erebus-cross “In our happiest times we do not want to die. The wish for death rises only when our suffering seems unbearable. What we really want in those times is not death, but relief. We would love for the good times to come again. We would like the pain to go away. We would like to have our loved one back from the grave. We want life and happiness.  We are kidding ourselves when we romanticize death as the climax of a life well lived. It is an enemy. It cuts us off from all the wonderful pleasures of this world. We call death sweet names only as the lesser of evils. The executioner that delivers the coup de grace in our suffering is not the fulfillment of longing, but the end of hope. The longing of the human heart is to live and to be happy.  God made us that way.  We are created in God’s image, and God loves life and lives forever. We were made to live forever. And we will.  The opposite of eternal life is not annihilation. It is hell. Jesus spoke of it more than anybody, and he made plain that rejecting the eternal life he offered would result not in obliteration, but in the misery of God’s wrath: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). And it remains forever.”

Reflecting on this reminds me of man’s search for meaning in life and death.  Death is both an end and a beginning.  It is the end of an earthly existence but it is also the beginning of a spiritual eternity.  We are all not here by chance but we exist for for a purpose.  Purpose in existence gives our life meaning.  Man has searched for the meaning of life from the beginning of time, yet God in his kindness answered the question before it was even asked.  We exist for the glory of God.  We exist because HE WAS, IS and ever WILL BE.   Thus we find our purpose, not in ourselves but in God.  This is why he graciously shares his fellowship with mankind.  God’s offer of eternal life goes unheeded by most.  This tragedy is magnified not by God’s indifference but in man’s continued rejection of God’s steadfast love.   Read Psalm 78 to see how Asaph described this steadfast love in the face of rebellion.

Questions:  Have you considered that God calls all to eternal life, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sex or any other man-made label or category?   God’s gracious call is for ALL to repent and believe in Jesus.   Why is it that you don’t believe? 

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Questions and reflections by me.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

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