Saturday, October 9, 2010

Thoughts After a Friends Death 3 Months Ago

It was almost 20 years ago, as a senior in high school, my brother Joel was told he had at most 5 years to live. He and I had several conversations about it. He actually came so close to death once during a hospital stay I prayed God would end his suffering or heal him. He recovered that time and was taken suddenly about 6 months later. In June, a man I knew and whose company I really enjoyed died of cancer and one night I sat down with the scriptures and thought about death from a biblical perspective.

First, suffering and death have meaning because God is "Immanuel" because he is with us. "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 38,39)


Second, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are assured that God is with us; but also that we will be with him. "For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor 5:1)

As a young man I worked for a couple of contractors building houses. Many of my friends and their fathers were builders. I saw the special care that when into planning and building the home their own family would live in. The special care and planning as a fathers they put into their own houses. We have a Father building us a house, ...


Finally, we have a consistent purpose. "So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are home in the body we are away from the Lord ... We would rather be away from the body and with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." (2 Cor 5:6-10) I know a sister in Christ right now preparing for missionary work though she has cancer in her lungs. It is a witness to a key principle in the Christian Faith. Our aim in living and in eternal life is the same. Whether in the body or in heaven our lives center around the worship and service of God. This is a unique teaching of Christianity.

I know my writing style is compact and my thoughts sometimes jump, so thanks for reading. In June, a man I know and whose company I really enjoyed died. On the night of his death, I sat down and thought about death from a biblical perspective. So to list my points in a conclusion: 1. We have the promise that God is with us. 2. We have the promise that we will be with God. 3. These promises combine to give our existence a consistent purpose and us courage.