Heart Matters: “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18
Nothing hurts quite like the loss of a loved one. Grief is a necessary evil of sorts. We have to mourn in order to recover and get to the place where the extreme sense of loss gradually becomes replaced by an unexplainable sense of gratitude. We’re thankful for being given the opportunity to know, love, and do life with our loved one. Over time, the LORD can help our hearts to relinquish the grief and celebrate the life. It is said that “time heals all wounds.” The heart left broken by the death of a loved one continues to beat, but we never stop longing for that one whose shoes no one else will ever be able to fill.
I really don’t believe we were ever meant to experience death. Death is a result of the fall of man. Death was ushered in with sin. When we experience the loss of someone we love, there are no words to describe the emptiness and sense of loss which floods our souls. Although temporary, the feeling is one of the most powerful assaults of hopelessness. It leaves us breathless, sending us into the unknown, as though we’re floating in between time and space. At the time we’re alive, we know we must continue to live, but until we’re able to recover, we only exist. But JESUS. Jesus is there with sitting next to us in the silence.
JESUS knows all about the ugliness of death. In fact, He came into this world, in order to die for it-to ensure that one day we could live forever. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” He came to remove the sting of death, and I suspect, that overwhelming feeling of loss. While He was here on this earth as the GOD-MAN, He also experienced the death of some of His loved ones. His stepdad Joseph passed away before Jesus went to the cross. Additionally, the Bible recounts the time Jesus experienced the death of his very close friend Lazarus. Those two simple words “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) says it all! Our Great High Priest is able to empathize with our suffering (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus, the ONE Who was about to reveal Himself as The LIFE and The RESURRECTION, stood at the tomb of Lazarus and wept. He knew and loved Lazarus and now his lifeless body was isolated from those he loved, wrapped up, and enclosed in a tomb. The pain of it all wounded all those who knew and loved him-including Jesus. Jesus wept even though He knew He was about to resurrect Lazarus.
Why? I believe Jesus wept because in His humanity HE also experienced the sting of death in that moment. He wept because death hurts, and it hurt Him to see others hurt. Perhaps greater than any other reason, The Creator wept because death existed and its consequences were felt-and it was never meant to be. We were always created to live forever! Jesus came to make sure we’d have the opportunity to live with HIM forever-just as He had always planned. I’m so grateful for eternal life in Christ!
One of the greatest outcomes of the loss of a loved one is that it can lead one to truly consider and reflect on eternity. Death in the LORD’s economy can lead to life!
Jesus came, died for our sins, and resurrected on the 3rd Day. He died for all your sins, and mine, so that once we believe, we die to our flesh and resurrect to new life. When we die physically it will simply be our means to arriving home in heaven forever!
Dwight L. Moody put it this way “Man will either be born once and die twice, or he will be born twice and die once.” This is sound Biblical doctrine, for if we reject Christ, we will experience physical death and then eternal death (which is eternal separation from GOD). But if we place our faith in the finished work Jesus did for us on the cross (we are saved by grace, through faith alone -Ephesians 2:8), we will be born once physically, and then born again spiritually and thus we will only experience death once-a physical death. (Well some of us will…I’m planning on being Raptured up!)
For those of us who Believe, we have a future secured for us which will be void of both sin and death. We will be reunited with our believing loved ones, and it will be forever! We will get to experience death being “swallowed up in victory,” and we will get to say “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 1st Corinth 15:54b-55
The Greatest Act of LOVE was expressed when THE SON OF GOD became THE LAMB OF GOD to die for the sin of the world. His Resurrection proved He is who He claimed to be and He did what He came to do!
And now, one of the greatest acts of love we can express is to share the Gospel so that others will know of His great love and have a chance to accept His priceless gift. All Believers are called to The Great Commission -Matthew 28:19-20. Sharing the Gospel is truly a matter of life and death! Ultimately, one will either pass into eternal life through Christ, or one will live eternally separated from Him in hell. While it may be a difficult truth to accept, nothing was more difficult than the price JESUS paid to save us. The LORD “is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2nd Peter 3:9 Every single person can have eternal life! The choice is ours to make!
Do you have a broken heart today? Loss, whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a relationship, or something familiar, can easily lead to a broken heart. If so, will you consider the Scripture above? Jesus wants you to know if your heart is broken and your spirit is contrite-He is near and ready to save!
HEART TO HEART: OUR SIN BREAKS JESUS’ HEART, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVES US, HE ALLOWED HIS BODY TO BE BROKEN FOR US.