Therefore comfort one another with these words

I heard today that the father of someone I know passed away. This is not a “friend” of mine by any means and I have never met his father so it is not like I was overly upset by the news.

But it got me to thinking.

If someone dies and they were “in Christ” then really we should be celebrating.

We may be sad that we will miss them our remaining days here on earth but we really should be celebrating for them if they really knew Jesus, abided and Him and produced fruit in their lives to leave us no doubt they are now with the Lord.

“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

We know one thing for certain. A Christian can be in only one of two places. Either absent from the Lord in our earthly tents or in the presence of the Lord. And to be in the presence of the Lord is our hope and what we press on towards all our days of this life.

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.” (Psalm 39:7)

There is little detail given about Heaven in the Bible really. We get some glimpses when John is taken up to Heaven in the book of Revelation. Paul was stoned to death one time, went to Heaven and then returned to his body. He stated that the things he saw and heard we so fantastic that they could not be properly conveyed with the words of man in such a way that a mortal man would even begin to comprehend.

Honestly, some days I think that those brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone home before us are in reality the lucky ones. They are not stuck here on this sin infested rock we call earth. They are in a place so fantastic that we cannot even begin to comprehend it this side of eternity.

But if that were not enough, it gets better. Our loved ones that died in Christ that we miss will not always be “gone.” One day we will see them again. As quickly as prophecy is coming to pass these days we might even indeed see them again very soon.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

When a love one dies, it is understandable that we would be sad because we are going to miss their company. But for them, we should rejoice and take comfort in the fact that we will see them again at some point in the future.

One of my grandfathers passed away in 1984. In this life, my grandfather was a simple man who lived a humble life and enjoyed picking his guitar and singing at church more than anything else.

I still miss him but I take comfort in two things. The first being that he is up in Heaven before the throne singing praises to Jesus with guitar in had as we speak. The second thing is the knowledge that one day I will be standing beside him to join him in signing praise.

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18)