Tag: death

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Mark Devotionals

Because he lives

Hope

“Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” (Mark 16:6)

Tomorrow, I’ll be flying out to Hawaii for my mother’s memorial service, and in a few days, we will be placing her remains in the earth.

But the truth is, that won’t really be her buried in the ground. Her spirit is with the Lord now, and the day will come when her ashes will rise and her spirit will be joined to a new body, perfect, immortal, incorruptible.

That’s my hope. Because Jesus lives, my mother lives also. (John 14:19)

And by his grace, so will I.

Many still mourn
And many still weep
For those that they love
Who have fallen asleep

But we have this hope
Though our hearts may still ache
Just one shout from above
And they all will awake

And in the reunion of joy
We will see
Death will be swallowed
In sweet victory — Bob Hartman

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Mark Devotionals

God of the living

God of the living

And as for the dead being raised—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?

He is not the God of the dead but of the living. (Mark 12:26-27)

It’s been about three weeks since my mother passed away. And perhaps that’s why the above verses resonate with me.

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

And one day, the Father will put all of Jesus’ enemies under his feet, including the final enemy: death. (1 Corinthians 15:26-27)

I will see my mother again.

And so though I’m mourning for her, I’m also joyfully singing Christ’s victory song.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

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Isaiah Devotionals

When death is swallowed up

This article was originally written about a year after my father passed back in 2011. My mother joined him in glory yesterday morning. 

For many, death is a painful thing.

I still remember standing vigil over my dad in his last days. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.

The experience of losing my mother has been no less painful.

But there will come a day when death itself will die. And in this chapter, Isaiah talks about the return of our Lord. On that day, Isaiah says,

He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.  (Isaiah 25:7-8)

And on that day, people will praise God, singing,

Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. (9)

When my dad died, he had diabetes, was completely blind, was suffering from pneumonia, and had a sore that never quite healed on his leg.

My mother, on the other hand, not only had physical issues, but also battled with depression off and on for much of her life.

But now, all of that is gone. All the sorrow they experienced, all the pain, has been washed away in victory. And now, they are singing the song of salvation, feasting at our Lord’s table.

So in my pain, I rejoice for them.

And I wait in hope for that day when I will see them again.

There are burdens that I carry every day
Sometimes it makes me want to cry…

In the middle of the darkness in my life
I find the strength to carry on
I am holding to a promise Jesus made
And I know it won’t be long ’til we’ll be gone

In a while we’ll be gone
And we won’t have to cry anymore.
All our sorrows left behind

And that’s the day that I am waiting for
And that’s the day that I am longing for
And that’s the day I’m looking for
— Amy Grant

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Deuteronomy Devotionals

Choose life!

Cut flower and potted flower

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.

Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful (literally, “cling”) to him.

For he is your life… (Deuteronomy 30:19–20)

I’ve been thinking about our relationship with God lately, and I got the image of a cut flower and a potted flower.

Both are beautiful.

But one is already dead because it’s cut off from its source of life. It’s cursed, so to speak, because it’s cut off from its roots.

It’s the same with us and God.

Cut off from him, we are cursed and already dead.

But if we are connected to him, drawing life from him daily, we flourish.

How then do we remain connected to him?

When Paul quotes this passage in Romans 10, he points us to Jesus, admonishing us to trust in him and make him our Lord. (Romans 10:6-13).

So let’s choose life.

Choose Jesus, loving him, obeying him as our Lord, and clinging to him each day.

Categories
Ecclesiastes Devotionals

A natural thing?

Ecclesiastes

“Death is a natural thing. It’s just a part of the cycle of life.”

Have you ever heard that before?

Is it true?

Yes…and no.

In a world broken by sin, it is a natural thing. As Paul said, the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

But God originally created us as eternal beings. 

If death were truly natural, people wouldn’t fight the thought of death. But as it is, they have to convince themselves that it is a “natural” thing.

