More on Death

I’d like to come back to the previous post to consider a few further thoughts on death and the dead.

While walking to work I was mused about the death of my friend’s mother. Her name is Bronwen. I was thinking of my own mother and greeting Bronwen  in heaven – ‘hello my duck’. I then began to muse on the death of several other people I have known over the years. Steven Rowell was a young man killed in a motorbike accident. Steven had great singing voice. Ray & Jean Haythorpe were an elderly couple. Ray had some quite serious psychological issues but loved Jesus deeply. Paul Readwin suffered for years with physical and mental problems but also loved Jesus deeply. My Mother Betty had a very simple and uncomplicated faith – she died of bone cancer. She loved Jesus. My Father, Maurice, was a despatch rider in WW2, serving in the Reconnaissance Corps and became a Christian along with my Mum much later in life. Dad also loved Jesus. There are many others and I see them in heaven together worshipping the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world – what joy is theirs in Christ!

How did they get to heaven? What did they do to get there?

They all loved, and now continue to love Jesus. But one other thing they all had in common – they were sinners – every last one of them. And they knew it. They all had their faults but we are not talking about that sort of sin. What I’m speaking of is what we are in our natures. It’s impossible to reform what we are no matter how well-behaved or moral we are outwardly. The Bible is very clear on this. What to do about it is the difficulty. The problem is we have a thrice Holy God who cannot tolerate sin of any kind, in any creature, in His presence. How did Bronwen, my own Mum & Dad get to heaven then, because moral reform is impossible and they too had sinful natures. Isaiah says that it’s impossible for the leopard to change its spots. It’s impossible for us to change out nature. But marvel of marvels and wonder of wonders here comes the Gospel chariot to conquer our natures and win us over for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you must understand this is not the conquering of an army by might or by any form of coercion – but a supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit. God conquers us by His love and Grace in the Gospel. If God doesn’t do this work in us we are lost and undone with no hope whatsoever. It’s all of mercy. The simple fact is that we are creatures and He is Almighty God.

The God of the Bible does not say something along the lines of: You show me how good you are and I might let you into heaven. Not a bit of it!! Rather, God shows us how good His Son Jesus is what He has accomplished for poor lost sinners on the cross. That’s the place to look – to Jesus and the Cross. And that is where we find hope not only for this life but for eternity to come.

How to ge to heaven? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

2 thoughts on “More on Death

  1. Thank you for this gospel presentation, with the thought of the reality of death, a truth we can find hard to think about in our day and age. God bless you brother Mike.

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