As I shared this past week with my local church family, my grandmother passed away at the age of 92 on August 15th. She was born and raised in Germany, and I will miss her. It's hard to imagine, but I only had seven opportunities in my 37 years to spend time with her. I have travelled to Germany 3 times in my life, and she came to the U.S. 4 times in my lifetime. Thankfully, our last meeting she stayed with my parents for a year (2006-2007), and I was able to spend some extended time with her. Still, I have never spoken German fluently... and thus, our relationship was deep (because of blood), but shallow in terms of limited communication. Oh, how I wish I could have shared the wonders of Christ with her in a more deep fashion.
Death. It has a way of humbling us, sobering us, and reminding us of our mortality, doesn't it?! My grandmother's passing reminded me of the serious words of Hebrews 9:27: "It is appointed for man to die once, and after that to face judgment." Death may or may not scare you... but what about the word 'judgment'? Are you prepared to stand before the holy, righteous and just Judge of all mankind and give an account of your life to Him? That day is coming friend... make no mistake--regardless if you are a beliver in Christ or not (Acts 17:31; Romans 14:12; and 2 Corinthians 5:10). Are you prepared to die today (you could you know... you're not guaranteed tomorrow)? If you were to die today and God were to ask you WHY He should allow you to enter into His heaven... what would be your answer? Where is your faith resting? What or whom are you trusting in to obtain everlasting life?
The truth is--according to the Bible--the only hope any of us has is Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 1:1). He is our hope of heaven IF we have turned from our sins and trusted in Him alone for the gift of salvation (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 13:3; John 3:16; John 3:36; John 20:31; Acts 2:38; Acts 10:43; Acts 16:30-31; Acts 17:30; 1 John 5:5). We must be willing to turn away from our sins (those attitudes and actions which displease God and which are revealed in His Word--e.g. The Ten Commandments) with His help, and we must be willing to believe that Jesus Christ is God's one and only Son, that He lived a sinless life (wholy obedient to His Father's will), that He died on the cross to pay for the sin debt of mankind (i.e. death--Romans 6:23), that He was buried, and that on the third day God raised Him from the dead to prove to all that Jesus' death was indeed accepted by God as the full payment for man's sin debt. The Bible says succinctly: 'For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of [human/religious/good] works, so that no one may boast' (Ephesians 2:8-9)... and 'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [i.e. the Sovereign over all], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead [having purchased your redemption through His substitutionary death], you will be saved... for anyone who trusts in Him will never be disappointed' (Romans 10:9-11).
The gospel of Jesus Christ really is good news. Sinful, rebellious, fallen, imperfect people like you and me can be reconciled to God, forgiven of our sins, adopted by God into His family, and promised the hope of heaven (2 Corinthians 5:18; Ephesians 1:7; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:3-5)... if we will turn from sin and trust in Christ. What a gracious and merciful God--to extend the possibility of salvation to us. I hope you have received His free gift of salvation. If not, today is the day to prepare to face death... and God (Isaiah 55:6-7 & 2 Corinthians 6:2).