Deep down, all people realize what Solomon did: death is evil. (Ecclesiastes 9:3)

And death comes for all people, sometimes more suddenly than we expect. (2, 11-12)

How do we respond to that knowledge? 

We could despair. To rage at the evil that death is. 

We could also waste a lot of our short time here on earth on worthless things like hatred and envy.  

Or we could do as Solomon says and enjoy the gift of life we have been given, fleeting though it may be. We could use the time we have to show love to the people we care about. (6-9) 

We could use our minds and our bodies that God has blessed us with to glorify him in our work, in our leisure, and in everything else we do. (10, Colossians 3:17)

The question, though, is why bother? What’s the point of it all?

The point is that the grave is not the end. 

Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live too.” (John 14:19)

And ultimately,

The righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. (Ecclesiastes 9:1)

So let us not live in despair because of the prospect of death. Rather, let us sing with Solomon’s father David.

I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure. 

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption. 

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:8-11, ESV)

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Romans Devotionals

Walking in the newness of life

Romans

Just meditating today on verse 4 where Paul says,

Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)

Prior to the cross, there was a certain heaviness that Jesus carried with him, the knowledge that a day of reckoning was coming. That he would be put on a cross, bearing our sin and shame.

And while he rejoiced in serving his Father, nevertheless, that heaviness remained reaching its peak at Gethsemane (Luke 12:50, John 12:27; Luke 22:42-44).

But when he rose from the dead, all that burden was lifted from him. Our sins that he came to die for were now paid for, and now he was free to live for the glory of his Father with complete joy.

It is the same with us.

Prior to becoming Christians, we carried the weight of our sin with all its shame and the certainty of judgment hanging over us.

But when we were baptized into Jesus, his death became ours. All our punishment was transferred to him. All our shame was transferred to him.

And as with Jesus, we have now been raised to new life. We no longer carry the burden of ours sins, the shame it brings, and the fear of judgment. Our sins have been completely paid for.

Now we are free to live for the glory of our Father with complete joy.

So let us live each day in that joy

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Psalms Devotionals

Costly

Psalms

I suppose it’s apropos that this passage come up at this time of my life.

I actually was thinking on this passage a couple of days ago, when for the second time in several months, I lost a pastor to cancer. I hadn’t seen either of them in some time, but both made their marks in my life.

Leave it to God’s timing to bring this passage up again in the devotional I’m going through.

The ropes of death were wrapped around my two friends and eventually took them. They encountered trouble and sorrow, and yet in their dying days, they both cried out as the psalmist did,

I believed, even when I said,
“I am severely oppressed.” (Psalm 116:10)

But what strikes me is something that was noted by the writer of the devotional I mentioned. In verse 15, the psalmist wrote,

The death of his faithful ones
is valuable in the Lord’s sight. (15)

Most translations say that the death of his faithful ones are “valuable” or “precious” in God’s sight. But another possible translation is “costly.”

The death of God’s faithful ones is costly in his sight. It breaks his heart to see his beloved fall to death. To see them suffer. To see the grief that their deaths leave behind in their loved ones.

But the truth is, we all deserve death because all of us have sinned. Yet God was not satisfied to let his people simply die for their sin.

He saw our brokenness, he saw our grief, he saw our pain…and he sent his Son.

There on the cross, Jesus bore the ultimate cost of our sin. And so while we still face death in this world, it is not the end.

Instead, because of Jesus, even in death, we can say,

Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.

For you, Lord, rescued me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.

I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living. (7-9)

How can we repay the Lord for all his good he has done for us? We can’t. All we can do is lift up the cup of salvation he has offered to us and call on his name.

O Lord, I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. (17, 19)

Categories
Revelation

Two kinds of books

Revelation

I love reading books. It became a lot more convenient to read when I got my Kindle Fire. Now, I can carry around any number of books, including a number of different Bibles without putting a strain on my back.

Here, though, we find two kinds of books.

