“I love you, Mom.” These were the last words I spoke to her Thursday evening before she passed away early Friday morning. When my brother called me to tell me of her passing, I was relieved at first that she no longer had to deal with the pain of her condition; however I then became overjoyed, a feeling that still has not left me. I know that this has raised a number of eyebrows with those who have asked how my mother is and become sorrowful upon learning of my loss. Loss, I tell them, did not happen to me, or to anyone else for that matter, I, and/or we, have simply be handed the baton. Allow me to explain this from the following verses:
Hebrews 2:14-15 KJVR
(14) Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
(15) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Jesus, the incarnate word of God, took on flesh and experienced all the effects of humanity, including death, as an exchange of his life for ours so that we may live in right relationship with the Father. We overcame death in his resurrection. Regrettably, many haven’t overcome the fear that death binds them with. This fear is often masked in the form of sorrow.
Consider this for a moment: The greatest fear that anyone could have possessed prior to the death of Jesus was that they would spend eternity either in eternal punishment or utter darkness void of any fellowship with God. This fear drove people to perform acts which could be deemed appropriate, or righteous, so that the desire to spend eternity with God could be fulfilled in their eyes. Jesus blew this thinking completely out of the realm of human consideration, thereby becoming the author and finisher of our faith in a perfect union with the trinity, not only in this temporal life but the eternal life.
Presently, my mother and all those who have gone on before us, are living in the very lap of the one we are aggressively seeking. They are enveloped in the love that passes all understanding and have as their desire the person who has desired them from before the foundations of the world. They know the truth that we are still trying to comprehend and are constantly in the presence of a joy that is beyond description. They have all stepped over into a realm we can only speculate on but which they live in without regret.
Now I understand that there are those people out there who will dispute this with some claim about a future eternal judgment which we all will face. It is you who I feel sorrow for simply because you don’t believe in a God who is love and who desires that none should perish. I feel sorrow for you because you have believed a lie that all the punishment of mankind wasn’t placed upon Jesus at the cross and have had to live in the fear that your actions will one day in the future be exposed before the entire host of heaven. The sorrow I feel comes from the deepest feelings you have about not measuring up to what you believe God expects of you. This is why I’m writing to you…
This loss is not about us – it never has been. There are those “believers” who feel that we should fight against the enemy of death, raising those who have died or war for those who can’t war for themselves. How does this thought encourage the “world” with the finished works of the cross when they must face the same fear? There is no more perfect love than God and it is His love for us, believer and nonbeliever alike, that casts out all of our fears. If there is any fear that binds us it is the uncertainty of life after life. Yet, we all hesitate to accept the promise of an eternal life secured for us by the faith of one greater than any of us but one of us all just the same.
I am joyful because my mother now beholds who I’m seeking; she entertains him who I worship; she tastes the goodness I am longing to be filled with. Why should I be sad when she has passed the baton of this race in life to me in order to accept the prize we both have sought? Why should any of us feel sorrow when the thrill of receiving the same reward still awaits us all? Will I miss her? Yes. Will she miss me and my family? She is the only one who can answer that, and I think that she might be a bit preoccupied at the moment to consider it.
So I celebrate her life as a victory worth striving for. I honor her efforts and commitments in this realm knowing that she is a forerunner to a greater glory which one day I too, as will you, will experience in all its majesty. Our family there eagerly awaits our family here and there is no greater joy than knowing that the Father is well pleased with all of us. Love you, mom.
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