Carved In Stone

I saw a gravestone recently that had the name of a man with the date of his birth and death. His wife’s name and birthday was also on the tomb, and though there was yet a date for her passing, death is sure to come. The stone cutting tool is waiting to mark the day. The starkest reality in life is death. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The Apostle Paul puts it another way in Romans 6:23, where he says, “The wages of sin is death.” If death is going to happen to all men, why are we so afraid of it? I’m very careful crossing streets. I don’t go too close to the edge of a cliff. I always wear my seat belt and I never climb ladders.I can talk a good game and say death doesn’t worry me, but the truth is that we all wonder at times. We see a loved one pass suddenly or slowly, and it hits us in the gut. We wonder why, as we stand next to an open grave among loved ones weeping. In the gospel of John chapter 11, a good friend of Jesus died and was placed in a tomb. The man’s sisters, Martha and Mary, called for Him when their brother Lazarus was sick because they knew Jesus could heal him, but He didn’t come. In fact Jesus delayed his coming on purpose. He seemed to have wanted Lazarus to die, not so He could do a miracle and amaze everyone, but so He could demonstrate that He had power over death. It was not that Martha, Mary and the disciples were not aware of Jesus’ power. They had seen it first hand. This case though was personal. It was their brother. How often we are very brave in death when the dead person was not so close to us. When someone who means a lot passes away it’s another story which includes pain and grief. We are hurt deeply, as Jesus was when He wept. Here is the point: we trust in Jesus, therefore though our names may be written on a stone marking our physical end, we know, because of our faith in Christ, that this is just the beginning. Our names are written in a more permanent place than stone; the book of life (Revelation 3:5). Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Jesus is more than religion, and we are more than religious followers. Jesus is everything. We may fear physical death for others, and ourselves but the assurance we have is that the One who promised us eternal life rose from the grave, never to return to it. He was victorious over death.1 Corinthians 15:55 asks, "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The victory is in the empty tomb of Jesus. Yes our names may be one day written in stone, but be assured they are first in the book of life, if our trust is in its Author. That’s why Psalm 116:15 can say, precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints, for we go home to join the great reunion of saints and will live with Him and be used by Him in His eternal plan. Let our names be carved in stone to signify that our name will not die with our body, but it is right now written in the book of life.