John tells us that on the day of judgment, he saw all the dead both great and small standing before God’s throne with the books were opened. What is in those books? Apparently everything we have ever done in our lives.

In addition to those books, there is another book: the book of life. And in it is the name of every person who belongs to God; all those who have put their trust in Jesus and his work on the cross for their salvation.

And John tells us,

The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

What do we learn from this?

We have a choice. We can either put our trust in ourselves and our works to get us to heaven or we can put our trust in Jesus and his work on the cross for our salvation.

If we do the latter, then our names are written in the book of life and we will be saved.

But if we choose to do the former, all of our works will be found lacking before God.

Lacking because he sees not just the good we do, but the evil.

Lacking because even when we do good, many times we do so with wrong motives and attitudes.

But most of all, lacking because we have rejected Jesus as King and Savior in our lives.

In short, if we insist on being judged for what we’ve done to get to heaven, none of us will ever make it. Every one of us will fall short.

I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be judged by what I’ve done to get me into heaven. I’d much prefer to rely on Jesus’ completed work on the cross for me.

The choice, however, is yours. Which will you choose?

Categories
2 TImothy

Because we have hope

Paul

Although there are two more letters from Paul to go through after this one, this was the last letter Paul ever wrote.

And it’s a very poignant one, because it came at a time when Paul knew he was going to die.

Unlike other times when he was in prison, and he was reasonably sure he would be set free (Philippians 1:23-26), he had no such hopes this time.

Nero had started his persecution of the church, and it looked like Paul himself was going to be executed. And in fact, he was.

And so he wrote this letter to a young man he had mentored for many years.

One purpose was to ask Timothy to visit him before he died.

But it was also to encourage him not to be discouraged by all the persecution and trials that were going on, and to continue to be faithful in his love and service toward God.

From the very beginning of this letter you see this. Here was a man on death row for preaching the gospel. And in the very first line, he says,

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:1)

The promise of life.

In the face of death, Paul had the promise of life.

Why?

He tells us in verse 9-10 as he talks about how God displayed his own purpose and his grace toward us through Jesus Christ. And now through Jesus, he has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel.”

So many people fear death because they don’t know what lies beyond it. But Paul knew. He had seen heaven itself (II Corinthians 12:1-4).

And he knew that there was life beyond the grave. That just as Christ was raised from the dead, so will we, and we will be clothed with immortality.

And on that day, we will sing, “”Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55)

It was because of this hope that he preached this gospel he had been entrusted with. And it was why, though he suffered for the gospel, he could say,

Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)

Paul knew his work and his suffering were not in vain. But he laid all these things in God’s hands, knowing that he would be rewarded someday.

Because of this assurance, and because he was certain that Timothy had the same faith, and the same Spirit dwelling within him, he told Timothy,

I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (6-7)

Perhaps Timothy was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by everything, by the problems he was facing in the Ephesian church, by his mentor facing his death. Perhaps he was tempted to just give up.

But Paul encouraged him, “Hey, God gave you the Holy Spirit in your life. And he is not a spirit of weakness or timidity. Rather, he is the Spirit that gives power, fills you with love, and the ability to be faithful to Christ in your work and your life.

Because of this, Paul charged Timothy,

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. (8)

And again.

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. (13-14)

In other words, keep on keeping on. And know that you don’t have to do it alone. I may soon leave you. But the Holy Spirit is living in you and he will help you.

How about you? Are you discouraged by the way this world is going? By how ungodly it is becoming? By the troubles that are coming into your life because of your faith in God?

Don’t lose heart. God has his purposes and they will not be thwarted. Satan tried to thwart them and thought he had done so at the cross, only to find out that it was his ultimate defeat.

Now we have the hope of life. More, we have God’s promise of life. So let us hold on to what we have been taught, and continue walking in faith, filled with the love of Christ, and sharing that love with all we meet.

