Death IX
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:42-44 ESV)
Hoping
I went to bed last night suffering the symptoms of a cold. As usual, while not devastating, these symptoms were miserable. I went to bed uncomfortable. But I also went to be with hope.
Because I took medicine.
And as I breathed with difficulty, had itchy eyes even when closed, and my head was fuzzy, I hoped that I would feel better, or even BE better in the morning.
Hope is always attached to improvement. Hope arises because something is bad, and we need it to be better.
Unexpectedly, death provides hope.
Whatever is troubling us, for Christians, after death it will be better. We do not hope in death, but we hope in what Christ has done to death, and what will happen to us through death.
Mistakenly, we often hope instead to avoid death. But instead, we can hope through death’s work.
We will be better. And our believing loved ones will, too.
Sin will be gone. Sin’s effects will be gone. Worries will be gone. Pain will be gone, both physical and emotional. Loneliness will be gone.
And what makes it better is NOT the absence of our troubles… but the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
He is the best medicine.