Rest In Peace?

 When I was reading Flipboard obituaries the other day (the older I get, the more I pay attention to death notices), one article about a famous person made one of those statements that always makes me pause. 

"He(or she) is now free of their pain". Or: "They are at peace now." Or: "They are with the angels now".

These all are touching and probably a comfort to those left in mourning. 

But...

As a Christian, I always wonder why we just assume that everyone who dies goes on to "rest in peace" or "dance with the angels" or that they are "out of their pain". What if they rejected the love of God? What if they denied His being? What if they just never even gave Him more than a passing thought?

Are those people resting in peace? I don't think so. I actually know that they are not because the Bible tells us so.

I recently lost someone I was once very close to. When I knew them, this person was ambivalent about God and, sometimes, even irritated by the thought of there being a God. When I heard that this person had died, I hoped that they had perhaps cried out to God for mercy. I pray that for everyone who disbelieves. I even hope that for the worse persons I can think of. After all, I could have died in my ignorance and complacency.

So, while I never say to anyone in mourning that their loved one is not "resting peacefully" or ballroom dancing with angels, I do have to almost gnaw off my tongue. What would be the point? The dead are past finding the salvation they ignored while living. What I try sometimes to do is remind the grief-stricken that this might be a chance to consider their own mortality.

In my shame, I have to admit that I don't always point this out when I have the chance. 

Pay attention to death, people. Our death will have more impact on us than any part of our life ever could. 

I wish I could say about every person I know that when they die, they are at peace. I wish I could say that we will all be in Heaven. But we can't wish for someone what they don't want for themselves.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36

Notice that the verse mentions belief and obedience. So, those professing belief need to learn about obedience.

That's it for this post but in my next one, I want to talk about why I don't understand Atheism or Agnosticism. I've heard some of them claim that if God is so loving, He would not send people to Hell. I wonder if they ever realize that God doesn't send them to Hell but they go with their unbelief?

Peace

--Free

God Is In the Details

When I am doing Bible study, I often forget that everything in that collection of books - prophecies, parables, incidents - is all tied together in a way that would be impossible without divine intention. As Chuck Missler points out, "every detail in the Scripture is there by design".

In my recent Bible study, I was listening to the audiobook of "Heaven and Hell" by Missler. I am never disappointed by one of his sessions and it's because he always points out details other teachers miss. One of those intentional details.

In one part of the session, he spoke about how when God promised to give back double what Job has lost. I have studied the book of Job so many times (because I tend to turn to that book when I am going through trials myself), but I missed an important detail.

Everything Job lost was replenished two-fold - except for his children. He started with 7 sons and 3 daughters and after his testing, he had 7 sons and 3 daughters.

This has always stumped me and it's been used by scoffers to explain their disbelief. Missler teaches in other studies that we should take notes of anything like this - things that we cannot understand - so that we can look back on it later. (I'm paraphrasing badly, but...)

The children Job lost are alive in Heaven so when he gained another 7 sons and 3 daughters, he had his two-fold share of them.

Once Missler pointed this out, I realized that, as usual, I had been isolating my study of Job from the rest of the Bible. The situation of Job's children having been replaced is tied together with other promises in the Bible.

I just wanted to share that little tidbit with you. I'm sure that we all run into things that stump us when we are studying the Bible. For sure, things like this are thrown at us by people contesting the truth of the Bible. I hope that we Christians remember to use these incidents to strengthen ourselves and our witnessing to others.

When it comes to the Bible, to salvation, and to faith, it's God the Father in the details. He owns the details.

Peace
--Free

 I am listening to the study on an audiobook available from my library. 

You might find it in yours via the Libby, Hoopla, or Overdrive apps.

I thought I would include this for anyone who has not seen it before now: