Title #1: Woah! 2 in one day!! Title #2: Hope in Grief

Over the past couple of months, several people close to me have experienced the loss of someone dear to them or are facing a coming loss. Unfortunately, if we have not yet faced this problem, we will. It is an ugly truth of life.

With death, there is obviously an entirely different set of issues when it comes an unbeliever as opposed to a believer. Tonight, just so I am clear, I’m talking in regards to a believer.

Death is the final enemy. It was imposed on humanity as a punishment. Pop culture has quite a bit to say on what happens after one passes. There are a couple of main options. [Dr. Duvall’s lecture on this subject (which is my source for this post) covers three, but I can only remember two.] First, there’s the “he’s watching over you from Heaven” choice. While this is a sweet idea, it isn’t exactly what I’m hoping for when I get to Heaven nor what I want my loved ones to spend all of their time doing. If all Heaven has to offer is a skybox view of earth, it isn’t exactly what I had in mind. Then you have the option of going with “they’ll live on in memories.” I’m not trying to argue that holding onto memories of them is wrong. I think it’s excellent to remember the good times you had with someone. I actually think it’s vital that those are the times you keep in the front of your mind when you think of them. Memories are vital. But surely that isn’t all? Surely there is more than just my ability to remember them that will carry them on.

There is Heaven. Not a place with a glass floor or a floor with holes through which to look down at earth. I think we’ll have responsibilities and things to do there. We have purpose. Even before the fall, Adam was charged with maintaining the Garden. It just didn’t include the pain and toil that we now experience. So if innocent Adam and Eve had jobs and purposes, isn’t it safe to say that we will as well in Heaven? I think God much more than just a giant, on-going church service where we alternately sit/listen and stand/sing. He is far more creative than simply that picture of Heaven.

And there is resurrection. Death separates the body and the spirit. The body we have now is imperfect and susceptible to disease and harm. When our time on this earth is over, this body stays here while our spirit does not. I think it stands to reason and is in line with Scripture to say that the division of body and spirit was not in the original plan. If God wanted us to be floaty little spirit things, wouldn’t He have created us as floaty little spirit things? But He didn’t. He created Adam and Eve with bodies. Also, Christ, after His resurrection, had a glorified body. We are told that we too will one day be resurrected. So, I think, we will also be given resurrected bodies as Christ was.

I’m not a theologian nor have I studied this enough to know all the answers (or even some without the resource of Dr. Duvall’s lecture). But this is what I think at this point. And I think Scripture supports this. I think the doctrine of our resurrection is not often taught, but I think it should be. Because when you lose someone, the idea of your memories being all that is left of them falls a little short. When we lose someone because of the curse of sin, there is still hope in Christ. If that person was a believer, there is glorious truth to be found in the teaching of resurrection! Their spirit will be united with a glorified, resurrected body. They will be with the Lord. They will be as God intended them to be.

So maybe, just maybe, we should change our reaction to someone's loss of a loved one. Maybe we should cut out the response of “he’s watching over you” from our list of possible choices. And maybe we should stop saying that “he will live on in your memories”. Because those are not enough. Those do not offer real hope. I think, though, that God does offer hope. He does understand what we need from Him in that time of pain. He knows we need something firm and true and substantial. We need to know that despite the conditions of their passing, they are well now.

And the hope God offers is true. It is firm. It is substantial. It is far more than what our culture holds out to us.

Maybe its time we took hold of the doctrine of resurrection. Believers go to be united with both a glorified body and a glorious Lord. And as believers, we will one day join them in our own glorified body and enter into the presence of our glorious Savior.