By Rick Sibert August 2008
Peace and Hope Trump Sorrow
The Christian apologist Aristides wrote the following to the Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 125, describing the peculiarity of the early Christians: “If any righteous person of their number passes away from the world, they rejoice and thank God, and escort the body as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby….”
Unfortunately, Greg Laurie – Pastor Chuck Smith’s disciple and pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California – found that out in a personal way recently as his all-too-young thirty three year old son Christopher went home to be with the Lord after a car accident.
A few things came to mind as I heard about this tragedy. To begin with, I can’t even begin to comprehend the sorrow that Greg (and his wife, Cathe) must be feeling right now. I have a son of my own. His name is Sammy and he will be twelve this month. He means more to me than I can ever put into words. I cherish him with every fiber of my being, and enjoy seeing every day how the Lord is molding and shaping him into the man of God He designs him to be. And by God’s grace I surely intend to depart this world before he does, but what if I don’t?…. Again, I just can’t begin to fathom the hole the Laurie’s must feel in the deepest parts of their souls.
But as a true believer in Jesus Christ (and a man of faith I have long admired) I know that Greg Laurie will also – in the midst of that unbelievable pain – experience peace. How can that be, you ask? How can a man who buries his son find peace? Because our Lord and Savior promised us He would give us that peace, yes even as you are hurting beyond belief.
In fact, especially then.
Let these words of the Lord comfort you:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)
This doesn’t mean a parent who loses a child will necessarily understand why. (In fact, I’m certain that very question is being asked by the Laurie’s even today). But the peace comes because you understand that you have a Father in Heaven who is in control, that your child fulfilled his mission on earth (he/she “finished the race, fought the good fight, kept the faith” – 2 Tim 4:7).
You also understand that God promises to work all things out for good to those who love Him and are called to His purpose. (Ro 8:28)
So as believers, when we experience a loss we grieve (like the rest of the world), but we are then given peace (which the unsaved do not know). Finally, because of Jesus’ victory over death and the grave, we can now have hope (again, which the unsaved cannot comprehend).
We have hope that our saved loved ones are home in Heaven, their souls at rest.
We have hope that we will see them again - not too long from now.
I have been in many hospitals and passed rooms where I knew that death was at hand. You’ve seen it too. A sense of helplessness and hopelessness permeates the family and the entire room around them. What was it all for, they ask? What is the purpose? These are the questions of people who have no hope. If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, these are your questions. Contrast this with rooms I have passed where I knew there was peace in the midst of the storm. Hope filled those rooms.
Bathsheba, after lying with King David in sin, bore him a son. The Bible says the newborn child became very ill.
David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died….
When David saw that his servants were whispering, he perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshipped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food?” So he said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, “Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (1 Sam 12:16-23)
As we see, peace and hope will eventually trump sorrow in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ.
For we know that God’s original plan for His creation did not include pain and death. And we can trust that our saved loved ones who pass from death to life are free from any more consequences of that sin. They are now in the presence of a loving and holy God, and one day we will join them and be reunited and rejoice together again.
If you don’t know this peace, won’t you take a moment and repent and accept the free gift of salvation that was purchased for you? And then let His peace begin to fill your soul so that you too can “rejoice and thank God”.
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Editor’s Note: Eternal Perspective is a monthly feature of Calvary Chapel Columbus and the commentary of Pastor Rick Sibert, focusing on living a Godly life in the midst of an ungodly world.