Death’s Embrace

 

Though long delayed, the inevitable had finally come. With a whispered “I love you,” I gingerly bent over his frail form for one last embrace.

After a three-year battle with cancer, little remained of this once vigorous patriarch. Though weak with pain, my uncle’s unexpectedly firm grasp held me close and long, conveying the message we both knew too well… This would be the last time we would say “goodbye.”

As I walked away that warm summer day, fighting the tears welling up inside, my mind drifted back to another time… back to other believers, who once felt death’s cold embrace. 

“Baby, don’t die!” the father cried out in anguish. “Please keep breathing! Don’t die on me. Please don’t die. Jesus is coming soon!” he tearfully pled, but to no avail as his daughter gasped for her last breath of air. The father’s screams of anguish pierced the night. “Oh, God! No!”

False teachings had silently crept their way into the early church. The fledgling Thessalonian flock was persuaded that unless their loved ones were alive at the coming of Christ, they would never see them again (see Acts of the Apostles p. 258). With no hope of a resurrection, their hearts were crushed with overwhelming despair, as one by one their loved ones died and were delivered into the darkness of an eternal grave…

Yet their cries of agony had not passed unheard by the heart of their Father. With trembling hands they grasped a weatherworn letter penned by the hand of a humble servant of God. Tears of relief streamed down their faces as the words were heard: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

There was hope! The sweet sleep of their loved ones would not be eternal. Death’s grasp cannot restrain its victims when the shout of the Life-giver sounds! Peace flooded their aching souls.

Though centuries have passed since this message of hope was first received, how often we live our lives with the same overwhelming fear as though this earth is our final resting place. Carelessly the words are read which once inspired such hope in the Thessalonian believers. While grasping for the futility of this mortal life, eternal realities slip between our fingers.

God is calling us to look beyond the grave - for there stands Jesus. In their resurrected glory, His children will once again unite. No trace of death or pain will be seen on the faces reflecting their Father's love. Eternity basking in the presence of Him whose love has set us free! No fear, no pain, no cancer, no death. This is our reality! This is our unfailing confidence. Oh the beautiful promise soon to be fulfilled! The loud shout soon echoing through the heavens - death’s darkness forever rent apart as light streams down from our Redeemer's heart.

I eagerly await the day when I can once again feel the warmth of my uncle’s embrace.  As the shout of God echoes through the heavens, this now lifeless body will be resurrected to the vigor of eternal youth and joy – never parting again. Oh blessed hope!

Today may we embrace, claim, and truly "comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

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