“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) It hurts to lose a loved one! Some are going through those pains and hurts today. But, as Paul wrote, we dont have to sorrow as others who have no hope. As Christians, we have hope! Yes, the pain of separating on this earth from someone we love is very hard, but I honestly cant imagine the pain of separation if I did not have the Spirit of the Living God abiding on the inside of me as a believer. “[So] we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you... because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel” (Colossians 1:3,5). There is a difference between natural hope and spiritual hope. With natural hope, we can be disappointed. But in spiritual hope, we can have confidence. And thats actually what the word hope means. It is a confident expectation of things to come. This is why the scripture says, Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). And following the example of Abraham, the father of our faith, we must …contrary to (natural) hope, in (spiritual) hope believe... (Romans 4:18). But remember, embracing spiritual hope doesnt stop our tears or the pain of loss. We are simply comforted with the thought that our believing loved ones who have fallen asleep are with the Lord Jesus and that we too shall join them someday. In fact, Paul continued in Thessalonians to tell us that ...whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:10). So we dont have to wonder where our loved ones are - they are with Jesus our Lord! The best news of all may be that they are only a few minutes ahead of us. Because you see, we find another beautiful promise in the Word of God: Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8). So just hold on... Well be home in a few minutes!
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 10:38:47 +0000
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