| April 3, 2006
Death Cannot Divide Us
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Although writers and philosophers have done their best to marshal weighty arguments in favor of life after death, they have not succeeded in bringing comfort to aching, anxious, questioning hearts.
Jesus, however, does not fail to satisfy us. He brings forth no philosophical arguments. He does not try to prove the reasonableness of immortality; He simply declares it! He speaks of what He knows, and answers with the authority of heaven: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25). This resurrection has two aspects. The bodies of believers will be raised, and their spirits will also live on in heaven.
What does this mean for grieving Christians whose believing loved ones have died? Death does not sever our love for them, for love belongs to the spirit and not to the body. And when those we love go on a long journey, their thoughts can span the distance as though it were a step, and their love enfolds us as though they stood beside us. So it is today with our dear departed ones.
Are you sorrowing over one who has been called to heaven? Jesus promises that we will be reunited one day, when God gives us back our precious loved ones. —M. R. De Haan, M.D.
And called Him to the sky,
He gave our souls a living hope
That they should never die! —Watts
Christ has replaced the dark door of death with the shining gate of life.
How Can I Live With My Loss?
