our loved one like so many others who have come to recognize Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour have learned there is something far greater for this life, and also for eternity.
C.) John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
ca.) That is real life both now, and also after the time of death.
2.) Those with the wisdom to see this life as only temporary use it to prepare for the life which is eternal.
A.) One of the greatest lessons we can learn early in life is that it is not just for this life that we live.
aa.) The sooner in life that a person can come to that realization, the greater will be his desire to prepare for eternity.
B.) I am not aware at what age that Our loved one gave her heart and life to Jesus Christ.
ba.) But at whatever age that was in her youth, she has chosen to live her life and days as a child of God through Jesus her Christ.
II. OUR FUTURE LIFE THAT TO IS TO US YET UNSEEN IS ETERNAL.
1.) A very real truth of this life is that a time is coming when each one of us will pass through the portal of death.
A.) When that day comes we will be taken from that which is temporary, and enter into that which is eternal.
aa.) We take it by faith that what God has in store for his redeemed is far greater than anything we could ever imagine.
ab.) But from our perspectives, though we have faith in God and his promises, we have never seen or experienced ourselves what God has in store for those who have put their lives into His hands.
aba.) There is nothing of our experiences in life here to help us to comprehend the greatness and blessedness of heaven.
abb.) Even the description of heaven the Bible gives us as beautiful as it is, we are not able to imagine.
2.) The door of death will bring us to a new existence based on how we have lived while on this earth.
A.) I am sure that this hope gives strength to the heart and soul when like Our loved one the body has been aging, and wasting away.
aa.) The latter part of her time on this earth was harder for Our loved one. There were times she would become a bit discouraged because of being in her bed for so long.
ab.) But even in those times she still held onto hope and her faith.
B.) I believe the reason she was able to hold that hope was because of her faith in Jesus Christ.
ba.) She had hope, with a confidence that this life is not the end of the story.
C.) The Apostle Paul also shared that hope when life had not always been the greatest for him.
ca.) In my text, I have used in this sermon the Apostle Paul says in 2 Cor.4 beginning at verse 16: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
cb.) I am sure that words like these must have meant a great deal to our loved one. She knew her body was worn out, and wasting away. Though her physical body was wasting away, our loved one knew this was only temporary, and that the real person was being renewed daily.
3.) For the Christian, death brings us to the completion of God’s plan for our lives that are so much grander than anything we have thus far experienced.
A.) 2 Cor. 5:1
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
aa.) Isn’t that beautiful?
aaa.) God says he has prepared something far better for us.
B.) Paul also says that death will bring us into life.
ba.) 2 Cor. 5:4
baa.) “so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
bab.) This is so foreign to our thinking. When we think of life all we can relate to is what we have here and now. Because of that, it is hard to let someone go, even when we know that person is a Christian, and that what God has promised is far greater than what they or we are experiencing now.
bac.) Yet what Paul is telling us is that now we are living in death. What comes at death’s portal for the Christian is life.
4.) Another thing for the Christian that the door of death opens to us is being in the presence of Jesus.
A.) 2 Cor. 5:6
aa.) “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.”
B.) I Cor. 13:12
ba.) “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.”
bb.) What a glorious day that will be!
CONCLUSION:
1.) As we bring this service to a close, our hearts are sad and lonely at our loss. 2.) Yet today we can rejoice that Our loved one has come to the completion of her faith.
A.) Today, Our loved one is experiencing what we can only dimly imagine. 3.) Today as we stand on this side of the grave, ours is the duty to plan, prepare, and to live for eternity. A.) That can only be done through Jesus Christ.
4.) Carrie Breck has well expressed our anticipation in the old hymn: FaceTo Face.
Face to face with Christ, my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be,
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ Who died for me?
Refrain
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkened veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.
Refrain
What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain;
When the crooked ways are straightened,
And the dark things shall be plain.
Refrain
Face to face—oh, blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ Who loves me so.
Refrain
Our loved one has chosen to live her life in the shadow of Jesus Christ. As we leave here today, there is no greater wish Our loved one could have for each one here, than that you would make the same decision to follow Jesus in both life and death.
