John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
A long-time friend died in a horrendous car wreck this week. The last time I talked to him I had no idea I would never see him again. Or the next time I saw his dear wife, that she would be a widow. I’ve been grieving.
Grieving, but not as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). I know it’s not the end.
Dale hung tight to his faith through all he experienced in life. He made a lot of mistakes, missing the mark on more than one occasion. As Colton Dixon sings, He “got it right sometimes and sometimes he did not.” But “through it all” he continued to believe he was bought with the blood of Christ. A blood so powerful and pure it carried him beyond life’s boundaries to a better place.
Now Dale is meeting his Redeemer face to face.
Jesus hated death. It “deeply disturbed” him when his friend Lazarus died (John 11:33). He wept because he knew mankind was created for so much more. So much more than the consequences of sin and its resulting pain and sorrow. The Fall of man brought the curse of death to the earth. But the story doesn’t end there.
What could be more irreversible than the finality of death? Yet into this stark reality Jesus brings astounding assurance. Resounding assurance. Blessed assurance: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Here lies the hope of every believer. This life is but a shadow of the one to come. Our short span on earth, whether marked by beauty or ashes, healing or brokenness, comfort or confusion, culminates in the victory cry echoing from the cross. When Jesus shouts, “It is finished,” it opens up the beginning for all of us who follow him.
So although I still grieve for my friend, I find a smile through the tears because he’s discovered for himself Hillsong United’s poignant refrain:
“As you speak a hundred billion failures disappear….If you left the grave behind you so will I.”