For those who are in Christ, we never have to say goodbye

I had a moment today where I genuinely missed my mom. My mom passed from this life into the next on April 27, 2019, at 7 PM. It was one of the most gut-wrenching moments of my entire life. I remember the night before she passed, kissing her goodbye in the hospital. As I said ‘I love you’ she gripped my hands tightly. She could not speak but opened her eyes as wide as she could get them, tears streaming down. I knew she wanted to say it back, but could not. I walked into the hospital hallway and crumpled against the wall. I lost it. I could not breathe. No one could console me. I was a mess.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a moment like that. We are humans and we are feeble and frail. God created us with emotions but we don’t have to be ruled by them.

I remember the next morning waking up and thinking, ‘Well today will more than likely be the day she leaves.’ The Holy Spirit, in His sweetness, reminded me of this. “Now also we would not have you ignorant, brethren, about those who fall asleep [in death], that you may not grieve [for them] as the rest do who have no hope [beyond the grave]. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (AMP)

For followers of Christ, it’s never goodbye. When we say goodbye it’s never a permanent thing. For believers in Christ Jesus, our partings are simply a temporary thing. Instead of “goodbye” it’s “we’ll see you in a little while.”

For those who are in Christ, we will never be separated. We will always be together with one another, in Him.

There is coming a day when we, who are in Christ, will be gathered up together and it will be such a time of celebration that our minds cannot even comprehend how it will go.

1 Thessalonians 4:17b says we “…Will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

From that moment on, for the rest of eternity, we who are in Christ will be together with our Savior and King, Jesus Christ, with no end.

Because we are finite human beings, we tend to be short sighted. We get so focused on things down here that we forget that our home is not this place. Our forever home is one beyond this place. Sometimes we can look around us and see the insanity and forget that Christ has promised us something that is far more spectacular that we could even begin to imagine.

John 14:1-4 tells us more: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

If you have repented of your sins and placed your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is preparing a home for you to live in for all eternity.

The moment my mom closed her eyes here she opened them in the presence of her Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST and was welcomed home. This is the promise for all who place their faith and hope in Christ Jesus. Our eternity is secure.

Now, that being said, this fate is only for those who are believers in Jesus. If you have placed your hope in anything other than King Jesus you have a destination as well, but it is not rest. It is not peace, rather what awaits you is wrath.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 gives us the picture of what will happen: ‘God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

Many may say that this is terrible, but it’s the truth. I would be unloving if I did not share that the sin that provides momentary pleasure has consequences. This is the bad news. It is this bad news that creates the black satin cloth for which the beautiful diamond of the Gospel, the good news, can be seen so clearly against. There is good news!

How can one escape such consequences? Jesus tells us how to avoid such a fate ‘“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15.

Turn from yourself and your sin, turn to Christ. Jesus has promised we will find forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

This is the good news. That Christ has come into this world to seek and to save those who are lost. Romans 10:13 says “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus says that And the only way you can be saved is if you repent of your sins and place your trust in Christ alone! Seek God’s forgiveness and you will find it. Today could be the day that changes your eternity.

Trust Christ today.

Caleb Gordon is a longtime Bartlesville resident and pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cedar Vale, Kansas.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: For those who are in Christ, we never have to say goodbye