BLESSED ASSURANCE
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was a Saturday evening and my friend Gabe, was guiding and videoing a young man and his father in a Michigan youth deer hunt at my camp. I had dropped them off earlier in the afternoon and I was back at dark to pick them up again.
Gabe climbed down out of the stand first and quietly told me that he had just gotten word that his dad was at home, 500 miles away, and paramedics were at the house working on him. The word he had gotten was that his dad was unresponsive. Before we had gone 5 miles, he got a call telling him that the paramedics had quit attempting to revive his dad and he had passed away. It was a sad, somber ride, but Gabe remained positive and friendly in view of the young boys in camp and his attitude remained the same when we got back to camp. How is it possible to remain joyful in the midst of a life shaking disaster?
The answer Is, Gabe has full confidence that he and his dad will be reunited for eternity when he too leaves this life. What an amazing promise and hope! Not a hope as we hope to someday win the lottery, but a Hope with full confidence of it happening.
As Gabe put it, "in life, death always wins"... But, for one that has a relationship with Christ, death never wins in the end. As Paul wrote in the verse above, death has no victory... Death, has no sting. This is true for those that rest on a relationship with Jesus Christ.
That is why the family of Christ can be comfortable in death... It is not the end, it is just the beginning of eternity, and we will be together again soon.
My heart still goes out to Gabe and his family, it's hard to lose a loved one, ever... But as the old hymn goes, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine"
If you know Jesus there is no victory for death... It just begins a wait for those still in this life for an amazing reunion that will bring us back together for all eternity.
Its such a BLESSED ASSURANCE
Help achieve the mission - GIVE today
Click the button to sign up for Dean’s Daily Devotional. FREE and delivered daily.