No Resurrection, No Hope

 

Image from Jesus Film Project

A few days ago, while thinking about the last week of Christ’s earthly ministry, my thoughts strayed across the memory of a Holy Week many years ago, as if I had brushed up against an evil spider lurking in a cobweb within the darkest recesses of my mind.

Easter came early that year: March 27, 2005. I had been born again nearly 5 years previously, on April 17, 2000, by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6). On the Thursday of Holy Week in 2005, my husband and I were in New Orleans to compete in a ballroom dance competition.

The city, festive as always, was blooming with spring flowers and enticing with sounds of jazz and brass bands wafting through the breeze. The weather was balmy, perfect for strolling through the French Quarter and admiring the intricate iron work of the historic buildings and the precious art objects in the windows of antique shops.

We were staying at the Ritz Carlton where the competition was taking place, the elegant ballgowns and sparkling Latin dresses adorning the already beautiful interior, replete with tasteful, fragrant floral displays and Easter décor. In the city, hotel and ballroom, the people were friendly, the food was delicious, and the mood was jovial.

But my heart was heavy, sinking like a stone to the pit of my stomach.  My thoughts could not escape the darkness of the events surrounding Terri Schiavo, a young woman with severe brain damage and a family embroiled in a bitter struggle over her right to live or to die. Her husband had moved on with his life and had children with another woman. Yet he refused to relinquish legal guardianship of Terri to her parents, even though they offered to pay all her expenses.

I was one of the very few neurologists who, after thoroughly reviewing her complex medical records and videotapes, believed that she showed signs of meaningful interaction with her environment and especially with her parents. I had signed an affidavit to that effect in support of her parents, who had appealed to the courts to have her feeding tube reinserted after Terri’s husband won the legal battle to have it removed.

But after the “Palm Sunday Compromise” on March 20, which was emergency legislation to get the case moved to federal court, on March 25 the courts refused to reinsert the feeding tube. It had been withheld since March 18, meaning that Terri would be deprived of food and water and allowed to die from starvation and dehydration.

My heart went out to her parents, for I could not imagine the agony of knowing your child was deliberately being starved to death, and watching as her body shriveled away and her eyes sank deep into their sockets. Even worse would be the feeling of helplessness to intervene and knowing that your child’s pain was senseless and through no fault of her own.

Even for me, that Holy Week was perhaps the most poignant of my life, as it so vividly brought to mind the suffering of Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God led to the slaughter and betrayed by those He loved and trusted. And the pain that Mary must have endured at the cross, not only watching Jesus’ life ebb away, but knowing that her perfect, sinless Son, the Messiah, God Himself, was unjustly condemned to a horrific death and brutally tortured by those He came to save.

Meanwhile, protesters and prayer warriors gathered around the hospice facility where Terri was dying; the media were ablaze with arguments from both sides; and the courts and legislature continued to suppress any last hope of Terri’s parents that she would be allowed to live. President Bush spoke out for legal protection of those who had no voice of their own, and the Pope criticized US law for allowing such inhumane treatment and for not upholding the sanctity of human life.

On March 27, Easter Sunday, while Christians everywhere celebrated the resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, John 21:14, Romans 8:34), Terri received the Last Rites, in keeping with her Catholic background. She passed into eternity a few days later, on March 31.

Despite the burden of these events, my heart found hope anew in singing God’s praises on Resurrection Sunday, for the risen Christ is victorious over death and brings hope to the suffering and once hopeless who have trusted Him.

I don’t know whether or not Terri Schiavo was saved, for only the Lord knows the hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). I do know that had Jesus Christ, God the Son, not taken on human flesh (John 1:14) to pay the ransom price for our sins (Hosea 13:14, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6), and had He not conquered sin, death and the grave by rising from the dead, that there would be no hope for any of us (1 Corinthians 15:13-58).

Praise the Lord, Christ arose! Now we who trust Him have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), a blessed hope in His glorious appearing (Titus 2:13), and the assurance that when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord! (2 Corinthians 5:8). If He calls us home before the Rapture, We will pass through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) directly to our home in Heaven (John 14:1-4), where He awaits with outstretched arms!

And if we are blessed to still be living when He returns, we will not even taste death (Luke 9:27), for we shall be instantly transformed into glorious bodies like His (1 Corinthians 15:35-50), to meet with Him in the clouds and forever be with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and our loved ones in Him!

