Monday, July 9, 2012
2 Corinthians 4:14 Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.
JESUS HAS DELIVERED US FROM THE GREATEST AFFLICTION -- ETERNAL DEATH
The writer of the 116th Psalm speaks about being entangled in cords of death, and having the anguish of the grave coming over him. There is no greater affliction than death. It is a curse and is the wages of sin. It is our greatest and most overwhelming problem. There is no way to cheat death. There is no magician's sleight of hand in which we can escape the cords of death that entangle each one of us.
We focus so much on physical death, that often we forget about the more dangerous and permanent death of hell. That is really what we need the cure for. There is no greater burden or affliction that a person would need to get over than the prospect of hell. If physical death were just an end, that wouldn't be so bad, but what most don't want to consider is that there are the two directions of heaven and hell which follow death for eternity.
2 Corinthians 4:14 is the essence of a Christian's faith and hope: Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. As believers we don't need to grieve like those who have no hope. Yes, we will naturally be sad when we lose a loved one to death, but there is an overriding hope in Christ that trumps grief.
That is the same hope that sustains us every day that we walk this earth. We know and are assured that God has forgiven us, and we are not guilty in His sight. We know and are assured that since Jesus rose from the dead, we -- through our connection to Him in faith -- will also rise from the dead. The impossible has been made possible. Physical, spiritual, and even eternal death have been overcome in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
