Death Sucks, Resurrection Rocks

For those of you who might not know, Amy's father, Todd Leggett, died last Sunday (Nov. 21, 2010) playing golf. He was only 47.

Everything in me wants to say, "That is too young! He should have had more time." And truly, in our culture and others, we all try to justify death. We come up with silly rules like "Parents should never have to bury their children." Or we try to say "Death is just a natural part of life."

NO ITS NOT!

Death was never intended for humanity - did you know that? The Bible makes it very clear in Genesis chapters 1-3. God created a good world and we were part of that good creation. He placed us in a garden and intended us to keep it. Within this garden were two trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We were instructed to not eat from the latter tree, but we could eat freely from the first. We were created to live in a perfect world, free from sin, sickness, disease and death. We were meant to live eternally with God in unbroken fellowship. Now, we (through Adam and Eve) screwed that up, but God hasn't changed His original plan. All of history since that point has borne witness to this. God immediately started forming a people for Himself so that He could send His Son, Jesus.

Jesus was Plan A from the beginning. God wasn't scrounging for ideas after Adam and Eve ate from the tree, He knew what would happen and built redemption into the plan. That is not to say that God made Adam and Eve eat from the tree. God has always protected and respected human free-will, but He also knows all things - what a crazy tension in the heart and mind of God! I can't really get my head around that even a little bit.

Jesus came for a number of reasons, but redemption is one of the most important. Through Jesus, the second and last Adam, God corrected the twisted nature inside of us. Through Jesus, God killed our sinful selves and enabled us to live righteously by His Spirit. Galatians 2:20 "It is not longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."

When we give our lives to Christ, we are baptized. And what are we baptized into? His death. Humans can only bring death, but God brings life. We were baptized into His death so that, by sharing in a death like His, we might also attain a resurrection like His! Jesus' resurrection is the foundation of our faith. If Christ was not raised, our faith is worthless. But Christ was raised and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father and He is coming back to judge the living and the dead and to raise the righteous to eternal life with Him. Eden will be restored to us - even better than Eden is promised to us.

And that is what we cling to as Christians. That is what gives us hope. That is what allows us to shrug off the grief and despair that comes upon us whenever something shitty like this happens. Now, this hope doesn't mean that we don't grieve - far from it. But we don't grieve like those who have no hope. We grieve for our loss, but we know that we will be reunited in perfect fellowship with God and one another. That is what we labor for, that is also why the Christian message is so so important.

For their is another resurrection, one to darkness and gnashing of teeth. I know it isn't culturally acceptable to talk about people going to hell, but it is too important to sugarcoat. And just because our culture doesn't like it doesn't mean it wont still happen. The Bible is exceedingly clear, many people will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but will be thrown into the lake of fire because they never knew God.

If the thought of temporal death is so painful, how much moreso the thought of eternal pain and punishment! That is what motivates me to share the Gospel! I want those I care about to live with me in the new heavens and new earth. The most calloused and hateful thing I can do is not share the message of salvation with those I love most.

Enough of that. Todd was a Christian, he loved God and his relationship with Jesus was important to him. I started this post by saying he died golfing. That is true, but Todd made sure he always went to Church first. He never let his hobbies interfere with his faith. And that is what gives me confidence that he is resting joyfully in the Lord until it is time to come back to earth in the resurrection. This sure belief is what helps me to carry on. We will only be separated from those we love for a short time; then joy forever.

For those that are grieving Todd's death, I pray this message gives you peace. For those that will grieve in the future, remember the joy of God's salvation. He has given us beauty for our ashes. Amen, how Glorious He is!