”Christ died and rose again for this very purpose to be Lord both of the living and of the dead”(Romans 14:9 NLT).
It is comforting to know that people who die are not suddenly forgotten or left out of Gods plans. Their interests are remembered and archived by the divine community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The triune God is actively engaged in preserving their identities because he is the Lord of all —the living and the dead.
It is an observable reality that most people alive today (especially those who are young) live as if they will never die; as if they will somehow be mysteriously spared from the fate of the millions and billions who have lived and died before them. As long as normalcy continues and the stock market rebounds, they are oblivious to the obvious, until their world caves in.
I love the idea that even though we are all cued up to die, that those who die trusting and embracing God’s ideals are actively included in his present and future thoughts and plans.
Jesus said, ”It is my Fathers will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40, NLT).
The resurrection is more than a supernatural act of God reassembling body parts and retrieving personality traits from memory banks, ashes and decaying corpses. It is the culmination of heaven’s effort to merge Jesus’ life with his followers (both living and dead); a seamless merging of past, present and future realities.
"Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave, not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal" (Desire of Ages, p. 388).
This knowledge compels us to agree with Paul when he says, ”That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day” (2 Corinthians 4:16, NLT).
This is why many are able to praise God at funerals and celebrate the memory of family members who die. What the world views as the end, is not, because Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead; the remembered and forgotten.
As frail human creatures we forget what we cannot see. But God remembers everything that death and sin strip away. He remembers what is physically gone, each person’s unique identity, their patterns of thinking, their aspirations, hopes and fears.
”As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lords love is with those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13-17, NIV).
Instead of giving into prolonged grief or ignoring their mortality, Jesus followers accept his promise when he said, ”I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25, NIV).
Only Jesus, who is Lord of the living and the dead can say this.
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California. Photograph by WikimediaImages, with Pixabay
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT), copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®