Candles or stars?
Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? — John 11:26
Some say that life is like the flickering flame of a candle. When the flame is snuffed out, the light is gone forever. They believe that when we breathe our last breath, we are totally extinguished — as if we had never been!
British writer Arthur Porritt gives this sad description of how atheist Charles Bradlaugh was buried: “No prayer was said at the grave. Indeed, not a single word was uttered. The remains, placed in a light coffin, were lowered into the earth in a quite unceremonious fashion as if carrion were being hustled out of sight.” Porritt said that he came away “heart-frozen,” realizing how the “loss of faith in the continuity of human personality after death gives death an appalling victory.”
Life is not a brief candle-flame that death will forever extinguish. Christians in particular can rejoice that Christ “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10), that He is “the resurrection and the life,” and that all who believe in Him “shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
Because of God’s power and grace exhibited at Calvary, we will receive bodies like Jesus’ resurrection body, and we “shall shine . . . like the stars forever” (Daniel 12:3). Praise God! We’re not flickering candles, but shining stars! — Vernon Grounds
In bodies that will ne’er grow old,
We’ll reign with Him, through years untold;
O precious thought, we all shall be
With Christ through all eternity. — Watson
READ: Daniel 12:1-13
Because Jesus lives, we too will live.
The Bible in one year:
• Jeremiah 24-26
- Latest
