FROM BEGINNING TO END

FROM BEGINNING TO END

Whether a loved one has been ill and the doctor has given an expected time of passing or the loss of a loved one is sudden and completely unexpected, one always begins their journey of healing with shock and total disbelief that the death of their loved one has truly just happened. The feeling of devastation is interconnected with the thought that this death of a loved one is impossible and was never supposed to happen.

As a young girl of only ten, when I lost my father to a car accident, I had no words to articulate what I was thinking and feeling, and I most certainly didn’t understand them at all. Thirty-two years later, as the family made preparations for my mother-in-laws funeral service, I experienced such a powerful feeling, very deep within my soul. It was the same undeniable sense that I had as a child, only this time I knew that “this was not supposed to happen; she was not supposed to die!”  It took me a while to understand why I felt so deeply shocked, devastated and in such disbelief. I came across a Scripture that started me on my true journey of healing. The more I meditated on this, the more I could make sense of those thoughts and feelings. Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet no one can fathom what he has done from beginning to end.” The reason why the sense of shock at the loss of my loved ones was so strong was because God had placed eternity in my heart. I inherently knew that we were created to live eternally! Because of this, the “death” of my loved ones had caused every part of my inner-being to be shaken. In the end, only the truth remained and meaningful comfort began to bring peace that found its way to settle into my heart. Learning to “fathom what He has done from beginning to end” is what brought me the greatest joy and healing after the loss of my loved ones. Going all the way back to the Garden of Eden...Genesis 2:9 "... in the midst of the garden was the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." God said to "freely eat" from every tree except the tree of knowledge. Adam ate from the wrong tree so, (Gen 3:24) "After He [God] drove them out, He placed cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life." God did not want to take a chance on man eating from the tree of life and living forever in the fallen state. Therefore, Jesus came to redeem us. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples: (John 20:19) "...Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'" Jesus also taught them saying, (John 6:51) " I am the living bread that came down from heaven, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh which will give life to the entire world." (Titus 3:4-7) "...our Savior appeared, He saved us, through a washing of regeneration and a renewing of the Holy Spirit...that we might become heirs of eternal life." Interestingly, the Greek literal translation of the word regeneration means, "return to genesis." In other words, Jesus came to return us to the beginning and once again give us access to the tree of life, which is actually Himself! This is what God has done from beginning to end; He gave man access to the tree of life in the beginning and although eternal life was forfeited through Adam, it is through “the last Adam [Jesus]” (1Cor15) that we once again have access to eternal life until the end of time! Jesus is the Alpha(Beginning) and the Omega(End).

What comfort, what hope to know that our loved ones have not died as the world knows death; they have merely passed on from this life to the next. They indeed live on and we will one day be reunited with them again! Not only that, but we will also be with the One that made it all possible, Jesus, Himself!

May all who read this be comforted and filled with peace and joy in the hope of this truth found in Jesus.