PASTOR’S CORNER

E-mail:  jblawson01@gmail.com

 

 

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. (Rom. 14:8, ESV)

 

     The other day when going through my devotion the reading was by Joseph Sittler, a theologian who taught at the University of Chicago. What he wrote was about life after death and what Scripture indicates or doesn’t about eternal life. To quote:

     “The Bible really has nothing to say about eternal life. That sounds like a shocking statement, but it’s literally true: There is not a single clear and concrete word in the Bible about life after death. It affirms that life with God is life with that which does not die. But any specification about life after death is steadily avoided by the biblical writers.”

     It struck me, or as Sittler states its shocking when you pause and think about what he wrote. We have this tendency to go through life thinking about eternal life especially as we get older we tend to focus on it more and more. And in the process we create wishful thinking of what we want eternal life to be. I remember reading an article about eternal life, where Christians were interviewed about what they thought heaven was like. In almost every case the people created a heaven that reflected the pleasurable things they liked to do in the here and now. In particular,

one gentleman described heaven as an eternal round of golf. It might give comfort, but it’s really just fumbling in the dark to describe something we can’t see.

     It’s impossible to really give any definitive ideas about eternity or heaven and what it holds. All we have is faith when it comes to eternal life. It’s as Paul wrote the Romans, “for if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether die, we are the Lord’s.” That’s it for Scripture. We belong to the Lord forever. That’s the only true comfort we get. It’s really the only true comfort we need. God has everything in control and through His Son we’re His own. By faith we’re saved and whatever God has planned for us in eternity is beyond anything we can imagine. We just need to trust that He has the best for us.

 

                          Pastor Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH

The Good Shepherd’s Voice

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  John 10:27-28

September, 2010