“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” — Romans 10:9
Death is a reality of life that most of us tend to avoid thinking about—let alone discuss. But death does come as a part of life and no one escapes it. It has been said that death is the great equalizer—it comes to everyone no matter what their station in life. It seems so unfair, yet there is nothing we can do about it. Billy Graham, who is now 95 years old, said this about preparing for our death in the preface of a book by his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, called Heaven My Father’s House.
“Our age is one of terribly painful remembrances of the brevity and uncertainty of life. When all around us seems vulnerable to destruction and the constant threat of danger, we search for foundations that will hold. We seek answers to the questions that plague us: What happens to our loved ones who have been taken from us? Why are we here? Where are we going? I am now an old man. More and more, I cling to the hope of the gospel message that I have preached all over the world. I have preached in times of relative peace and in times of great world crisis, to people in materialistic plenty and to people in great poverty, in countries of political stability and in regions torn by civil war and social strife—many different faces, circumstances, and histories, but all with the same foundational need to know God. Across the changes of a lifetime, I continue to return to the one sure foundation that has undergirded me since I first began: trust in a loving God who never changes, Who invites us to draw close to Him in Jesus Christ.”*
What is the gospel message that Billy Graham spoke about? The word gospel literally means, “good news.” But what’s “good” about the good news? What’s good is that you and I do not have to fear when physical death comes. Deserving a death that is eternal, we have been offered a reprieve because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. What’s good is that God invites us to spend eternity with Him in His kingdom—free from pain and suffering when this physical life is over. What’s good is that God removes our guilt because of the wrongs we have committed against Him in this life—and anyone else. He frees us from all condemnation (Romans 8:1).
What’s good is that God promises to change our hearts, forgive our sins, restore our relationships, love us unconditionally and hold us closely as we pass through the door to heaven. The good news is that this gospel truth is the same today as it was when first preached by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. It has never changed. I encourage you today, if you have not already done so, to make a decision to ask Jesus Christ into your life. It will be the best decision you have ever made—bringing eternal life with our Lord and Savior! Maranatha!
Pastor Don
*Anne Graham Lotz, “Heaven My Father’s House,” W Publising Group, Nashville, TN, 2001, p. viii
