Mortality

In about 3 hours we will be hosting a memorial service for a family who has lost a brother.  His death was an untimely and surprising death as he was a young man.  As always we are reminded of our temporary status on this earth.  In case you hadn't noticed, no one gets off the planet alive.  We are all terminal.  We just don't know the number of our days.

As sadness and loss envelope us, we can react asking, "couldn't have God prevented it?"  We want to keep others close and hate loss.  Yet we have loss here.  Those close to us are gone or at least out of our reach.  And we seek in the embrace and reach of others in order to find some kind of comfort and hope.  We can't fault family for these kind of reactions, but it doesn't change reality.

If our days are numbered, and they are, how can we expect to escape the inevitable end of life; death. Yet death is not an end unto itself.  We will spend eternity somewhere.  Where will it be?

Paul writes, "we aren't like those who have no hope" and we aren't if Christ is our Savior.  But if we have rejected God's provision for salvation, our only hope is no hope.  You see it's not about being good because our best is not good enough.  Good is measured by God.  It His standard.  As creator, Lord, King and judge, He gets to set the rules, not us.  So it makes no difference what I think or feel, if it doesn't follow what He has said or established, it isn't going to happen.  You can never do enough good works to garner His approval, acceptance and ultimately eternity with Him.  You can't do enough bad or evil to make Him not love you.  And because of our choices, He will loves all the way to hell if that is what we choose.  I think on judgement day, there will be tears in heaven, God's tears as all hope reconciling with some of His created ones is gone forever because they chose to reject His provision for their salvation.

So back to the memorial, none of us knows where this young man will spend eternity.  Here is the hope we have.  One day he will stand before the great and merciful judge who sees us from the inside out.  Then we will know.  We hope in Him.  He is our only hope!