Shadows need light, and death becomes a shadow when we are in the light of Christ. Understandably, there are natural fears about death and the process of dying, but they are merely a shadow that passes. Those who are in Christ receive everlasting life, and at God’s calling, enter into the eternal realm. John Stott, a leader in worldwide evangelism, wrote, “The proper epitaph for a Christian believer is not a dismal and uncertain RIP (Rest in Peace), but a joyful and certain affirmation CAD (Christ Abolished Death). David says in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Here, he is looking to the future in two ways: first, the temporal, “goodness and love”, which we can trust God for in all our circumstances. Some translations say ‘mercy’. We know we are going to fail at times, but in God’s mercy, His love keeps reaffirming and operating within us. We also have sufficient prospects in the eternal. Beyond this physical life, there is something far greater to come, which is incomprehensible to the human mind. The truth is we only know how to live when we know how to die, and both are addressed in the 23rd Psalm. It isn’t a psychological process we go through, but is completely a response to a relationship we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd to whom we have entrusted our lives, and in whose presence we are for all time.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 18:04:51 +0000