God

Mourn Well

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

Although we’ve now moved into February, today’s post finishes up a series from January talking about Godly emotions and attitudes.  We wrap up with how to mourn well as a Christian.

Mourning is a part of life.  We cry when our loved ones die.  We cry when life changes unexpectedly, and there’s seemingly nothing we can do about it.  We weep for the lost around us, those who don’t know Christ.  We weep over sin in our lives.  We mourn.  But how do we do it in such a way that God is glorified by it?

In John 11:17-44, Jesus Himself shows us how to mourn with Godly sorrow over the loss of a loved one.  In this passage, He does something we would not expect.

Jesus has learned that his friend Lazarus has died, so He goes to Martha and Mary, Lazarus’ sisters.  He comes to comfort them and be with them, but, as we also know, He’s come to raise Lazarus from the dead.  So Jesus, it would seem, would be okay.  There would be no need for Him to mourn, because He knows that this is temporary.  He even says it in verse 11, right before our passage starts: “After saying these things, he (Jesus) said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.'”  Jesus is fully aware that this is not the end for Lazarus.

And yet, when we get to verse 33, we find Jesus “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.”  Jesus is literally a few minutes away from raising Lazarus from the grave, and yet, Jesus is still greatly troubled.  And then we come to verse 35, the shortest verse in all of Scripture: “Jesus wept.”

Jesus wept.  The King of all creation wept at the loss of His friend.  Here Jesus shows us that He really is fully God and fully man, as He both weeps over the death of His friend and, as God, overcomes death.

So what can we take from this?  Three things:

1) Death is not part of God’s good design.  If we go back to Eden, the punishment for sin was death.  We read in Romans 6:23 that the “wages of sin is death.”  Christ, in His weeping, understood the horror of the fall, of the death that has come to God’s creation as a result of sin–both physical death and spiritual death.  Isn’t this a beautiful image?  The God whom we have sinned against weeps over His fallen creation.  The holy God of the universe has compassion on His sinful creatures.  And in Christ, He’s done something about it.

2) Death is not final.  Jesus, in verse 43, yells inside the tomb and cries, “Lazarus, come out.”  Here we have a small picture of the victory Christ wins over death.  At the end of the book of John, we see the risen Christ, eternally conquering death for those who turn and trust in Him.  Paul describes the resurrection of the believer in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22–“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”  If we are in Christ, that is, we are submitted to Him as Lord, trusting Him to help us follow Him, and we trust in Him for salvation, we will conquer death as well.  In Christ, there is no eternal death.  And one day, death will be no more: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”–Rev. 21:4

3) Until that wonderful day comes, it is okay to weep, even as we trust God’s promises.  Here’s how we mourn in such a way that it honors God:  We weep while believing the promises of God.  Jesus wept, while knowing that Lazarus’ death was temporary.  He wept as He went to the cross in our place, knowing that He would be raised from the dead.  And we weep now, truly and genuinely experiencing loss, angry and broken at the fallen world around us and the sinful flesh within us that caused it.  But we are also hopeful, believing the promises of God: that for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no eternal death.  We remain hopeful, looking forward to the day where we, the body of Christ, and the rest of the world, are finally and fully redeemed.

Christian, if Jesus wept, you are most certainly free to weep.  The hope of the gospel does not take away the legitimate pain we feel at the loss of a loved one, or at the suffering we experience in this world.  But it does give us assurance that death, sin and Satan do not have the final word.  Jesus does, and He has declared victory for everyone who trusts in Him as Lord and Savior.  That victory will not be fully realized until He comes back.  Our hope is not in having “our best life now,” but in the life that is to come, where we are with Jesus forever, where our love for Him and joy in Him is complete, where we are just like Him, and sin and suffering are gone forever.

My grandmother on my dad’s side passed away this week.  I didn’t know her all that well, but I had the joy and privilege of meeting her and spending time with her before she passed.  And while I don’t know much about her, I know that she trusted and loved Jesus Christ, and I know that she is with Him now.  So while there is great sadness over loss, and sorrow that she is gone, we rejoice in the hope of the gospel.  We mourn well, trusting God in good times and in bad.

Lord, in the hard times that this life brings, in the midst of intense suffering, whether it’s the loss of a loved one, persecution, or just tough life circumstances, may we trust in your promises.  May we find in you, Jesus, the freedom to weep, to mourn, to grieve, all the while trusting that you are still God, and that one day, we will see you, and all of our loved ones in Christ.  May we “always be ready to make a defense for the hope” that we have in you, a hope of eternal life, a hope of salvation, of perfection, that one day will be fully realized when you come back.  Hasten that day, Lord.

God bless,

Neal E.

Love Well

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

If there’s one word that is more overused, yet less understood than any other, it’s “love.”  What does “love” mean?  Is it the butterflies in your stomach when you fall in love (whatever that means)?  Is it a feeling of joy about someone else?  Is it a noun, a verb, or both?  Does it mean to be courageous and tell someone they’re wrong, or does it mean holding our tongue and not “judging” someone?

The Bible uses three words for love: agape, the love that God has for us, an unconditional love; phileo, a brotherly love/affection; and eros, the love between a man and his wife.

For the purpose of this post, I’ll focus on the first word: agape.  Because this is the love God has for us as Christians, this is the love we ought to have for each other in Christ (John 13:34-35).

The world has many different ideas about love, but the Bible portrays a singular notion of love: Meeting the needs of others, with no regard for the cost to self.  Isn’t this what Jesus does?

He had no obligation to come down to Earth, to take on human flesh, but He does, because we needed Him to take on human flesh and be our Savior.  It is at great cost to Him, for instead of being embraced and accepted, He was “despised and rejected (Isaiah 53:3).”  The God of the universe was hated, scorned, persecuted, and ultimately murdered by the very people He came to love and to save.  He lives the perfect life, overcomes temptation, securing righteousness for all those who trust in Him.  He has no need to prove His love for the Father, or to prove His perfection, but He willingly endures the hardships of human life and perfectly obeys God in our place so that we might be saved.  And on the cross, He meets our needs by taking all of our sin, on Himself, so that when we trust Him to be our Lord and Savior, we can be forgiven of our sin and made right with God (Col. 1:20).

As believers in Christ, we have the privilege and responsibility of loving others as God loves us.  We have “come to believe in the love God has for us” (1 John. 4:16) and now want to show that love to our fellow believers and to the world around us.

But we must be willing to get our hands dirty, and to become humble and selfless like Jesus if we will show this love.  This we cannot do on our own, we need the Spirit to sanctify us and an attitude of humility.  Left to ourselves, none of us would show this love.  Therefore, we must remember how God saved us, how God brought us out of a life of sin, gave us faith in Christ and called us to follow Him, and be reminded that our job now is to live for His glory.

So with the gospel in view, with a firm grasp of God’s love for us, how do we actually meet the needs of those around us?  I’m usually not one for numbered lists, but, it’s a new year, and we’re gonna try some new things here 😉  Here’s three practical steps we can take to meet the needs of others both in the church and outside the church:

1) Build relationships with people.  This requires more than a handshake and small talk.  At some point, our small talk has to become “big talk.”  If we are to meet the needs of others, we have to be intentional (If you didn’t know I was Baptist before, you sure do now) about building meaningful, deep relationships with people.  We cannot just settle for knowing their name.  We need to know what’s going on in their life, how to pray for them, and to see how we could possibly benefit them for the glory of God and the spread of the gospel.

2) Listen to people.  We need to shut up more.  Honestly.  I know, at least for me, I talk way too much.  Going back to the first step, a key factor in building relationships is listening to one another, whether it’s a friend relationship, parent relationship, romantic relationship, etc.  If we expect to meet their needs, we have to listen in order to hear them.  If we want them to hear us share the gospel, we need to hear them share their story and their heart, at whatever cost to our time or comfort.

3) Rethink your schedule.  I’m a busy person.  I’m in graduate school, working part-time, while also doing freelance reporting and attempting to help lead a college ministry at church.  But if my schedule isn’t flexible and doesn’t allow time to talk to someone in need, or get lunch with a friend, or take extra time to maybe share the gospel with someone, I’m not doing it right.  At that point, “busy” becomes “disobedient.”  If you are following Jesus, God controls your schedule.

These are simple tasks, but they are not easily done.

Lord, may we trust in your love for us.  May we rest in your grace, in the shadow of the cross.  May we follow you with joy as we strive to be like you, showing your love to the world.  May we be selfless, taking the time to get to know people and to listen to them.  May we surrender our schedules to you so that we can be as effective for the kingdom as possible.  May we love as you love.

God bless,

Neal E.

Tomorrow, I’ll publish a post about God’s grace from the beginning of our salvation all the way to its completion.  Friday, I’ll publish a post about idolatry.  Sunday, we’ll wrap up this series with “Mourn Well.”  As always, if you have any questions/comments/concerns/prayer requests, feel free to contact me on here, on Twitter @NealEmbry, or email me at nembry@charter.net.