Addendum: For the record, I wrote this devotional on Sunday afternoon while waiting for evening worship to begin. Life is funny that way. Death is too, sometimes. Anyway…
I came across this picture, which depicts sites in danger of a nuclear strike from America’s enemies…
There she is, Independence County, home to many who worship with us at North Heights, a prime target for a nuclear strike. So we have that going for us…which is nice.
Having said that…
For since death came by a man, so also by a Man has come the resurrection of the dead. For as indeed in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in the own order: Christ the firstfruit, then those of Christ at His coming, Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.
(1 Corinthians 15:21-24)
The end is coming one way or another. From the moment Adam sinned, our mortal fates were sealed: We will die. Me personally, I once heard Carrol Sites tell a story about an old preacher who passed away on a Sunday morning. He had finished his sermon, stood in the center aisle for the invitation song, then sat down on the front pew while the song leader made a few final announcements. Then, when the call came for the church to stand for the final prayer, everyone stood but the preacher. He had just passed away. Preaching a sermon and singing an invitation song were his last acts on earth.
That’s how I wanna go.
But here’s the kicker: While it’s true that we all will die, Christians also understand that through Christ, what is dead may live again. And, thanks to Jesus, our deaths are not even the end; the end comes when Christ returns. At that point, the world will go away, and the eternal Kingdom will be delivered to God, to live with Him (to LIVE with Him) forever and ever.
I’d still prefer there to be no nuclear detonations in the meantime, but beggars can’t be choosers.
~ Matthew