We Are the Lord’s: Hope for Life After Death

It has been just over a week since my dad entered Heaven. This morning, I woke up excited for my dad. Excited that he has gained all that Heaven holds. I’m learning each day what Paul meant when he wrote, “That you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13. Certainly there has been grieving for my dad. Those of you who have lost loved one’s know all too well how deep the grieving can be, but the Bible teaches that for believers, our grieving is different. Why? Because when Christ followers grieve it is anchored in the hope God gives through His Word. I have said it many times, and now I am experiencing it…we have a living hope because we have a living Word, because we have a living Savior!

The Scripture the Lord placed in my heart when I woke up this morning. It seems I woke up excited for my dad. Rejoicing for him because of all the Bible says he is experiencing at this very moment. I had to ask myself how I could be so confident that dad is in the presence of God and that he is completely made whole with a new, glorified body free from pain and sickness? What gives me such confidence? This is when the Lord brought to my mind Romans 14:8-9. Think over it’s deep and rich meaning with me.

“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). Is this not an incredible promise? We are the Lord’s. Whether we live on this side of eternity or on the other side of eternity, it does not change the power of God to claim us as His own. Do you know what this verse says to me? It says that I should not live in fear of death. As long as I am alive, I belong to the Lord. So I should live for the Lord. It also says that even when I pass away, I will still belong to the Lord. I love how Paul says, “So then…” as if to say, here is the conclusion, or here is how you ought to think…then he says, “whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”

This Scripture gives me unshakable confidence in both the goodness and sovereignty of God. The reason I love this verse even deeper is because that same confidence in God’s goodness and sovereignty is there, whether in life or death.

Notice what Romans 14:9 says, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” What is the Biblical reason Christ rose from the dead? Paul is saying it is to this end or for this purpose that He not only died, but now lives again so that He might be Lord of both the dead and of the living. What are the implications of this? It assures us that Christ has conquered death. My dad’s body may be laid in a casket under the ground, but I know he is not truly there because Christ both died and now lives again. We follow in His work and in His accomplishments. Because Christ lives again, so do we! It for this purpose He died and rose again.

So my grieving has been very different for dad because my grieving is deeply anchored in the hope the Bible gives me. Do you have this hope? Do you believe what God says? When you know and understand the Bible it makes all the difference in the world because it is “Alive and active…” Hebrews 4:12.