Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Sabbath, April 1, 2017

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“He will swallow up death in victory; And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; And the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: For the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; We have waited for him, and he will save us: This is the Lord; we have waited for him, We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:8–9).

What a day of rejoicing that will be! When Jesus returns, He will put an end to death for all His people, and for them it will never show its ugly head again. That was redundant; I know. But I wanted to be sure you got it.

One thing I love about Jesus’ life story is His utter mastery over the cruel hands of death. He raised young and old from the grave in triumphant glory. When He called them forth, death was compelled to let them go. Amazing. When He volunteered to give His life so we would not need to pay sin’s eternal death penalty, He said He would take it back up again in resurrection on the Sunday following His crucifixion - and that He did. Miraculously, He arose with all power in His hands. His divine nature raised His sinless human nature, and He ever lives to make intercession for those who love Him.

The question we all must answer, however, is whether we will accept His gift. As it is, when a person dies (as the Scripture says) that person’s body returns to dust and their breath returns to God who gave it. They are sleeping. There are two kinds of sleep though. One kind is that of people whose lives were modeled after faith in Jesus. When those dear ones die, they await a call and trumpet blast at the Second Coming of Christ to arise to immortal vigor. However, there is another kind that is not so sweet. In the other, those sleep much in the same way, except when they arise from their graves, the rejection of God’s love they carried to the grave will continue. They will awake a thousand years too late, after the Coming of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, their lot for continual rejection of God’s loving entreaties will be destruction in the lake of fire God reserved only for Satan and His evil angels.

Again, the question remains: Will we (will you) accept God’s gift of life through Jesus Christ? Will you refuse to let His dying for sinners be in vain, in your case? Will you surrender your will to God today so you can join all the rejoicing saints who will have waited for His glorious appearing? I know it sounds simple. That’s because it is. There is no need for anyone to lose eternal life. Choose life while there’s still time! Choose Christ. He gave Himself for you. Here’s one last passage to encourage you:
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–57). Make the right choice today as God gives you strength!—L. David Harris (www.DavidWritesaLot.com)