“To
everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to
be born, And a time to die…A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break
down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to
mourn, And a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4).
Most people don’t like to
think or talk about death, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that there
is a time to be born, and a time to die. Unless Jesus comes back in our life
time, then there will be a day when every one of us will say farewell to our
lives on planet earth, and enter into eternity.
In September of 2007, I said
goodbye to my dad, Robert Bogle, who was only 55 years old when he lost his
battle with cancer. When I attended his funeral in Calgary
THE GRAVE IS NOT THE END –
THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH.
“But
let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will
die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the
blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet
sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies.
And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For
our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that
will never die. When this happens – when our perishable earthly bodies have
been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die – then at last the
Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death,
where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" For sin is the sting
that results in death… How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and
death through Jesus Christ our Lord. So,
my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about
the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever
useless.” (1 Cor. 15:51-58).
In Revelation Chapter one,
Jesus revealed Himself by saying, “Don't
be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the living one who died. Look, I
am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” As Christians, we don’t have to be
afraid of death, because death is not an ending - it’s a new and exciting
beginning. As long as we are living on planet earth, there will also be times
where we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But even there,
we will fear no evil, for God is with us. Let me give you just a sneak peak
into what awaits us in Heaven…
“I
heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now
among his people. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God
himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will
be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils
are gone forever.” (Rev. 21:3-4).
As long as we continue on our
pilgrimage on planet Earth, we will experience seasons of weeping and laughing,
mourning and dancing. But the hope we have as Christians is that one day we’re
going to a wonderful place called Heaven where God will remove our sorrows, and
there will be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain anymore. I long for that
day – what a day of rejoicing that will be.
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