Stephen
Terry, Director
The
New Testament Hope
Commentary
for the November 19, 2022, Sabbath School Lesson
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws
them, and I will raise them up at the last day.."
John
6:44, NIV
As a child in the 1950s, I early
became aware of a popular mythos surrounding what transpires at death. The
cowboy celebrities, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, had a child, Robin, who was born
a little over a year before I was. Robin was born with Downs Syndrome and only
lived for two and a half years, passing in 1953. Out of the grief of this
heart-wrenching experience, Dale Evans wrote a book detailing how her child
immediately went to heaven and was given wings to become an angel. Even fifty
years after it was first published, it still managed to sell seven printings,
reflecting the popularity of this idea about death. While not supported
biblically, the idea has been central to pop theology for a very long time. In
the movie "It's A Wonderful Life," Clarence is a deceased person trying to earn
his angel wings by helping the lead character through a life crisis. He
succeeds in his task, and we are reminded, "Every time a bell rings, an angel
gets his wings."
Charles Tazewell also managed to
ride this popular idea to fame, writing "The Littlest Angel" about a child who
went to heaven and became a winged angel. While this idea has more in common
with the cherubs of pre-Christian myth, like many other ideas that predate
Christianity, the little, winged babies have been "baptized" into Christian
culture and myth. It is not hard to see why. When grieving over the loss of
someone dear, the heart is like a ship in a storm seeking any sheltered port to
escape the tormenting grief. The easy answer that the lost loved one is now in
heaven enjoying all sorts of heavenly delights and experiences is offered as a
panacea. The grieving cling to that idea as a drowning man desperately clings
to a bit of flotsam to stay alive in a cold, dark sea. I have seen this
firsthand not only in the examples of others, but in my own family as well.
Once, when visiting an elderly grandmother with my first wife, the subject of
what happens when we die came up. This was because my grandmother had a book on
what happens when we die written by Morris Venden. Since he was Seventh-day
Adventist and my grandmother was Baptist, I raised the question because I knew
that the Baptist position on death reflected the popular theology that when a
person dies, they immediately go to heaven and become angels. Morris Venden,
however, taught the biblical position that we are not resurrected from death
until the Second Coming of Christ. I was startled to discover that she would
brook no discussion on the issue. She pointed to Venden's book and said what he
had to say on the matter was the truth, and she didn't want to hear any
Seventh-day Adventist nonsense about what happens when we die. We decided since
she was so convinced of the truth about death and dying, and we were in harmony
about that, there was no need to speak further on the matter. However, once her
protesting voice was silenced in death, her Baptist preacher preached her
straight into heaven despite the biblical truth she had discovered.
As our opening verse from John,
Chapter 6, tells us, the resurrection of the dead is to take place at the Last
Day. Jesus was so adamant about it that he repeated it several times in that
chapter. While all power of life and death is given to him, he has chosen to
reserve that for the Parousia. As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 15, when
that day comes, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will come forth to meet
the returning Christ. He also points out that they will be joined by the living
faithful. Our open graves will not bring forth corruption, but we will all be
changed on that day, becoming immortal with glorified bodies having no taint of
corruption. Until that point, no matter how faithful we have been, we do not
have immortality, and the most faithful saint, having to deal with chronic
illness and pain, is aware that faithfulness is not present deliverance from
these things, though a restful slumber in the grave as we await Christ's return
can sound like a delightful release from suffering in the meantime.
We live in a time of instant gratification.
Microwaves turn out hot meals in just a few minutes. Television series can be
streamed to binge an entire season of episodes in a single evening instead of
over the course of a few months. Products created on the other side of the
globe are warehoused locally so that we can receive them within a day or two of
requesting them online. Even automobiles, when we used to have to spend an
entire day at the dealer haggling with a salesman about the price
we were willing to pay, can now be purchased online and delivered to our front
door with a money back guarantee. With so much at our immediate beck and call,
is it any wonder that we are unwilling to wait for Jesus to finally return to
enjoy our heavenly rewards? We refuse to find comfort in Jesus' resurrection of
the dead unless it is immediate.
One problem this creates is what
do we do with the dead? Since pop theology holds that they are not resting
peacefully in their graves, they must be somewhere. Hence it is assumed they
are in heaven. But what is that heaven like? Is it angels flying back and
forth, floating on clouds and playing harps? Even non-Christians can readily
see how boring that could become in only a short span of time, not to mention
living like that eternally. The Bible gives a different future to look forward
to. It tells us in the final chapters of Revelation that we will be living
right here on earth and that rather than us living eternally with God in
heaven, Christ will come to dwell with us here, lighting the world with his presence.
It won't be the earth as we know it now. Evil will finally be at an end, and
the earth will be restored to its former glory. The Tree of Life, denied to
humanity after the Fall, will be present once more to heal and restore us.
When Jesus returns and the
saints reunite with him, the earth will become void of life for a thousand
years, at the end of that millennium, the lost will be resurrected also. In a
final act of rebellion, they will attempt to destroy the saved, demonstrating
that there can be no safety, no peace, if they are allowed to remain in the
restored and healed earth. The rebellion that has raged for most of earth's
history ends in flames. Instead of darkness and evil surmising, peace reigns.
The soil of the new earth is enriched with the ashes of the rebels,[i] and
a verdant garden blooms where only desolation reigned previously. For the righteous,
death ceased at the Second Coming. The image of God, the image of humanity at
Creation, is restored. God is love, and the image of love is what our future
image is to be. We can strive for that now though it is difficult to achieve.
Everything about our world tells us to put ourselves and our families above all
others. Nothing could be further from the selfless grace of Jesus giving his
life for the very people who hated him and taunted him upon the cross.
We are adjured by Jesus in the
Sermon on the Mount to be perfect as God is perfect, and in the context of
telling us that he defined what that meant. Succinctly, it means we are to love
everyone, including our enemies. That is a hard thing for most of us. Just as
the pain of losing a loved one can cause us to lose sight of what the Bible
actually says about death, the pain of our experiences can cause us to lose
sight of the importance of love in all of our relationships. This life with all
of its difficulties is a school to teach us how much we do or do not bear the
image of God. Jesus taught that as difficult as it is to find love on the
earth, those who are able to continue loving in a loveless world will be saved.[ii]
Like calls to like, and Jesus will be calling forth for resurrection those who
continued to love connecting to them with his own heart of love.
I look forward to that day. I do
not say that with any arrogance about my own righteousness. I am flawed as we
all are. Some like to compare flaws as though their flaws are less than those of
others, but every flaw is mortal. There is no degree of death for us. We all
face the same end. So how can I look forward to Christ's return when I am among
the flawed? Because Jesus promised it to those who believe him. Faith in that
promise is what makes the difference. Once we decide to change and accept that
promise, the Holy Spirit begins to restore our loving character to compliment
the new immortality we will receive at our resurrection. That may be a harder
work for some than for others, but all are promised the beautiful future that
comes after the Second Coming and the restoration of the earth if they will
stay the course. Jesus makes it possible.