by Carter Brown
Every church walks through seasons of hardship and sadness. Whether it’s conflict or disappointment or transition or loss. And for many of these, our children remain oblivious. They enjoy the bliss of their ignorance while we navigate difficult realities.
I believe this is how it should be. In due time, they will encounter their fair share of brokenness and hardship. There is no rush to include them in ours. Instead, we prepare them by grounding them in biblical truth and a confident understanding of the solution to our brokenness.
But from time to time, we walk through seasons of hardship and sadness that are so big and so sad that our children can not help but notice. After all, we can only hide our tears for so long. And they begin to ask questions. They wonder why the thing we’ve been praying for didn’t happen. They ponder the finality of heart wrenching news. And their inquisitive eyes begin to offer tears of their own.
Your role now is a heavy one, but not one you must face blindly. As we near Easter and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection – a time we would normally engage our children with the grounding biblical truths of Jesus’ victory – we have an opportunity to bring these glorious truths to bear on the current situation. We can look our children in their wondering eyes and tell them with confidence why Easter matters.
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS MEANS THAT DEATH WILL DIE
People were not supposed to die. The world God created did not contain cancer or tumors. People weren’t supposed to experience crippling sadness and pain. All of that came when sin entered the world. When Jesus died he paid the penalty for sin, and when he rose, he proved that he is more powerful than the devil. And we know that one day he will return and put a final end to the works of the devil and the effects of brokenness in this world. He will create a new world, like the first, that is perfect in every way, lacking no good thing but absent – quite notably – of death. The resurrection of Jesus means that death will die.
Revelation 21:4
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS BRINGS THE PROMISE OF REUNION
God promises in his Word that everyone who believes in Jesus will be with him forever in this new world. We will still experience the death of our broken body here on this broken planet. But our life will continue in the presence of God. That new world will be a place filled with everyone who has trusted in Jesus.
John 11:23-25
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live
Which means that any believer that we have had to say goodbye to will be there. And if we have put our faith in Jesus for our salvation, we will be there too.
We will see Eli again.
We will see Jim again.
We will see Dave again.
And we will never have to say goodbye.