Because of His resurrection, there is hope! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia, Amen! 

© 2019 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Salvation’s Ongoing Transformations

Photo by Tamilan pugal 2021

As we saw last week, salvation has an instant rewards program beyond compare! We are positionally justified in Christ, a new creation in Him, and sealed and indwelled by the Holy Spirit Who gives us at least one spiritual gift. We have instant and continual access to God the Father through prayer, and we are His adopted children and joint heirs with Christ.

But that is only the beginning! Throughout our Christian life, from the moment we are saved until the moment the Lord takes us home, we are progressively sanctified, meaning that we become more like Christ and progressively conformed or shaped into His image (Romans 8:29-30). He is the Potter, and we are the clay (Isaiah 29:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 9:21), continually molded and reshaped into a vessel of honor increasingly useful for His service (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

The process of progressive sanctification occurs through meditating on God’s Word, through prayer, through obedience, and even through trials causing suffering. God may allow trials into our life to increase our faith in and reliance on Him (2 Corinthians 12:9); to give us compassion and experience to be able to help others going through similar trials; and to help us identify with and understand Christ’s suffering on the cross (Philippians 3:10) as He paid our sin debt.

Beginning at the moment we are born again, the Holy Spirit is there to guide us (Romans 8:9;Galatians 5:25), to teach us from God’s Word, to let us know through our conscience when we are sinning, to comfort us in difficult times and to give us wisdom (John 14:16-26).

As our Guide, the Spirit teaches us to understand and know the Word, both the Scripture and Jesus Christ (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians1:18-31;2:9-15;13:9-12), Who is the express image of God the Father (Hebrews 1:3), Through the Spirit, we know that we belong to God evermore (Romans 8:16; 1 John 4:13-16). The Spirit keeps us in communication with Jesus Christ, and with the Father through Christ (John 14:17,20), allowing us to be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).

At the moment of salvation, our indwelling by the Holy Spirit gives believers the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5). As we die to our sin nature and yield to the Spirit, we gain more and more access to that perfect Mind, and we are more able to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,25). We increasingly subject our body to His will, offering it to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and recognizing that it is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We receive God’s grace upon grace, in a never-ending stream (John 1:16). Not only did His grace save us (Ephesians 2:8) and justify us (Romans 3:24), but it allows us to serve Him and work to bear fruit for His kingdom (Hebrews 12:28; 1 Corinthians 15:10). His grace strengthens us in our weakness and allows us to endure trials (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is a limitless resource, flowing more abundantly as our need increases (James 4:6; 2 Corinthians 8:7) and as we grow closer to Him in our Christian walk (1 Corinthians 1:3-5; 2 Peter 3:18).

We become His ambassadors through the work of the Holy Spirit! (2 Corinthians 5:20). As the saying goes, we are the only Bible many lost people will ever read, and the only Jesus many lost people will ever see. God has placed every believer in a unique sphere of influence and equipped each of us in a unique way to represent Him and to spread His Word in that community as we fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 19-20).

We grow and have opportunities for service to the community of believers. Led by the Spirit, we support one another in love (1 Peter 1: 22) as a church family, bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).  As we become more like Christ, we begin to love self-sacrificingly, as He did, showing that love not only toward God and toward fellow believers, but also toward the unsaved and even toward our enemies (Luke 10:27).

Just because we are saved does not mean that our problems will go away. Our health and financial condition may not improve, but our attitude will change toward our life circumstances. The Spirit helps us to realize that our earthly life is temporary and transient (James 4:14), and that we can look forward to eternity with our Lord and Savior! (1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 21:23)

Through the fruit of the Spirit, we will have peace that passes all understanding about whatever happens, because we will have faith that God is working it all out for our good and His glory (John 14:27, Romans 8:28). To unsaved people, that peace will be incomprehensible, because they rely on themselves alone to work out problems, and they cannot have peace when there is no apparent solution (Philippians 4: 6-7).

As part of the fruit of the Spirit, we will have joy in the Lord. The apostle Paul told us to rejoice always (Philippians 4:4), and he himself was able to do that despite being imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and suffering from his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 11:24-30; 12:7-10). 

Happiness is based on circumstances, but true joy comes from knowing that Christ died and rose again to give us the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). Nothing and no one can ever take that away from us (Romans 8:38-39. 