Categories
Philippians

That Christ may be exalted

PhilippiansHope

For me, death seems kind of far away. I still see myself as young, although I guess I’m technically classified as middle-aged.

But for Paul as he wrote this letter, he really had no idea how much longer he would live. He was reasonably confident that his trial before Nero would go well and he would be released, but he wasn’t sure.

And so he said,

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:20)

To Paul, ultimately, he didn’t care one way or another whether he was set free or condemned to death by Nero.

What was important to Paul was that in life or death that Christ would be exalted in him.

So every moment he lived, with every breath he took, he desired to glorify Christ. And should he die, he wanted Christ to be glorified in that too.

That should be our attitude as well. To live each day for the glory of Christ. But how many days go by when that thought never crosses our minds?

We get so wrapped up in our jobs, our lives, our troubles. In short, we get so focused on the things of this world that Christ gets forgotten entirely.

That’s not how our Christian lives should be. Rather, our attitude should be the same as Paul’s.

For to me, to live is Christ.  (21a)

Can you say that? Or are you living for other things?

There may be some of you, though, for whom death is nearer.

Right now my wife’s grandmother is near that time. She’s 102 years old now, and as of two weeks ago is no longer eating, but is only on IVs, although she is still conscious.

How do you face death? Can you say as Paul did,

To die is gain.  (Philippians 1:21b)

Do you have confidence as Paul did that while life on this earth is a gift, and each day is a chance to glorify God with our lives, that heaven is so much better?

Are you torn between serving Christ here on earth and touching the lives of others, and being with Christ at last?

Or are you clinging to life here, living for yourself, and in utter fear of what lies on the other side of death?

You don’t have to fear. Stop living for yourself, and put your faith in Christ. He died on a cross that your sins may be forgiven.

More than that, he showed that he had power over the grave by rising from the dead. And now he promises, “Because I live, you also will live.”  (John 14:19)

All you need to do is give your life to him. And in doing so, you will find life.

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2 Corinthians

The fragrance of life, the stench of death

Fork in the road

As Christians, there will never be a point in time when everyone will like us.

Jesus was perfect, and still people hated him. Why?

Because of the aroma that flows out from Christ.

Paul says something very interesting here in this passage.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

The picture here is of a Roman general leading his troops in a victory parade. And among those following him were the priests who would scatter sweet smelling incense out onto the streets.

For those celebrating the victory, it was the fragrance of life and victory. But to those who were in chains, it was the stench of their own death staring them in the face.

In the same way, we are God’s priests, following our General who won the victory at the cross.

And as we spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him, to those who are saved and to those who hear the message and believe, we are the smell of ultimate victory and life.

But there are many others who hear what we say, and to them, it has the stench of death.

Why? Because it shows them their sin, and it shows them where their sin is leading them: to eternal damnation in hell. And they hate it.

They hate their sin being called sin. And they hate the idea that they will be held accountable for it. To them, Jesus is the stench of death leading them to their own death (HCSB).

And because Jesus is in us, we become that stench to them as well.

To many others, however, Jesus is the fragrance of life leading to life eternal (HCSB). And so when they see Christ in us, we become the fragrance of life to them as well.

I love the words of Jim Elliot who once said,

Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision.

Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.

How about you? When people see you, do they encounter the fragrance of Christ?

And are they forced to make a choice, turning one way or another, to eternal life or eternal death, on facing Christ in you?

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1 Corinthians

The final victory

1 Corinthians

I really love these verses here in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. Somehow, I’ve never gotten around to committing them to memory, but I think I may just do that over the next several days.

It is Paul’s victory cry. He says,

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:54)

It’s possible he was quoting from Isaiah 25:8, where Isaiah said,

He will swallow up death forever. (Isaiah 25:8)

Paul then cries out,

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)

It’s very interesting the passage he quotes here. It comes from Hosea 13:14. The NIV seems to put Paul’s interpretation on it, translating it to say that God will deliver his people from death.

