While I’m waking up haunted by my wonderings of his last
hours, one thing, I know for sure: he left this world and woke up to heaven. I
knew it the moment I leaned, aghast, over his body in the funeral home. He
wasn’t there. It was his body, yes, but he was absent from his body.
Oh God! It stings even to write those words now.
Oh God! It stings even to write those words now.
Standing there, someone asked me if he was in heaven.
Yes. Unequivocally, yes.
Because I believe what the Bible says is true, this I have
as an anchor in a treacherous storm.
The temptation to believe he earned God’s favor through his
devotion and godly living did not beset my dad. He trusted in God’s grace as a
free gift, unearned.
“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
He famously claimed that God knew his heart. He relied on
the work of Christ’s shed blood on the cross to make his heart pure before God.
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (Romans 3:22)
When we emptied his apartment, we found one of many
notebooks, where, for as long as I can remember, he copied the Psalms and the
words of Jesus in the gospels. He identified most with David, a man after God’s
own heart, simultaneously plagued by oppression and guilt. We searched
page-by-page of dad’s Bible, where he’d marked the tortured cries out to God for
rescue & strength, and proclamations of God as his hope, his salvation.
We are familiar with his habit to come to church, hit up the
altar, and leave (early!).
And because it was his only hope, he came “boldly to the
throne of grace, that {he’d} obtain mercy, and find grace to help {him} in
{his} time of need”. (Hebrews 4:16)
Throughout the Bible, it is their faith that saves the
people Jesus encounters. In the final moments before His death on the cross,
Jesus spoke to two criminals hanging on crosses beside Him. One challenged Him
to prove he was the Messiah. He’d only believe if Jesus proved it to him, by
enhancing his life, saving him from certain death.
The other criminal believed Jesus was as He proclaimed, his
hope for eternity in heaven.
And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me
in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
“If you openly declare that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Does this free gift of grace serve as an excuse to reject
godly living?
Paul writes: “By shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don’t we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it.” Roman 3:31 (MSG)
Before Jesus was crucified he told his disciples, “If you
love me, obey my commandments.” (John 14:15)
We obey Jesus because we love him. We love him because He
first loved us.
In Luke 15, Jesus uses a story of two sons to illustrate
such undeserved grace. Perhaps, like my dad, you identify with the prodigal
son, who was met with extraordinary compassion when he returned to his father
after sinning against him. Maybe you identify with the other son, who resented
such grace, because of his life-long devotion to his father. Jesus includes
both in the story for a purpose. Whether it’s shame (how could he accept me?)
or pride (I don’t need his grace), it threatens to keep us from the Father, in heaven.
I’m so grateful to know that my dad was convinced of his need for a Savior and believed Jesus to be that Savior.
While it doesn't change that I miss him so terribly it staggers me unexpectedly. When I can hardly settle on not seeing his grin or hearing his voice again, this assurance steadies my heart from spiraling. It
provides comfort when I am desperately wishing I could have said good-bye. It gives me hope. Perhaps it will do so for you
too.
Jesus said, before He went to heaven:
Pin It“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home…And you know the way to where I am going…(John 14:1 & 4)
