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E Eternal life
In a letter written about A.D. 125, a Greek named Aristeides marveled at the radical new attitude toward death possessed by the Christians:
"If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby."
Christ has made possible a new attitude toward death, investing its darkness and uncertainty with a peacefulness and glory.
Source: Illustrations of Bible Truths, 1995, p. 53.
Topics/Tags: Death; Eternal life; Burial
Here's a poem to help us reflect on the loved ones we may have lost in the preceding year…
"First Christmas With Jesus"
I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below,
with tiny lights, like heaven's stars, reflecting in the snow.
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear,
for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,
but the sound of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
for it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me. I see the pain inside your heart,
But I am not so far away. We really aren't apart.
So be happy for me dear ones. You know I hold you dear
and be glad I'm spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.
I send you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.
I send you each a memory, of my undying love.
After all "Love" is the gift, more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do,
for I can't count the blessings or love He has for each of you.
So, have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.
Remember, I'm spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.
— Author unknown
Source: "SBC Ring" email discussion list
Topics/Tags: Jesus, the christ, savior; Death; Eternal life; Christmas
A few years ago, Paul Azinger was diagnosed with cancer at age 33. Paul is a popular professional golfer who had just won a PGA championship and had ten tournament victories to his credit. He wrote about that experience:
"A genuine feeling of fear came over me—I could die from cancer. But then another reality hit me even harder: I'm going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. I am definitely going to die. It's just a question of when. But everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live."
He said about that same moment he remembered something that Larry Moody (who teaches a Bible study on the pro tour) said to him: "'Zinger, we are not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying, we are in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living."
Source: Robert Russell, "If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?" in Proclaim! Spring 1999, p. 8.
Topics/Tags: Fear; Death; Eternal life; Cancer
Winston Churchill arranged his own funeral. There were stately hymns in St. Paul's Cathedral and an impressive liturgy. When they said the benediction, he had arranged for a bugler high in the dome of the Cathedral on one side to play "Taps," the universal signal that the day is over.
But, when that was finished, there was a long pause … then a bugler on the other side played "Reveille," the signal of a new day beginning!
It was Churchill's way of communicating that, while we say "Good night" here, it's "Good morning" up there!
Source: Robert Russell, "If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?" in Proclaim! Spring 1999, p. 9.
Topics/Tags: Death; Eternal life; Funerals
"Today, with our carnal minds we want an airtight crypt and a watertight casket. I want one with a flip-top box; I just want to come out of there as fast as I can!"
— Robert Russell
Source: Robert Russell, "If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?" in Proclaim! Spring 1999, p. 9.
Topics/Tags: Death; Resurrection; Eternal life; Funerals
"We weep over the graves of infants and the little ones taken from us by death; but an early grave may be the shortest way to heaven."
- Tryon Edwards
Source: - _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 149.
Topics/Tags: Death; Grief; Eternal life; Infants
"He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep in order to gain that which he cannot lose."
--George Martin, former NFL defensive lineman, on a Billy Graham telecast, 12-4-91
Source: George Martin, former NFL defensive lineman, on a Billy Graham telecast, 12-4-91
Topics/Tags: Eternal life; Possessions; Priorities
Seems the preacher and his song leader were both avid baseball fans. These guys didn't just [like] baseball, they lived, breathed and [ate] baseball. What time they weren't about church duties, they were attending a game, watching a game on the tube, or coaching a Little League game in the park.
One day, one of them mused about whether there would be baseball in heaven and quite a conversation ensued. Every thing is perfect in heaven, isn't it? We will want for nothing in heaven, will we? [Surely] there will be baseball in heaven!
They finally made a pact that whichever one got to heaven first would somehow try to contact the other and let him know for a fact whether they had baseball.
Well, as it turned out, the preacher died first. A week later he appeared to the song leader in a dream and said, "Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, there is indeed baseball in heaven. The bad news is, you're scheduled to pitch this Saturday."
Source: unknown
Topics/Tags: Life, brevity and uncertainty of; Death, preparation for; Eternal life; Heaven
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
- CS Lewis
Source: C.S. Lewis, CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR 1943
Topics/Tags: Heaven; Citizens; Eternal life
Assurance is having confidence of eternal life that is resting upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, but presumption is presuming ourselves to have eternal life when in fact our confidence is based on nothing more than the flimsy foundation of our own self-righteousness.
- D. J. Kennedy
Source: D.J. Kennedy
Topics/Tags: Assurance; Confidence; Eternal life; Salvation
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