I know that everyone experiences times like these, when you feel like you have had too many deaths around you. In the past few weeks I've grieved the untimely death of a pastor's wife at age 53, the death of a second cousin who was only 41 and the death of a friend who was 62. The world says these women were all too young to die. Do I believe that?
I was reading Romans 8 this morning. Paul clearly says that all creation is subject to God's curse (of sin, suffering and death) (verse 20). He also says (verse 21) that "with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay." But verse 23 makes a distinction between all creation and we who are true believers and that is that "we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of the future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children including the new bodies He promised us."
Continuing in the New Living Translation, verse 24: "We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)"
Wow! So having hope as an anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19) makes so much sense! It's like my soul is anchored in heaven while my body is here on earth being battered by the wind and waves. I will not fear death, but rather wait patiently and confidently for it. I already have a foretaste of the glory that awaits me. Praise God!
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