A Top Down Faith – Hope In Death is the final message in our summer sermon series on the incredible truths that could only come from God. Who else could find hope in death? Isn’t death – by definition – hopeless? Not with our God.
Among the Chinese people death is extremely feared. If there is funeral procession, the children are brought into the house. The Mandarin word for death is rarely spoken, usually a euphemism is used, I suppose like kick the bucket. The word for the number four is very close the word for death, so it is rarely used. This is called tetraphobia. Hospitals have no fourth floor. Many apartment complexes skip all fours – no fourth, fourteenth, or twenty-fourth floors! Research has shown that more Chinese people die on the fourth, fourteenth, or twenty-fourth day of the month because of the intense fear of the sound of death in the number four.
That’s silly isn’t? But I think you can make a great argument that a fear of death can be healthy for teenagers and kids of all ages.
Now listen to the first half of our text, we don’t know exactly what happened to the folks that were left in Jerusalem. Humanly speaking there was nothing left for them except death. Even in the face of death, we find hope in a faithful God. 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. When I think of faithfulness, I think of a marriage. Maybe not as it works in our society, but God’s plan for marriage is beautiful. One person promises to be married to the other for the rest of his or her life. The two will be faithful, standing side by side, in sickness and in health as long as the two people both shall live. So that means at death the marriage is over, right? Of course.
God doesn’t stop staying by our side just because we die. Great is God’s faithfulness. That’s why neither you nor Jeremiah need fear death. Because of God’s great love for you, you will not be consumed by the grave. Because of God’s faithfulness death is about as terrifying as a Sunday afternoon nap that many of you will take advantage of in a few hours. If this sounds too good to be true, there is an empty tomb that proves God’s power, God’s love, and yes, God’s faithfulness. Jesus lives. We have hope in death because one day, by God’s promise and power we will live again too. On the Last Day God will raise your body to enjoy God’s compassion and faithfulness all eternity.
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message, the final in our series A Top Down Faith – Hope In Death.
Topic(s): Cross BearingBook(s): Lamentations
Series: A Top Down Faith
Tag(s): Cross Bearing
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg