To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

What does Christianity offer that no other religion does?  Everything!  You see, the followers of Jesus Christ are following a person Who is unlike any other human being that has ever lived.  They follow a person Who not only died but rose again to die no more.  No one else ever did that. No one else can prove that there is hope for those who die, for no one else ever proved that what they promise about what happens after death is indeed true.

Jesus made some preposterous claims. This is one of them: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-25). You see, anyone can make claims like this, but it was only Jesus that proved the truth of His words by fulfilling them, personally. And it is because of this that those who have put their faith in Him can have such incredible hope. 

Hopeless grief is a tragic and indescribable thing. The thought that a child, wife, or parent has left this world and that the separation that occurs is eternal is an inconsolable thought.  People deal with such grief in many ways, perhaps by trying not to think about it, or by placing their hope in an idea that is an unproven pie-in-the-sky belief.  But it is the Christian alone that can rest his or her hope on objective truth.  It is the Christian alone that doesn’t grieve like those who have no hope. In fact, it is the Christian alone whose hope is sure, because the promise that they are trusting in was already fulfilled by the author of their faith.  It’s because of this, and only because of this, that the Christian’s hope is a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). 

So, do you have this hope?  Has the author of whatever philosophy or belief system you are trusting in personally proved to you that what he or she is claiming happens after death is, indeed, true? Maybe you’re believing in something you’ve made up on your own.  If so, can you prove that what you believe is true? Well, if you are trusting in anyone other than Jesus, you must know deep down in your heart that that answer is “No.”  So, why would you trust in it?  Why stake your eternity on that which you cannot know, especially in light of the fact that there is One and only One Who has proved Himself about such things? 

You see, it’s the Christian alone who can proclaim, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). It is the Christian alone who can be described as those who have the risen “Christ in (us), (Who is) the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).  Do you know this hope that is stronger than death?  You can, if you will only believe the One and only One Who has given you a valid reason to.