@From the Pastor?
This Memorial Day weekend, I want to take a few minutes to think about Christian memorials. We don’t participate in ancestor worship or any of the similar elements of some cultures, but we do believe in memorials. Though memorials are often be times of mourning, we are told (1Thes. 4) that we are not to “mourn as those who have no hope.” The most significant memorial services that we hold each year are when we participate in what we call the Lord’s Supper, or communion (that latter word comes directly from our English translation of 1 Cor. 10:16-17). Jesus tells us (1 Cor. 11:24-26) that this ordinance is meant to remind us of His death until His return. Of course, there are other things to remember. The “Therefore” of Romans 12:1 is meant to take us back and remind us of all the mercies of God. Let’s refresh our ‘memory’ of our past, present, and future life as God's children.
A. Past – Before we were saved, we were slaves to sin, children of the devil (Eph 2). But (Eph 1:5) we found that (before the foundation of the world) God “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) ...”
That love means we can call God, Father. Gal. 4:6 “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!”
We (who have called on Jesus to save us) have also been assured of our salvation because we have that Holy Spirit of God working in our lives, we can be sure that God is with us.
Rom 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have even “been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession ...” (Eph 1:13-14).
Gal 4:7 (Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.) and
Rom 8:17 (... heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ) speak of that inheritance.
We are even told that we have a family resemblance – “if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
And that even includes the privilege of fatherly discipline (Heb 12). Eternal salvation is offered freely, but sonship isn’t without its earthly consequences.
B. Present – We now await our final adoption (Romans 8:19). This includes (Rom 8:23) the redemption of our body.”
And while we wait, the writer of Hebrews (12:1-2) suggests that we “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith ...”
C. Future – Before I run out of room, that final adoption that we and all creation groan for, begs us to think for a few moments about Heaven. What's so special about Heaven? One way to think about it is by taking a look at what we can find there.
1. Our Names – in Luke 10:20, Jesus tells us that our “names are written in heaven.” Rev 20:11 tells us that they are written in the Book of Life.
2. Our Citizenship - Php 3:20 says that our citizenship is in heaven. Heaven will come down (Rev. 21), but for now, “This World Is Not My Home.”
3. Our Inheritance – Peter says (1Pet 1:3-4) “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you ...”
4. Our Treasure - Mat 5:12 “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven ...”
Mat 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
5. Our Father - Luke 11:1-2 "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, ..." Isa 57:15 God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
6. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – Stephen saw Him (Acts 8) at the right hand of the Father.
But there's one more thing, the real reason for mentioning this subject for a memorial service.
7. Our brothers and sisters in Christ - 2 Cor 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
You know, come to think of it; everything that really matters in life, and even in death; everything that is of eternal significance; everything that that will last; everything Holy and Righteous and True; is in Heaven - our Father, our Savior, our names, our inheritance, our citizenship, and every treasure is in Heaven with our saved loved-ones who have gone on before us.
See You Sunday! Bro. Bill
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