Promise of Renewal

Promise of Renewal: Our Comfort

Quote Sources:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/20-quotes-tim-kellers-new-short-book-death/

Source 2:

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/73320337-on-death-how-to-find-god

Death isn’t the end, but the beginning of a new phase of existence.

Certainty of Death: Christ’s Presence

“Everything in this life is going to be taken away from us, except one thing: God’s love, which can go into death with us and take us through it and into His arms.” Tim Keller

Christ’s presence is made manifest in His grace to us as we suffer loss of others and experience death ourselves.

Followers of Christ recognize the reality of our journey. John Newton reminds us:

Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

It’s His Grace that Leads Us Home! When the end comes:

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

This earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be for ever mine.

The hymns are comforting when we are grieving or facing difficult seasons in life. A hymn helps us to recall Biblical truths and refocus ourselves on Him.

Our hope is in Him, that when this journey ends, He will greet us on the other side of the veil.

My Hope is Built: The Solid Rock, psalmist Edward Mote reminds us:

When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.

Christ is our Anchor of Hope.

Tim Keller gives us this practical advice in his short book, On Death

“Remember that when you walk into the valley of the shadow of death, it is Jesus, the Shepherd, who has led you there. He has comfort to give you and ways to strengthen, deepen, and grow you that would be otherwise impossible. “

Since Jesus is Present we can:

“So (1). give thanks for his presence, (2.) refuse self-pity, (3). and seek him in prayer even when you don’t feel him present (because he is). Jesus himself walked into death, solitary and rejected by everyone (Matt. 27:46) so when we face the death of loved ones or even our own, we will never be alone. (95–96)”

Promise of Renewal:

In depth analysis of God makes all things new:

Scripture context: Revelation 21:1-7 Berean Standard Bible

A New Heaven and a New Earth
(Isaiah 65:17–25)

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,a for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man,

and He will dwell with them.

They will be His people,

and God Himself will be with them as their God.b

4‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’c

and there will be no more death

or mourning or crying or pain,

for the former things have passed away.”

5And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” 6And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. 7The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

Commentary:

John Piper provides this excellent commentary on Revelation 21:

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/behold-i-make-all-things-new

So when God makes all things new, he makes us new spiritually and morally, he makes us new physically, and then he makes the whole creation new so that our environment fits our perfected spirits and bodies. . .

So there is a deep and painful sense in which we are “away from the Lord”—we do not see as we will one day see. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” Jesus said, “for they shall see God.” It’s a promise. Something greater is coming for all of us in our relation with God.

Beautiful Summary: Emphasis Mine

When God makes all things new, He will

(1). make us spiritually and morally as pure as flawless crystal,

(2). give us a body like the body of His glory,

(3). renovate all creation to take all futility and evil and pain out of it, and finally,

(4). He Himself will come to us and let us see his face. And so forever and ever we will live with pure hearts and glorious bodies on a new earth in the presence and the glory of our heavenly Father.

Our Light in the Dark: Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit’s role is to guide and comfort us. He doesn’t remove all the deep pain of grief, but works to redeem it. It’s a process, not a one time fix. There will be many difficult moments of dealing with the hurt of loss.

One of the hardest lessons that come in our journeys of faith involves the dark valleys of grief, loss, and feeling powerless. Paul himself addresses this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. Context: believers were grieving the loss of loved ones and feared that the dead would miss out on Jesus’ return.

The Return of the Lord Berean Standard Bible via biblehub emphasis mine

13Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

15By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

18Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Commentary

We will always be with the Lord! This is the promise that comforts us: alive, or dead we are with Him!

David Guziak beautifully explains this truth:

“For the Christian death is dead, and leaving this body is like laying down for a nap and waking in glory. It is moving, not dying. For these reasons, Christians should not sorrow as others who have no hope when their loved ones in Jesus die.

i. As Christians, we may mourn the death of other Christians; but not as others who have no hope. Our sorrow is like the sadness of seeing someone off on a long trip, knowing you will see them again, but not for a long time.”

Source: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-thessalonians-4/

Got Questions:

Death is a form of “sleep” note this is not soul sleep (see Enduring Word commentary explanation in link above)

“Paul reminds us to think of the death of a Christian as “sleep,” because it is a temporary state. Although we are sorrowful that we won’t share any more earthly experiences with our departed Christian loved ones, we can also look forward to an eternity with them.”

Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-grief.html

Grief and Hope

Summary and Additional Scriptural References: Got Questions

“Grief and hope can coexist. The hope we have in Christ helps us move forward through grief. Eternity for the believer will admit of no “death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4, NLT), as God Himself wipes away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 7:17). The losses endured in this world are real, and they impact us in many ways, but we do not live in bitterness or gloom. We live “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised” (Titus 1:2). Our present experience will give way to the infinite goodness of God and our joy in His presence forevermore (see Psalm 16:11; 21:6).”

Jesus comforts us in our moments of difficulty and despair.

Prayer

Helpful prayer from Tim Keller’s On Death

“A Prayer Our Father, you are the strength of your people, and we ask now that you would heal the brokenhearted among us and bind up their wounds. We ask that you would grant to them and to all else the vision of that life in which all tears are wiped away and all shadows have fled away. Raise us up in your Spirit’s power now to follow you in hope and trust, and give us your loving power to protect us, your wise power to nurture us, your beauty to enrapture us, your peace to fulfill us, and lift up our hearts in the light and love of your presence. And we ask in the name of the one who is the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ. Amen.”