People commonly perceive death as being the conclusion of life. That’s one definition we have. The clinical definition is the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working, and consequently, the brain stops working. But if we are a child of God, our earthly body may stop functioning when we die, but then our spiritual body takes over. Because of our relationship with Christ, we gain new life through His death. We begin to have a spiritual heartbeat. We are alive in Christ. We take off our earthly clothes, and put on spiritual ones. We lay and wait for Christ’s return to go to our heavenly home.
We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again; and so, we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.”
God wants us to know how loved and important we are to Him. So much so that He made a plan to ensure us a home with Him forever. Did you get that? Forever! He wants us to show our love for Him and each other through relationship. But nothing should come between our relationship with Him. God wants us to love Him more than anything on this earth. He hates idols, and anything more important to us than Him, is an idol. Our Lord told us in Matthew 10:37 that, “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.” He went on to say in the next verse, whoever doesn’t take up their cross and follow Him, is not worthy of Him. We must make tough choices, but He promises it will be worth it. God promises life after death, eternal with Him. We will be a family with saints, angels, and the Holy Trinity.
Jesus told us in His word what we needed to do to gain life. He said in Matthew 16:25, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” Are you hanging on or giving up? Have you tried to help save anybody’s life? We have a chance to do that every day. Who do you pray for? Who matters to you? Who do you love? Then point them to Love itself. God is Love. If they give their life to Christ, they are saved because you took the time and allowed the Holy Spirit to work through you to point them to the Cross, to the Savior Jesus.
I love the Lord. I still have a lot of work to do, but I love Him, I love Him, I love Him! And I, we, must learn to trust God and His Son more. Jesus said in John 14:1-4, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”
My friends, when everything is ready, Jesus is coming back. The question is, are we ready? We need to get busy. Let’s make some changes, do what’s right, and live for Christ. Death may come, and though Jesus said, “It is finished on the cross,” He also said, He’s coming back. It may be finished, but it’s not over. It’s not over, until God says it’s over. And we hold the key, choice, as to whether we want to be part of what happens next, what happens in God’s future, in God’s kingdom.
Revelation 3:11 reads, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
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