But actually, it seems in Hosea that God is really calling down curses upon his people.

Essentially, he’s saying, “Shall I rescue you from the grave? Shall I rescue you from death? Death! Rain down plagues upon my people. O grave! Where is your sting that you might prick my people?” (see ESV or NASB).

Why? Because of their sins. Because of their unfaithfulness to God.

But here Paul says, “Whereas God once used these words to call judgment on his people for their sins, now he is proclaiming victory over the very sin and death that had once reigned over them.”

He says,

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)

The word “sting,” can of course mean “sting” as in a scorpion’s sting or a bee’s sting. And taken that way, sin’s sting was like poison to us leading to death.

The word “sting” can also mean “a goad,” however, and in that sense, it gives the idea that our sin pokes and prods us toward destruction.

Paul tells us that sin’s power was in the law, namely in our inability to keep it. We saw the law, but because of our sinful nature, we broke it leading us to sin and causing us to fall under God’s condemnation. (Romans 7)

But when Jesus came, he fulfilled the law for us, living a perfect life, and then paying the price for our sins.

As a result, we are no longer under the jurisdiction of law, but of grace. The law now has no power over us, and because of that, sin no longer has power over us either.

In short, death has been defanged. (Or “de-stinged”)

And so Paul proclaims joyfully,

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

What does this mean for us?

It means we no longer have to fear death because we no longer have to fear God’s condemnation.

He’s not waiting to call down plagues and destruction upon us.

Rather, the time will come when he grants us new bodies and new lives in which we can glorify him forever. And for all eternity, we will bask in this grace he has given us.

How about you? Do you fear death? Or can you along with Paul cry out,

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)

Categories
Romans

Married to Christ

Romans

I mentioned before that there were two points that Paul was trying to make through his marriage illustration.

The first, as we’ve already seen, is that when we die with Christ, the law’s power over us is broken. He illustrates that with the point that death breaks the law’s power over people in a marriage.

And as I said in my last post, you would think that in making that point, it would only seem natural for Paul to focus on the husband and compare us directly to him. The husband died, and the law lost power over him. We died with Christ, and the law lost power over us.

But instead, Paul puts his entire focus on how the husband’s death frees his wife from the law of marriage that bound her to him.

The result is a very confusing metaphor in which we are not compared to the husband who dies but to the wife who lives.

But in comparing us to the wife, Paul can more easily make his second point. What is that point?

Before we became Christians, we belonged to another “husband.” Now we belong to Christ.

In making that point, Paul clearly refers to Christ as the new husband and us as the wife. The question then becomes, “Who did we used to be married to? Who was our husband that died?”

I mentioned earlier that it can’t be the law, because we never see any passage referring to the law dying. Even now, the law serves a very important function. It shows what is good and what is sin. (Romans 7:7)

Who then were we married to? I believe it’s our old sinful nature. What do I mean by our sinful nature?

It’s a heart that is in total rebellion against God and insistent on going its own way. And from the time we were born, we were married to it. And the fruit of this joining, the “children we bear” so to speak, is sin leading to death. (Romans 7:5)

More, as long as we were married to our sinful nature, it was impossible to be married to Christ.

But when God saves us, he crucifies our sinful nature and puts it to death.

What happens when the sinful nature we were married to dies? Two things.

First, the law no longer has authority over us, just as when a husband dies, the law of marriage no longer has authority over a woman.

She died to the law of marriage when her husband died, and we died to the law of Moses and all its requirements when our sinful nature was crucified with Christ on the cross.

Second, with our sinful nature dead, we now are free to marry Christ.

And as I said before, through this joining with Christ, we no longer give birth to sin that leads to death. Rather, we give birth to the fruit of righteousness that leads to life.

It is ultimately the reason that only through Christ we can be saved.

As long as we are married to a nature that is rebellious towards God, we can never bear fruit towards eternal life. The “seed” it plants within us causes us to give birth to sin.

