Funeral For A Baby
We are gathered here today on a very sad occasion. One of the most painful experiences that life affords is that of the death of a infant. We come today with more questions that we do answers.
WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW!
1. We do not know why this tiny life was taken before he really began to live. But we do know that God makes no mistakes.
2. We do not know the talents and abilities this child had.
3. We do not know what kind of impact this child would
have made in the world.
WHAT WE DO KNOW!
WE are fortunate that a time like this that there are certain principles that can be drawn from God’s words that help us through this sad time.
THE FIRST THING WE CAN KNOW IS THAT ________
WAS A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL WHO’S LIFE IS SACRED IN HIS SIGHT
For some of you this service may seem unusual for a life that was so brief. ________ died before he really had a change to live, yet we know that the Bible says that ________ life began at the moment of conception. Because all human life is sacred in God’s sight it is right and proper that we are here today.
THAT LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION IS ATTESTED TO BY THE FACT THAT
1. God knows us even from the womb
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee....” Jeremiah 1:5
2. God has designed the unborn
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. (14) Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. (15) You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. (16) You saw me before I was ever born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day passed. (Psalms 139:13-16 NLT)
Mason was marvelous fashioned in the image of the creator. The fact that he did not enjoy life out side the womb does not erase that his life was sacred.
Because every human bears the image of God, every human life from the point of conception is sacred. The Bible says,
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:...So God made man in his own in image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.” (Gen 1:26-27)
God sets forth HUMAN LIFE on a plane above all other life
It is Unique, Distinctive and Valuable
Of Humans alone does he say that they “bear his image”
This tiny life bears the image of God and is sacred in his sight.
SECONDLY, WE CAN KNOW IS THAT HE HAS RETURNED TO PRESENCE OF THE LORD
In the book of Genesis when God created man it says that he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (2:7) Every human being has a living soul, a soul that has the capacity to spend eternity with God. Paul says with confidence that “to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord.” (2 Cor 5:3)
This little one has returned to the care of the Father. While on earth, Jesus desired the company of little ones. It was Jesus who took the little children up in his arms and said, “Suffer the little children...to come unto me; for such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 19:14). Today he resides in Heaven. In the arms of our dear Savior he is secure and safe and blessed.
We are sure that little ones go to be with Jesus because we believe that little ones who are not yet old enough to understand sin and the need for a savior go to be with the Lord when they die.
THIRD, WE CAN KNOW THAT HIS LIFE AS BRIEF AS IT
WAS, WAS NOT WITHOUT PURPOSE
His life as brief as it was has brought us here today.
His life has brought you here today, Perhaps this little one has returned to the Father in order to point the way for some older sheep.
Several thousand years ago King David lost a young son. He said something at the time that might help us today.
He said, “I can not bring him back to me. I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (2 Samuel 12:23)
Today I would like to close by just briefly telling you how to get where _________ is. Jesus said about himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the father but by me.” (Jn. 14:6)
Because our sins separate us from a holy God, we need to understand that we are sinners and that we need to be saved.
SALVATION NEEDED
Fact of Sin
“For all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
Consequences of Sin.
“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)
SALVATION PROVIDED
“For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)
SALVATION ACCEPTED
Repentance Required
Acts 20:20-21
Faith is Necessary
Acts 20:20-21
Romans 10:9 says, “ If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
