Tag Archives: death

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on June 10, 2015
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Hope Beyond The Grave — Rev. David J. Schreffler

June 10, 2015

“For we know that when this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 5:1

“Paul is tackling the topic of the Christian hope beyond the grave, and more specifically, what happens to the believer at the point of death. In our culture the subject of death holds a certain fascination as well as repulsion. On the one hand, we try to mask the fact of death with euphemisms such as “he passed on” and “she went to a better place” and with funeral rites such as viewing the body, remarking how well someone looks and placing flowers on the grave. On the other hand, our culture, especially in recent years, has displayed an attraction to the topic of death in the form of accounts of near-death experiences…

God’s intention for the believer is bodily existence, not disembodiment as some would claim. More specifically, those who face physical hardship and suffering as a result of their labors in the gospel ministry are assured that, come what may, a house of God’s own designing (ek theou–from God) awaits them. This house is distinguished in three ways. It is of heavenly versus earthly origin (in heaven). It is a permanent (eternal) as opposed to a temporary structure. And it is assembled by God rather than by human hands (not built by human hands).” The Christian Hope Beyond the Grave, BibleGateway

We can look at the home that G*d is preparing for us in two ways. In John 14, Jesus talks about a mansion, that has many rooms that awaits all of us when we die. Here, Paul is describing something more tangible — that our earthly bodies will no more be our “home”, but G*d will provide an “eternal” if not “permanent” structure for us all. Although what will happen exactly to us once we cross the threshold of death is uncertain, to say the least, we can at least expect the following:

First, through the resurrection we will experience a transformation.
Second, our “house” will involve some form of material existence.
Finally, through the Spirit we are insured continuity between present and future modes of existence.

To go beyond this is to speculate without more justification than what Paul could tell us. But if G*d promises existence beyond this earthly existence, then it will be most certainly true. And we can all wait for that day when Jesus ushers us to our new home.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on April 11, 2015
Tags: death, ,   

Being Renewed Daily – Rev. David J. Schreffler

April 11, 2015

“There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
1 Corinthians 15:41ff

“But, you say, a dead man experiences corruption, and becomes dust and ashes. And what then, beloved hearers? For this very reason we ought to rejoice. For when a man is about to rebuild an old and tottering house, he first sends out its occupants, then tears it down, and rebuilds a new a more splendid one. This occasions no grief to the occupants, but rather joy; for they do not think of the demolition which they see, but of the house which is to come, though not yet seen. When G*d is about to do a similar work, he destroys our body, and removes the soul which was dwelling in it as from some house, that he may build it anew and more splendidly, and again bring the soul into it with greater glory. Let us not, therefore, regard the tearing down, but the splendor which is to succeed.” John Chrysostom (344 – 407) A Sermon
“For All The Saints” volume III (p. 1063 – 1064)

There is a concept in the Army – maybe in all military branches – where they take a new recruit and beginning with boot camp, they start the process of tearing them down. It is a process of stripping away the person they used to be, and to rebuild something new – no longer a recruit, but a member of the military. This in some fashion is the process that G*d does to us in the resurrection. G*d receives us in the corruptible form of human flesh, and rebuilds us into our heavenly form – which is of greater glory.

But this process does not wait for our death…it begins now. Paul says that, “…though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) Our eternal form is being formed in us right now, as we become more and more “In Christ” with each encounter, with the Holy Spirit working inside us, with each time we take Holy Communion and physically take Christ into our very being. With Christ dwelling inside us, then we are becoming more and more Holy each day. So, even though our outer body seems to waste away the older we get, remember that with Christ dwelling inside, we are actually preparing for our “eternal weight of glory”.

Pastor Dave