“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no
more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone
forever." Rev. 21:4
Have you
ever wrestled with God over the death of a loved one? (Person or pet?)
"How come God makes people die?”… A question posed to one of our sons recently. Below is our son’s abbreviated answer:
“I'm very sorry to hear your aunt died. I can't
tell you all the reasons why it happened. I do know that God promises that He
is near to those who are hurting (Ps. 34:8). He cares very much about your
pain. He knows all about what you are going through; it hurts Him, too….
The world is broken, and it's our fault,
not God's: God is good.
…The Bible says that God made people in His
image and told them to take care of the world and each other. …God is life. He gives life to
everything, and apart from Him, there is no life.
~What would happen if I decided that a rose bush didn't need water,
tore it up by the roots, and left it to grow on the sidewalk? It would die.
And why should I be surprised?
I took away the things
it needed to live.
That's what sin does to us; it separates
us from God. …The Bible says we all have sinned, that we've all gone our own
way, either actively rebelling against God or simply not caring (Rom. 3:23). We don't want God to be our King; we want to
rule ourselves.
In reality, sin rules us, and sin always leads
to death (Rom. 6:23). ~And it's not just death here; after we die, we either go
to live with God forever, or are separated from Him forever. (“Hell”: a place
we are totally isolated, cut off from
God and everything that makes life good.)
God wants to give us life:
But God doesn't leave us in this desperate
state. Even though we all turned against Him, He still loves us, and He doesn’t
want us to die. He knows that no matter how hard we try to be good, it isn’t
enough. …Jn. 3:16 says, "For God
loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who
believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
God sent His own Son, Jesus, down to Earth to die
and save us from sin and death.
~Jesus lived the perfect life that none of us
could, then took the punishment that we deserved. He died on the cross so that
sin wouldn't stand between the Father and us anymore.
He showed us once and for all how much He dearly loves us,
and willingly paid the highest price to save us, His own blood.
And here's the really good news. Jesus didn't
stay dead. After being dead for three days, Jesus rose again. And He offers His
life to anyone who wants it. …Now, everybody has to make a choice. Do we accept Jesus' free gift, or choose to live
life our own way?
But remember, even
though Jesus came to save us from our sins, the world is still broken, and we
lose loved ones to death … However, the Bible says that in the end, God will come to set things right, and
there won't be anymore death or mourning or crying or pain for those who belong
to Jesus. Rev. 21:4”
We pray this
message of hope and life speaks to your heart. Death is tough; we just put down
one of our pets last week and are still feeling the sting.
Living in
Him; come Lord Jesus! Much
love this week, ~Shaun and Betsy