Whatever sorrow we experience on earth will disappear once we are with Jesus in Heaven (Romans 8:18). Earthly sorrow lasts a very short time, but the joy of being in His presence will last forever.

That is our blessed hope (Titus 2:13), of spending eternity with Christ and with fellow believers (Romans 15:13). We hope, not in the sense of wishing for it to happen, but in the faith-filled anticipation that it will come to pass, for He has said it and it is so! Our hope is in all the eternal rewards of salvation, which we shall discuss in a future post!

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Labor Day Pains

 

Photo by Trollbackco 2014

To me, Labor Day always brings forth mixed emotions, as the joy of a three-day holiday may be tempered with discomfort, or even pain, over our labor. For young women who have just given birth or are anxiously awaiting delivery,  I’m sure Labor Day has a special significance for them this year!

Wishing all my readers a blessed Labor Day weekend, for those in the US, and a new start to the work and school year around the globe. May you enjoy this repost from the archives!

For people who have lost their job, there may be no Labor Day celebration, but instead the heartache of going without, and having faith stretched from one meal or rent payment to the next. For those blessed to be employed, there may be the aggravation of unappreciative employers or disgruntled customers, or the weariness of overwork on too little sleep.

Some may pour their whole being into their career, at the expense of family, social life, or even time for worshipping and serving God, only to feel the pain of being passed over for promotion by the rising star who captured the boss’ attention. Those who play by the rules, support the team, and pay their dues may be sorely disappointed when those in the favored clique, or those who outmaneuver their competition, advance unfairly, despite their lack of experience. Life in the working world is full of trouble and pain, and it seldom seems fair.

Thankfully, God isn’t fair either, because His grace gives believers what we don’t deserve (Ephesians 2:8-9), and His mercy keeps Him from giving us eternal punishment in hell, which our sins do deserve (Romans 6:23). No matter what our earthly situation, believers in Christ can find joy (Psalm 21:1;32:11; Isaiah 29:19; 61:10; Matthew 25:21; Romans 5:11; etc.) and peace (Philippians 4:7) in knowing that He is working all circumstances together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

We can endure the “labor pains” because He has appointed us to a specific occupation, to serve Him with the unique gifts, talents, and opportunities He has given us (1 Corinthians 12:4-6;28; Ephesians 4:11), and to glorify Him in all we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).. As the bumper sticker says, “Our Boss is a Jewish Carpenter” Who has empathy for our struggles (Hebrews 4:15) and supports us through trials and hardships (Philippians 4:13).

His grace is sufficient, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He sees, honors and remembers work done for Him and will reward our labor, if not in this world, then in the next, where we can enjoy the rewards forever (1 Corinthians 3:9-14).

Best of all, He knows our sinful, wicked hearts (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9-10), but He loves us anyway (Romans 5:8). We don’t have to prove our worth, for we have none on our own merits (Isaiah 64:6; John 15:5). He is not interested in our qualifications, but in our justification by His shed blood (Romans 4:25; 5:16-18). Once we commit our lives to Him, we are guaranteed payment of the richest treasure imaginable – life in His presence throughout eternity (John 3:16), no matter for how long or short a time we have been saved (Matthew 20:1-16).

So why is this life often full of pangs of disappointment, physical disability and sickness, and even Godly sorrow? (2 Corinthians 7:10) I believe it is because we long for His return and the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), meaning eager anticipation, of the Rapture, when He will wipe every tear from our eye (Revelation 21:4). Then we shall enjoy eternity with Him in glorified bodies that will never experience pain, sickness or aging (1 Corinthians 15:40-50).

In the meantime, His whole creation is going through labor pains (Romans 8:21-22), anxiously awaiting the day when all will be made new by His refining fire (2 Peter 3:10-12). We groan in our aging bodies (Romans 8:23), yet the quickening pace and intensity of these pangs brings us inevitably closer to that day when we can truly experience being a completely new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).

Once we place our faith in His death, burial and resurrection as the only way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6), we are born again (John 3:3-8). But on that day when all His children shall be changed and meet Him in the air, we shall live forever and be as He is (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). In the meantime, anticipation of this blessed event, and knowing that our labor for Him is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:51-58) helps us endure and even embrace these Labor Day pains!  

© 2013 Laurie Collett

 

No Resurrection, No Hope

Image from Jesus Film Project

A few days ago, while thinking about the last week of Christ’s earthly ministry, my thoughts strayed across the memory of a Holy Week many years ago, as if I had brushed up against an evil spider lurking in a cobweb within the darkest recesses of my mind.

Easter came early that year: March 27, 2005. I had been born again nearly 5 years previously, on April 17, 2000, by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6). On the Thursday of Holy Week in 2005, my husband and I were in New Orleans to compete in a ballroom dance competition.

The city, festive as always, was blooming with spring flowers and enticing with sounds of jazz and brass bands wafting through the breeze. The weather was balmy, perfect for strolling through the French Quarter and admiring the intricate iron work of the historic buildings and the precious art objects in the windows of antique shops.

We were staying at the Ritz Carlton where the competition was taking place, the elegant ballgowns and sparkling Latin dresses adorning the already beautiful interior, replete with tasteful, fragrant floral displays and Easter décor. In the city, hotel and ballroom, the people were friendly, the food was delicious, and the mood was jovial.

But my heart was heavy, sinking like a stone to the pit of my stomach.  My thoughts could not escape the darkness of the events surrounding Terri Schiavo, a young woman with severe brain damage and a family embroiled in a bitter struggle over her right to live or to die. Her husband had moved on with his life and had children with another woman. Yet he refused to relinquish legal guardianship of Terri to her parents, even though they offered to pay all her expenses.

I was one of the very few neurologists who, after thoroughly reviewing her complex medical records and videotapes, believed that she showed signs of meaningful interaction with her environment and especially with her parents. I had signed an affidavit to that effect in support of her parents, who had appealed to the courts to have her feeding tube reinserted after Terri’s husband won the legal battle to have it removed.

But after the “Palm Sunday Compromise” on March 20, which was emergency legislation to get the case moved to federal court, on March 25 the courts refused to reinsert the feeding tube. It had been withheld since March 18, meaning that Terri would be deprived of food and water and allowed to die from starvation and dehydration.

My heart went out to her parents, for I could not imagine the agony of knowing your child was deliberately being starved to death, and watching as her body shriveled away and her eyes sank deep into their sockets. Even worse would be the feeling of helplessness to intervene and knowing that your child’s pain was senseless and through no fault of her own.

Even for me, that Holy Week was perhaps the most poignant of my life, as it so vividly brought to mind the suffering of Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God led to the slaughter and betrayed by those He loved and trusted. And the pain that Mary must have endured at the cross, not only watching Jesus’ life ebb away, but knowing that her perfect, sinless Son, the Messiah, God Himself, was unjustly condemned to a horrific death and brutally tortured by those He came to save.

Meanwhile, protesters and prayer warriors gathered around the hospice facility where Terri was dying; the media were ablaze with arguments from both sides; and the courts and legislature continued to suppress any last hope of Terri’s parents that she would be allowed to live. President Bush spoke out for legal protection of those who had no voice of their own, and the Pope criticized US law for allowing such inhumane treatment and for not upholding the sanctity of human life.

On March 27, Easter Sunday, while Christians everywhere celebrated the resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, John 21:14, Romans 8:34), Terri received the Last Rites, in keeping with her Catholic background. She passed into eternity a few days later, on March 31.

Despite the burden of these events, my heart found hope anew in singing God’s praises on Resurrection Sunday, for the risen Christ is victorious over death and brings hope to the suffering and once hopeless who have trusted Him.

I don’t know whether or not Terri Schiavo was saved, for only the Lord knows the hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). I do know that had Jesus Christ, God the Son, not taken on human flesh (John 1:14) to pay the ransom price for our sins (Hosea 13:14, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6), and had He not conquered sin, death and the grave by rising from the dead, that there would be no hope for any of us (1 Corinthians 15:13-58).

Praise the Lord, Christ arose! Now we who trust Him have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), a blessed hope in His glorious appearing (Titus 2:13), and the assurance that when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord! (2 Corinthians 5:8). If He calls us home before the Rapture, We will pass through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) directly to our home in Heaven (John 14:1-4), where He awaits with outstretched arms!

And if we are blessed to still be living when He returns, we will not even taste death (Luke 9:27), for we shall be instantly transformed into glorious bodies like His (1 Corinthians 15:35-50), to meet with Him in the clouds and forever be with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and our loved ones in Him!

Because of His resurrection, there is hope! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia, Amen! 

© 2019 Laurie Collett