5.07.17, In Christ, Despair and Death turn to Hope and Life.
the Lord’s Supper, also known as the Lord’s Table, the Breaking of Bread, Holy Communion or Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Sacrament of the Altar, i.e., Christ’s Sacrificial Death, which brought forgiveness for sins to all who believe in Him; and Christ’s Sovereign Resurrection, which demonstrated eternal life for each person who trusts in Christ as Savior.
Living in heaven forever, with the Lord and with all who belong to Him, by the payment of His own shed blood, brings great comfort to me, for this has been a most grueling Easter Season in the lives of Nancy and me, our children and our grandchildren.
In God’s grace and mercy, Christ’s Resurrection gives me supernatural hope and assurance as our family continues to grieve the death of our son Benjamin, born 29 years ago, died April 17, near our home, he was one of the sweetest people I have ever known.
John 11:25-26, “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. Do you believe this?”
I do believe this, and so, I have God’s peace in the midst of my grief. Many of you here, have suffered the loss of a loved one: a mother, father, husband, wife, child, sister, brother. I do not know how anyone can get through the crippling anguish, deep darkness and disorienting fog of grief without the presence and power of God and the fellowship of God’s family.
Numerous times, over the past 38 years, I have participated in the Lord’s Supper, for last 35 years I have officiated hundreds of Holy Communions considering how Jesus Christ, God’s Son, willfully, obediently, went to the cross to die for my sins, and then on the third day came out of the grave alive, proclaiming and demonstrating eternal life, the gift of God to all who trust in God’s Son.
Romans 3:10-12 declares that no one is righteous, no one seeks God, no one is good, not even one, for we have all turned away from God. to our own way.
Romans 3:23 declares, that because of this, we are all sinners, and Romans 6:23 says that we all, therefore, deserve death, but God in His great mercy has granted us eternal life through Jesus Christ; making us acceptable to God, (Romans 5:8) God demonstrates His love for us through the sacrifice of His own Son for our sins; therefore, (Romans 8:1) there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, in fact, (Romans 11:29) nothing can take that from us, or us
from God, for God is Sovereign (Romans 8:38-39), “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Everything except God was created.]
John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep,” (28-30) “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
This truth brings great comfort and assurance to me that I will indeed see my son again, along with my mom, my grandson, and my father, who have all gone before me.
The resurrection of Christ is the foundation for our faith, without it, we have nothing to celebrate or to hope for. When Jesus was raised from the dead His glorified body was quite different from the one that had died. What came out of the grave was very different from that which had been put into the grave.
During Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, He went from one place to another, and yet, without physically having to travel to those places, for He was no longer limited by time and space and material substance. Jesus appeared and disappeared multiple times after His death and before ascending back into heaven.
Luke 24:30-31, “He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight.”
36-43, “While [His disciples gathered secretly, hiding, this being the very same day] were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch Me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence.”
John 20:26, ”A week later His disciples were in the house again, and... Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’” 29-31, “Then Jesus told them, ‘Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
We aren’t in heaven, we are still on earth and there is more than enough death,
disease, suffering and pain that touches, sometimes engulfs us, in this life.
I’ll be 68 years old in August. I lived the first 29 years of my life apart from
Christ, but for the last 38 years I have tried to serve the Lord. What I continue to
learn is that in the midst of death, disease, suffering and pain, our Lord is there
with us.
In John 11:32-35 where we find the story of Jesus arriving in Bethany to see
His close friends Mary and Martha whose brother Lazarus had recently died, we
read how Jesus was deeply troubled and moved by the grief expressed over
Lazarus’ death by Mary. When Mary led Jesus to Lazarus’ tomb, it says, Jesus
wept.
Our Lord, above all people, understands suffering, for He suffered more than all
of us, experiencing great pain, sorrow and loss. He mourns with us, comforting us,
consoling us, holding us, and at times carrying us, as we grieve, when death takes
those we love away from us.
Through the forgiveness of sins made effectual by our Lord’s sacrifice, and the
demonstration of eternal life exhibited by the resurrection of our Lord, we have an
established, secure and validated expectation, providing us with confidence and
assurance that death and despair have been replaced with life and hope through
Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior: crucified, resurrected and coming again to take us to
live with Him and with all our departed loved ones who have gone before us, where
there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away, and everything has become new.
Sovereignly, Jesus Christ is coming back to take all those who belong to Him to
live with Him in a new universe forever; and only through Him can despair and
death be turned into hope and life eternal.
Because He lives I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future and life is worth the living just
because He lives.
No wonder the Book of Revelation closes with these words (22:20-21), “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.”
Pastor Mike <‘((((><