But when we are joined with Christ, through his seed planted in us, we give birth to true righteousness in our lives, and the result is eternal life.

Who are you married to?

Categories
Romans

Bad infection

Romans

This is admittedly a tough passage to completely fathom, though I get the general gist.

The most difficult part, I suppose, is our relationship to sin.

The big questions we need to ask is, “Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we are sinners? Are we condemned to death because we do acts of sin, or are we condemned to death because of the sin that is in us by nature?”

From what Paul says, it seems to be the latter for both questions. He says in verse 12,

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

Part of this is clear cut. According to Paul, sin entered the world through Adam when he sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).

And through his sin, death came into the world. He died. Eve died. And everyone that followed after him died. The ratio of death to humans is still one to one.

The latter part is not so clear. It says death came to all because all sinned.

On the face of it, it seems that this is saying that people die because of the sins that they have committed.

I think this is in part true, but not fully true. We who have lived for some time will be held accountable for any sin that we have committed, and by right, we should be punished for it. We should die.

But what about the child, for example, who dies in infancy, or for that matter is stillborn.

Which of God’s laws have they broken? They don’t even have consciences or any concept of good or evil. Did they die because of their sin?

Paul addresses this somewhat in verses 13-14.

For before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:13-14)

Paul’s saying here that between the time of Adam and Moses, there were no laws sent from God telling people what was good and evil. There was not even a command, as God had given to Adam.

As a result, sin, in terms of committing a sinful act, was not taken into account by God. Yet people still died during that time. Why?

Because Adam’s sin is in us all. What was Adam’s sin?

An attitude of rebellion toward God. An attitude of “my way.” And this attitude is ingrained in each person from the time that they are born. It is the inborn trait of every human.

So in verse 12, when it says “death came to all because all have sinned,” it’s referring to the fact that because Adam sinned, we all became sinners.

Not because we have committed a sinful act, but because through the nature we have received from Adam (and we are all his offspring), we have all been born sinners.

It is as if his sin has infected us all, as a virus infects a body.

How can this be? I really don’t know. Nevertheless, history tells us this is true.

There is not one person in the history of the world who you can say was utterly good except for Jesus. Everyone else has sinned.

They didn’t become sinners because they sinned. They sinned because they are sinners. That’s what sinners by nature do. And because we’re all sinners, we are condemned to death.

Well, that’s pretty depressing. I hate to stop here, but this is getting long. But needless to say, there is good news, and we’ll see it in tomorrow’s blog.

Categories
John John 11

The one who calls forth the dead

John

Yes, we will eventually finish this chapter. But not today. It’s a passage that is so totally rich in truth.

When Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again, she said,

I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24)

But Jesus answered,

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)

In other words, “The resurrection is not simply a time in the future when the dead will be raised. I am the resurrection. I am the one that raises the dead and gives them life. And if you believe in me, you will never truly die.”

Jesus proved that moments later by raising Lazarus from the dead. And just as he called Lazarus out from the grave, so will he call all who have put their faith in him.

The apostle Paul tells us,

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. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

And again,

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

Lazarus was only raised temporarily. He would die again.

But when Jesus raises us, we will be raised in an immortal and incorruptible body.

How about you? Do you know what will happen after you die? Do you know that you have eternal life?

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If you believe in him, you will never truly know death. Only a new beginning.

Jesus asks you the same question he asks Martha. “Do you believe this?”

May you answer as she did,

I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. (John 11:27)

Categories
Ezekiel

How then shall we live?

Ezekiel

In this passage, Ezekiel repeats some themes from earlier in the book.

God once again warns Ezekiel, “Don’t be silent when I tell you to speak. I will hold you accountable if a person dies in their sin and you didn’t warn them.”

Then he told Ezekiel what the Israelites were saying among themselves.

Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live? (Ezekiel 33:10)

So many times, we look at our own lives and we say the same thing.

