"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
Romans 8: 22-26 ESV
I want to talk about something that is uncomfortable to speak about, it is something that isn't openly discussed at the dinner table with your family and when you bring it up in a group of friends, it tends to kill the mood of any conversation.
Death...
Don't run away yet or close the browser. Give me a few minutes of your time and I will unpack what is on my heart and burdening my soul...
Webster's defines death as a permanent cessation of all vital functions, the cause or occasion of loss of life, and the state of being no longer alive. Sounds ominous and final, doesn't it. And from a purely human perspective, it is absolutely final. By this definition, there is absolutely no hope. Thankfully I don't happen to live by what Mr. Webster defines death to mean.
I have experienced death many times in my forty-one years of life. I have sat beside my father and watched him gasp for breath and slip off quietly into eternity. I have been in a hospital waiting room and been told that in spite of the best efforts of all the medical professionals, there was nothing else that could be done to save my late wife. I have had phone call after phone call telling me that my loved ones, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends, have passed away. I have watched the news lately and seen mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters grieve due to the untimely passing of someone that they loved. Death affects us all in some form or fashion. It is inevitable.
There is no dressing death up. There is no way to make it a pretty picture. It just isn't. But it doesn't have to be the end. There is hope.
Hope is defined as a joyful expectation about the future. But you might ask, "what do death and hope have to do with each other?" I am glad you asked...
Since the day Adam fell, man has been on a downward spiral ending with his ultimate demise. And we share this fate with the rest of humanity. We share a painful groaning towards our ultimate demise. It is painful anticipation. But this anticipation I speak of isn't without hope. The fact that we all suffer from the same end, shows that none are better or worse. In the end, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, black or white, in the end, we all die. We all have a shelf life and it is predetermined from the day of our birth. Life is difficult. Just like childbirth. I don't know a woman on earth that wouldn't admit that childbirth wasn't difficult. It is painful. But there is also great hope. There is great joy the moment that child comes into the world and the mother sees her work for the first time. The moment the baby is placed into her arms for the first time the pain starts to fade away. And from that moment, the clock has started. We are all marching towards the end.
This context of suffering and ultimately death requires hope. Some hope that their bank account will hold out until the end. Some hope that their children won't abandon them to a nursing home in the end. Some hope that they will not outlive their children. And in the end, all of this is meaningless without hope. But the hope that I am speaking about isn't a hope in the things referenced before. The hope I am referring to is the same hope that the Apostle Paul is speaking about in Romans 8. It is the hope that comes from saving faith in Jesus Christ. It is the hope that was born from the pain and sacrifice that Christ paid on the cross. It is the hope that we all have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Real hope combines a radical trust in God with the candid admission that we don't know the details about our own future. Plainly said, what we know outweighs what we don't.
Friends, I know what awaits me in salvation, gives me the confidence to face death as a friend rather than an enemy to be feared. And you can have this same sense of confidence and lack of fear. All you have to do is ask Jesus Christ to be in control of your life. Live life in submission to something that promises eternal reward rather than something that has no eternal value. It is my prayer that everyone that reads this hears the call of the Holy Spirit. If you are estranged from God, come back. I did. Don't know Christ? Ask me, I would love to share with you the peace and security that I know I have in Christ. My heart breaks for those that have passed on that I know not whether they knew Christ. So how can I sit idly by and not ask you? That in and of itself would be the most unchristian thing I could ever do. So which will it be? Life or death? Death comes to us all but we all possess the opportunity to choose life everlasting in the end.
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