Ever have one of those days that really makes you ‘think’ through stuff? Well yesterday was one of those days for me.
My friend’s dad died about a week ago. He was 58 years old and had battled cancer for the last 8 / 9 years. His funeral was yesterday. I’d only met him a few times so didn’t really know him that well but I knew lots about him.
I knew he was a Christian, trusting in the Lord Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. And this made a huge difference at his funeral. His wife and three daughters were obviously extremely upset, saddened to lose their loved one at such a young age. But as the vicar spoke he reminded us all of the hope that a Christian has after life on this earth has ended. There is the reassurance of eternal life, a life spent on the new creation with the Lord Jesus.
And why is this possible? Because God the father sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to earth to die on the cross, to take the punishment for sin. It really struck me again about the amazing sacrifice this was. You see, everyone has sinned, every single person. Sin at the very heart of it is turning our backs against God, doing what we want rather than what God wants. And God is perfectly just in being angry at sin and is right to punish it. That punishment is an eternity separated from God, in a place that the Bible calls hell. I deserve this punishment, as does my friend’s dad, as does every single person. And yet in his great mercy God has provided a rescuer, a Saviour, in the person of the Lord Jesus. People can be forgiven by saying sorry to God for their sin and living a new life of faith in Jesus.
This is what my friend’s dad did. He’d been forgiven and as he lived his final days he did not need to be scared of death and meeting God, because he knew that Jesus had taken the punishment for his sin. He knew that he was going to meet his creator and spend eternity with him. This was part of the Bible reading read at the funeral…Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me”. No-one can approach God the Father because of their sin; it’s only through what the Lord Jesus did on the cross that people can go to be with God forever.
My friend’s dad had hope. His funeral was a sad occasion in so, so many ways. But how wonderful to know that he is now with the Lord forever.
On Tuesday evenings I help with the youth group, “Chips, Chatter & Challenge”. We eat chips (!) then look at the Bible and discuss what we have read and the challenge that comes from it. At the moment we are working our way through Mark’s gospel. Last night we looked at a section that shows the seriousness of sin. Jesus said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”.
Myself and another leader were with two teenage girls working our way through the passage. After we had established that Jesus was not talking about literally cutting off hands, feet and plucking out eyes we discussed many things, including lots of general stuff. ‘Is hell actually a real place?’ ‘Don’t we come back as something different and try and be better in the next life?’ ‘Everyone has done something good haven’t they?’ ‘Hell can’t be that bad’. Plus many others….It was great to be able to talk openly with these girls but extremely sad to see the confusion and their rejection of the Lord Jesus. We had another amazing opportunity to share the gospel clearly with them but the general comments back were along the lines of 'my life is okay now', 'following Jesus would be boring', and 'you can’t make me follow Jesus'.
How true! I can’t make anyone follow Jesus. People do have a choice; they can follow him or reject him. The consequences of each choice though are eternal. But what I can do is pray for them. Pray that God would show them the consequences of the choice that they are making. And the reminder was, I don’t do that as often as I should.
Another challenge for me yesterday.... I find this youth group particularly hard work. The young people are often rude, disruptive and uncooperative and they do not want to read the Bible or talk about Jesus. Honestly, often I find myself not even wanting to be in their company let alone share the gospel with them, which I know is completely wrong. Yet, the young people come each week. And we do get to spend time reading God’s word.
God has given us a ‘mission’ to go out and tell others about him. It’s not an easy mission but he never guarantees it will be. We have a hope and a new life to share with people. And we must tell others about it.
The reality is death is coming; the funeral was a real reminder of that truth. After death we will all face God. Sin will be punished. Either we can take the punishment for our own sin or Jesus can take it for us. Do we want to reject Jesus and his work or accept him and thank him for what he has done?
The consequences are eternal.
My friend’s dad died about a week ago. He was 58 years old and had battled cancer for the last 8 / 9 years. His funeral was yesterday. I’d only met him a few times so didn’t really know him that well but I knew lots about him.
I knew he was a Christian, trusting in the Lord Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. And this made a huge difference at his funeral. His wife and three daughters were obviously extremely upset, saddened to lose their loved one at such a young age. But as the vicar spoke he reminded us all of the hope that a Christian has after life on this earth has ended. There is the reassurance of eternal life, a life spent on the new creation with the Lord Jesus.
And why is this possible? Because God the father sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to earth to die on the cross, to take the punishment for sin. It really struck me again about the amazing sacrifice this was. You see, everyone has sinned, every single person. Sin at the very heart of it is turning our backs against God, doing what we want rather than what God wants. And God is perfectly just in being angry at sin and is right to punish it. That punishment is an eternity separated from God, in a place that the Bible calls hell. I deserve this punishment, as does my friend’s dad, as does every single person. And yet in his great mercy God has provided a rescuer, a Saviour, in the person of the Lord Jesus. People can be forgiven by saying sorry to God for their sin and living a new life of faith in Jesus.
This is what my friend’s dad did. He’d been forgiven and as he lived his final days he did not need to be scared of death and meeting God, because he knew that Jesus had taken the punishment for his sin. He knew that he was going to meet his creator and spend eternity with him. This was part of the Bible reading read at the funeral…Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me”. No-one can approach God the Father because of their sin; it’s only through what the Lord Jesus did on the cross that people can go to be with God forever.
My friend’s dad had hope. His funeral was a sad occasion in so, so many ways. But how wonderful to know that he is now with the Lord forever.
On Tuesday evenings I help with the youth group, “Chips, Chatter & Challenge”. We eat chips (!) then look at the Bible and discuss what we have read and the challenge that comes from it. At the moment we are working our way through Mark’s gospel. Last night we looked at a section that shows the seriousness of sin. Jesus said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”.
Myself and another leader were with two teenage girls working our way through the passage. After we had established that Jesus was not talking about literally cutting off hands, feet and plucking out eyes we discussed many things, including lots of general stuff. ‘Is hell actually a real place?’ ‘Don’t we come back as something different and try and be better in the next life?’ ‘Everyone has done something good haven’t they?’ ‘Hell can’t be that bad’. Plus many others….It was great to be able to talk openly with these girls but extremely sad to see the confusion and their rejection of the Lord Jesus. We had another amazing opportunity to share the gospel clearly with them but the general comments back were along the lines of 'my life is okay now', 'following Jesus would be boring', and 'you can’t make me follow Jesus'.
How true! I can’t make anyone follow Jesus. People do have a choice; they can follow him or reject him. The consequences of each choice though are eternal. But what I can do is pray for them. Pray that God would show them the consequences of the choice that they are making. And the reminder was, I don’t do that as often as I should.
Another challenge for me yesterday.... I find this youth group particularly hard work. The young people are often rude, disruptive and uncooperative and they do not want to read the Bible or talk about Jesus. Honestly, often I find myself not even wanting to be in their company let alone share the gospel with them, which I know is completely wrong. Yet, the young people come each week. And we do get to spend time reading God’s word.
God has given us a ‘mission’ to go out and tell others about him. It’s not an easy mission but he never guarantees it will be. We have a hope and a new life to share with people. And we must tell others about it.
The reality is death is coming; the funeral was a real reminder of that truth. After death we will all face God. Sin will be punished. Either we can take the punishment for our own sin or Jesus can take it for us. Do we want to reject Jesus and his work or accept him and thank him for what he has done?
The consequences are eternal.
posted by Dawn at 10:55 AM
1 Comments:
Dawn, this is a great post. I'll keep praying that God would help you to love these young people and that he'd be working in their hearts to bring them to trust in him.
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