Am I the only one, or do you also hate talking about death? We can talk about college football, fabulous Tex-Mex, or fun places to take kids. But death? Ugh.
Knowing how we tend to avoid the topic, but still need to address it at times, I posted a survey on Facebook last week. I asked: What do you think will happen to you when you die? Here are the options you could choose from:
• I will cease to exist (We call this Naturalism – only nature exists, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.)
• I will become a ghost or an angel (This is known as Spiritualism – spirit is more real than matter.)
• I will come back in another life form (This is Hinduism’s reincarnation.)
• I will be with God, who one day will give me a new body for eternity (Christians call this resurrection.)
• I’m not sure – I try not to think about death (In any language, this is Denial.)
How would you answer that question?
No matter what option you choose, you are facing two hard realities: first, you will die; second, you will then find out if you only live once … or if you will live forever.
You only live once – YOLO for short – Is the worldview of postmodern Western culture. But is that what Jesus believed? Is that what the Apostle Paul taught? Is that what Christians stand for?
If you are a Christian, then you profess to believe the essential teachings of the New Testament, which are summarized in the Apostles’ Creed. That creed includes these words: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and in life everlasting.”
So what do you think? Do you only live once? Or will you live forever?
Last Sunday I spoke on YOLO. The message came from 1 Corinthians 15. Many people told me how much it meant to them. If you missed it, check it out here.
Paul
Great sermon. I do think we only live once. But it will last for all eternity!
That’s a great way to say it. I agree!
It was a wonderful sermon!
I talk about death a lot. Not in a morbid way, but like I would talk about a future trip to Hawaii- with excitement and anticipation. Can you even imagine how wonderful heaven will be?????
Jill, I’m grateful for your faith and hope. They inspire me!!!
Paul
Thankful for this sermon- it is hard, with my humanness, to grasp that my loved ones are “with Christ” and not knowing or understanding what that looks like… but that is part of my journey 🙂 I don’t have to know. He says it, so it is true. The rest I will know someday, and then it won’t even matter! I will live in eternity with Him ❤️
Amy, it is hard to understand. I agree 100%! I’m glad that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into our hearts what God has prepared for those who love him …”
Just as a baby in the womb can’t imagine what life will be like being born; we wait in anticipation as to what being in Heaven will be like with Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. I love that song my Mercy Me called “I can only imagine”. Losing a daughter has put death in a new light for me. As I live each day to the fullest here, I know one day I will be reunited with her and that brings me much joy.
Paula, I love that image of a baby in the womb. Such a great parallel to us on earth. You and Jeff endured and suffered much as you watched Madison suffer and die. May your hope sustain you today. Paul