We see the sin that is chaining us down and destroying us. And we say, “I’ve made such a mess of my life and God is punishing me for it. How can I live when God is so against me?”

But God told the people,

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)

He says the same to us.

“Do you think I like seeing you suffer? Do you think I like it when people go to hell? Turn! The reason that I’m doing these things is so that you can find true life. Why keep living a life that leads to death?”

But the problem with these Jews is clearly seen in the latter part of the chapter.

Word had just come to Ezekiel and his fellow expatriates that Jerusalem had finally fallen. Even so, the people were certain that they would someday return, not because of God, but because of their own efforts.

And so God told them, “It’s not going to happen. You continue to live in rebellion against me and you will perish for it.”

Then he told Ezekiel,

My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice.

With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.

Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33:31–32)

The problem with these Jews was that though they made a pretense of wanting to hear God’s word and of worshiping him, their hearts were far from him.

Hearing Ezekiel’s words was like a kind of entertainment for them, but they would not put those words into practice.

Sometimes people go to church with the same attitude.

They go to get a good show. They go because they are entertained. They go because it makes them feel good.

But when it comes to the Word of God, they fail to put it into practice. As a result, they are walking dead men and women because they are still steeped in their sin. And one day they will be judged.

How about you? Are you suffering because of your sin?

God doesn’t desire that you perish but that you be saved. That you be set free from a lifestyle that is destroying you and that you would find true life.

Jesus came 2000 years ago, dying on a cross that your sins might be forgiven, and three days later he rose again, conquering death. Now he offers life to you.

Don’t think that playing the Christian will save you.

God sees your heart. He sees the sin that is there and he calls you to repent and follow him. Will you? It starts with a prayer.

Jesus, I’ve made a mess of my life through my sin. I’ve gone my own way and paid for it. Please forgive me.

I believe you died on the cross for my sins. Wash me clean. Change me. Make me new.

Teach me what it is to truly live. I want to follow you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
Isaiah

Why the righteous perish

Isaiah

A year ago at this time, I was standing vigil over my dad in his final days and hours here on earth. It was a day I had been prepared for, for the previous ten years, actually.

My dad’s heart was weak, he had had multiple bypasses and near heart-attacks. He also had diabetes and other health problems.

It’s almost miraculous to me that he lived as long as he did.

What I didn’t expect is that I would be there when he died. Living in Japan, I had always expected that I’d get a call one day saying that my dad had passed on.

But in God’s timing and provision, I got to be there in his last days. I don’t know that it made things any less painful. In some ways, it made things more painful. But I’m glad I was there.

Sometimes people wonder why we have to die. Why we can’t just live forever here on earth. But here, God provides the answer.

He said,

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.

Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. (Isaiah 57:1–2)

The truth is, this world is dying. It’s been corrupted by sin. Not only do we see things like earthquakes or other natural disasters, we also see disease, and people who have been corrupted and broken by sin.

In this state, do we really want to live forever? I don’t.

I certainly didn’t want to see my dad live forever in the state he was living. I’m glad he was taken away.

Not that I don’t miss him. I do. But he’s in a much better place now.

His body that was broken down and dying will be renewed. And for now, he has peace. He has rest.

More, he’s face to face with our Savior right now. In some ways, I really envy him.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in a hurry to leave this planet. But there are many things I won’t miss either. And in God’s timing, whenever it is, I’ll be ready to go.

I liked what someone said about what they wanted written on their tombstone. I wouldn’t mind it being written on mine.

“Don’t mourn for me. Bruce is not here.”

Death truly has no sting for those who put their faith in God.

How about you? Are you ready?

Categories
Isaiah

When death is swallowed up

It’s amazing how time flies.

It was about this time last year, that I got word from my mother and sister that my dad wasn’t doing so well. He had been in the hospital for a while, and they weren’t sure how much longer he would live.

