Perspectives

2 Corinthians 5:1-10… 1) For 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. 2)  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3) because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4)  For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5) Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6) Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7) For we live by faith, not by sight. 8) We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9)  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10)  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (NIV)

Death has been called, “the moment when all things become equal.” However, that too maybe a confusing expression; It is true no matter who we are, how much money we have, or how much influence we exert, death is inescapable. Some have the idea that when they die everything is finished, and the only happiness they can experience is what they have experienced while here on earth. When they suffer, whether from illness or any other kind of sorrow, they take comfort in the idea that death will end all their sorrows and all their sufferings. Another said, “I have never known anything but misery and now I am dying as I have lived. Do you think God would allow me to be miserable in the next world to come”?

Many have that view today, but it is as wrong today as it was in Christ’s time. Death is an equalizer only in the sense that all must die. But it does not necessarily equal out the blessings and agonies of this world. That is what makes hell so terrible and heaven such a blessing. It is not merely that hell is a place of suffering, though it is. It is that the loss of those in hell becomes ever more horrid and the desperation of the lost ever more desperate. In heaven the opposite is true… the pleasures of the saints just keeps on getting better and better.

What is this death we see and hear about every day? We all know that the body dies when the spirit leaves it. I have never seen a spirit hanging around a dead body, have you? Yet all ministers at every funeral I believe say the same thing, “Ashes-to-ashes, and dust-to-dust”. Then they go on to explain how the dead person’s spirit has moved on to see their heavenly glory. But they never seem to mention hell. None of us I believe have ever heard of a minister conducting a hell-bound-funeral.

There are those who believe that when we die we simply move into a temporary state where our family and friends can pray for us to free us from whatever form of punishment that God has in mind for us. Luke 16:19-31) There are some who believe that death is the terminator of everything. In other words, there is nothing beyond the grave, there is no afterlife, this is all there is. Others on the other hand slip into despair at the very thought of death, for them there is nothing but darkness and a Christ-less grave.

The Bible teaches that all must die, and therefore, death occurs to all. It is the ultimate result of sin. But we only die once, and after death we will be judged by God. When we die, if there is a breach between God, and us it will be an unbridgeable fracture. (Luke 16:26) But if we have lived as a child of God, by that I mean; if we have accepted Christ into our hearts, we will instantly be transported into the very presence of Christ, never too lose our place in heaven … To God be the glory.

Would you pray this prayer with me …”Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I really want that Peace, joy and happiness that will fulfill my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honour Your Name.” Amen.