Galations 2:20 NKJV
I recently had a conversation with a local "former" pastor who shall remain nameless about our habit of saying of those who have passed on before us that "God has called them home." See, this was my feel good way of easing the pain of the loss of a loved one, that God had called them home to be with Him. But I ran into a snag as we talked about the indwelling Christ within us. So, if God will indeed call all of His children home at one point or another, does this statement alone tell us that we are seperated from God? Under further reflection, that is the conclusion that I came to. But...God calling a loved one home still made their passing feel better to me. Forgive me for seeming selfish here, but I don't handle death all too well, especially that of a loved one. There are those of us who can and in fact do shut these feelings inside and throw away the key. I'm not one of those people. I may wear my heart on my sleeve at times, but this is a part of me which my heavenly Father has given to me. He has made all His children unique in that way. I'm not sad or upset over this, it's just the way I was designed. So it is that telling myself that someone who has passed away has been called home by our heavenl Father has been somewhat of a coping mechanism for me, and for others like me. I had not seen it as a negative thing until I stood back and actually thought about that statement for awhile. When I was a but a lad, whenever my mother would want me to come inside, she would lean outside and "Call me home." She was already home and I was playing somewhere outside possibly evading a angry neighbor...seperation. So, the question is, how can God call someone home who is ALREADY there with Him? Interesting.
26the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossions 1: 26 - 27 NKJV
There are more than a few references in scripture in which the apostle Paul tells us of Christ Jesus in us. In fact, he tells us of his conversion on that Damascus road and when it "Pleased God" to reveal His Son in him. See, God did not reveal Christ in Saul when he was young, nor when he was a teen, it wasn't his time. However, I will tell you that there was never a more strong defender of the gospel of Christ Jesus than we get from a man who once breathed threats against the early church of the followers of Jesus {Acts 9:1}. So vehemently did Saul persecute the early church that the man Paul described himself as "The worst" of sinners {1 Timothy 1:15}. But when it pleased God, He would reveal His Son in this worst of sinners. Did God call Paul home? Not really. So, if we understand that we live as Christ Jesus, how is it that our heavenly Father can call us home? He's already here with us. We need not be called home to be with Him. I fully understand that no matter how bad of a person we may feel that we are, that when it pleases God He will reveal Christ in us. Make no mistake, He's always been there, we just have not recognized Him. Saul did not see Christ in him until it pleased God to do so. So it is with us. There is NO seperation between God and ourselves, we just don't see Him there until our time comes. Still, it comforts us to know that our loved ones are "Home" with God.
The moment that I knew in my heart that my mother understood just where the God she loved truly was came a few days before she passed. As she lay in the hospital, I asked her where she thought that God was. She smiled at me and pointed to her chest. She was already home.
15But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.
Galations 1: 15 - 16 NKJV
~Scott~
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