I had intended to visit home in May of this year, but with the news I received, my family went back to Hawaii for an early visit. I’m very glad I did. While I was there, my father passed away.

For many, death is a painful thing. And to be honest, standing vigil over my dad in his last days was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.

During that time, I talked a lot with my dad never knowing how much he really was hearing.

I missed his final breath by about 5 hours. My sister called us at about 5:30 a.m. or so to let us know he had passed on.

Death is painful. But there will come a day when death itself will die.

In this chapter, Isaiah talks about the return of our Lord. On that day, Isaiah says,

He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:7–8)

As he does, all his people will praise him, singing,

Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. (9)

When my dad died, he had diabetes, he was completely blind, he had pneumonia, and he had a sore that never quite healed on his leg.

But now, all of that is gone. All the sorrow he experienced, all the pain, has been washed away in victory. And now, he is singing the song of salvation probably as loudly as anyone else. Each day, he feasts at our Lord’s table.

I can’t wait until I see him again.

There’s a song I really love, and whenever I sing it, I think of my dad and the hope that we have.

May you too find the hope we have in Christ.

There are burdens that I carry every day
Sometimes it makes me want to cry
Hopeless feelings harbored deep inside my heart
And I find it hard to hold my head up high

In the middle of the darkness in my life
I find a strength to carry on
I am holding to a promise Jesus made
And I know it won’t be long ’til we’ll be gone

In a while we’ll be gone
And we won’t have to cry anymore.
All our sorrows left behind

And that’s the day that I am waiting for
And that’s the day that I am longing for
And that’s the day I’m looking for
— Amy Grant

Categories
Genesis

Something queer is going on here

Genesis

It’s often said that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.

But that wasn’t always true. Taxes certainly were not always around. And neither was death.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created as eternal beings. People say death is a natural thing. But it wasn’t always so.

As I look at this passage, it’s truly fascinating (to me anyway) how the life span of humans went down after the flood.

It’s also fascinating to see who was alive when others were alive. Noah’s son Shem, if I’m calculating correctly, lived all the way until the time of Jacob. Abraham died before Shem did.

You’ve got to wonder how Shem felt seeing his descendants dying one by one before he did.

He must’ve been wondering, “What’s going on here? Why is everyone dying before I am? Why has life become so short? Something queer is going on here.”

And there certainly was. Somehow, something had happened to people’s genetic structure that greatly shortened their life spans until we have the current lifespans of today.

Nobody likes the idea of death. It’s hard to believe that I’m nearing 40, and could very well be halfway through this life.

I already know of two guys from my high school that have passed away. Neither of them were particularly close friends, but I did know them personally. One died of a heart attack, which is especially stunning to me.

Some people try to console themselves saying it’s just a part of life. That it’s just the nature of things. But if that’s so, then why do we find ourselves rebelling against the thought?

Solomon wrote,

[God] has set eternity in the hearts of men. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

And it is so true. Try as we might, we can’t help but fight the feeling that there should be something more. That death cannot be the end. And it’s not.

Someone once said that life is like driving a car. Eventually, the car gets old and conks out. But that doesn’t mean you stop living. It just means you start living in a different reality. You’re walking instead of driving.

Well the bodies we are in are just like that car. Eventually, it’s going to get old and conk out. But that doesn’t mean you stop living. It just means you start living in a different reality.

There’s an old song that says, “If I know Jesus, I’ll live forever. If I know Jesus, I’ll never die.”

Well the truth is, it doesn’t matter if you know Jesus or not. You’re never going to die. All of us are eternal beings. The question isn’t if we’ll live forever, but where.

Are we set for eternity when our time comes? The apostle John sets forth the key to the question:

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11–12)

But not only do we need to ask this of ourselves, it’s a question we need to ask about our loved ones as well. Where will they go when their bodies go? And what are we doing to make sure that we’re all going to the same place?

As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can they preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14–15)

Sooner or later, death comes to us all. Are your family and loved ones ready for it? Are you?