“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:23-27

Have you ever thought about what words you would like to have inscribed on your tombstone? It may sound kind of morbid to speak about epitaphs on Easter Sunday but, in light of Jesus’ resurrection on the third day, it’s not morbid but a message of hope.

Whether or not it will happen, I don’t know, but I’ve always thought it would be nice to have the words of Job 19:25-27 etched into my headstone: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”

Why, because death is not the end! You and I have hope! Because of the events of that first resurrection Sunday, we can be assured that we too will be raised up.

It is as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Cor. 15:23). Or consider Peter’s words: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5).

Because Jesus did not stay in the tomb, because He rose from the dead on the third day, after suffering and dying on the cross to pay the just punishment for the sins of the world, because the tomb was empty when the women arrived to anoint the body of Jesus, because He appeared to the women, to Peter, to two on the road to Emmaus, to the eleven in the upper room and even to more than 500 people at one time – most of whom were still alive at the time of Paul’s writing (cf. 1 Cor. 15; Mark 16) – we have hope and the certainty of our resurrection on the Last Day.

Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19). Those words would mean little if Jesus did not rise from the dead. If Jesus did not rise bodily from the grave on the third day, we would still be dead in our sins and without hope (cf. 1 Cor. 15:17ff.). “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). Jesus was “delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Rom. 4:25). He paid in full for our sins and was raised up, showing that we are indeed justified and forgiven through faith in Him and that we too will be raised up on the Last Day when Christ Jesus returns!

Therefore, we can say with Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Though we die and decay in the grave, our risen Savior will raise up our bodies and we will see Him who died for our sins and rose again to give us life everlasting! Cf. 1 Thess. 4:13ff.; Psalm 16:11.

“I know that my Redeemer lives; what comfort this sweet sentence gives….”

O my risen Savior, grant that I live and die in the confidence which Your resurrection gives, and raise me up on the Last Day to the eternal joys of Your kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Sometimes things happen we just can’t explain. I think of young people and children with incurable diseases, suffering and facing death long before their time. Why does it happen? And, what do we say to the grieving parents and family members when it does?

What follows was my attempt to offer consolation and hope when my granddaughter Eva, a full-term baby, unexpectedly died in the womb at the close of August 2012.

Some things are beyond our ability to understand and are certainly beyond our ability to explain. And what to say in such situations is most difficult because no words can give comfort and take away the pain!

It happened last week. My phone rang Monday morning. It was my son-in-law, husband to my oldest daughter.

It must be the news I’ve been waiting for. My daughter was due to give birth to a daughter.

“You’ve got news?” I asked.

The reply came in a tearful voice, “Yes, but it’s not good.”

Then, my son-in-law explained to me that “something had gone wrong with the umbilical cord. It had gotten a kink in it or something.

“The blood supply was cut off.

“The baby didn’t make it. There was nothing the doctors could do.”

I later learned from my daughter that she had noticed her baby, Eva Nicole, wasn’t active as usual on Sunday. She thought it was because labor was beginning. When her water broke and she went to deliver early Monday, no heartbeat could be found.

Eva was stillborn.

What do I say?

How do I give comfort to my grieving daughter and her family?

How can I make sense out of what’s happened?

And the obvious answer is: I can’t.

One Bible verse which comes to mind is this: “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

There are just things we don’t and can’t understand. We have no explanation and no reason; and if God were to tell us, we would still not be able to understand and accept His answer. God’s ways, His plans, are far beyond the comprehension of puny minds like mine. I can’t understand. All I can do is trust that He indeed knows best.

The Bible tells us: “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Though I can’t understand or explain, I do know this: God has His reasons, and His plan is better than any plan you or I could ever have. His plan and His working is for the good of Eva, for He called her name even before her birth and spared her the evil and troubles of life in this sin-cursed world.

And God’s plan is for the good of Eva’s mother and family, and even for a grieving grandpa who never got to hold this granddaughter.

How I wish I could have held her, baptized her in the name of Jesus, heard her voice and watched her grow up into a young lady! But now I’ll have to wait to see Eva until this life ends for me too and I also go to be with Jesus, our Savior.

To rephrase David’s words in 2 Sam. 12:23, “I shall go to where she is, but she shall not return to me.”

Though we were not privileged to hear Eva’s voice, in many ways she speaks to us in her death.

Her perfectly formed body is a testimony to the truth recorded in Psalm 139:13-16, where we read: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

Her death testifies to the truth that she too, like David, was conceived and brought forth in sin (Psalm 51:5); and to the words of Genesis 3, which say, “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (v. 19).

The brevity of her life and her being called home even before she was born are a reminder of Luke 18:15-16, in which babies were brought to Jesus that He might touch them and His disciples attempted to stop them. “Jesus called them to Him and said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.’”

Laying her tiny body in the ground in hope of the resurrection speaks of Christ’s death and resurrection. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures … He was buried … He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3,4).

It reminds us of the truth that “since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:21-23).

Her burial speaks the truth: “The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44).

Thus, Eva’s death speaks of the sin-cursed world in which we live, a world in which even babies and children die because of Adam’s sin. It reminds us that this world is not the place in which to build our hopes and dreams.

But Eva’s being called out of this world by Jesus speaks of the day when we too will be called from this life by the Lord Jesus.

And Jesus has made it possible for us to be ready for that day. He so loved the world — babies and children too — that He suffered and died for our sins and rose again to win for us pardon and to give us life eternal with Him. He calls to us in His Word, offering us forgiveness and life in His name. He shed His blood and established a gracious covenant with us that all who believe and are baptized into Him might be saved.

Eva has been called home to be held in the arms of Jesus. We don’t understand God’s ways or His timing. But those who trust in Jesus for pardon and for life, have the assurance that He will also receive them at His call.

So, I’ll have to wait to hold Eva, to see her face and hear her voice. But that day will come because of Jesus. He shed His blood to redeem Eva and He shed His blood to redeem you and me.

That reminds me of another passage in Isaiah: “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young” (40:11).

By Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Can one be a Christian and be living in adultery, fornication, homosexuality, murder, thievery, covetousness, drunkenness, etc.? The answer of God in His Word is clearly “no.”

God Himself said, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Can one be a Christian and support the murder of the unborn? Again, God’s answer is “no.”

What of those who claim to be Christians and Lutherans — even pastors — who practice or encourage such sin and disobedience to God’s Word? They are neither Lutheran nor Christian!

Can those who have been deceived and caught up in such sins be saved? Yes, if they repent and look to the crucified and risen Christ for mercy and forgiveness!

The Bible also says: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” 1 Corinthians 6:11.

Through faith in Christ Jesus and His cross there is pardon and forgiveness, and through faith in Christ Jesus comes also God’s help and strength to amend our lives to live for Him in accord with His Word. Those who, by the gracious working of God’s Spirit, come to see their sinful ways and repent, trusting in Christ Jesus, shall receive mercy and forgiveness and the eternal joys of heaven.

“Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” Luke 17:1-2

It is indeed a serious thing to offend – that is, to cause to sin and fall from faith in Christ Jesus – one who believes in Jesus, and especially so when it is a little child. Jesus says it would be better for him to have a millstone hanged about his neck and be cast into the sea than that a person should offend a little one who trusts in Him (cf. Matthew 18:6).

What shall we say to these words? Jesus holds up little children and their faith as a model for us all. He said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). Little children who, when they hear the Word of God, believe and trust that Jesus forgives them, loves them, accepts them, are a model for the rest of us who are so often troubled by doubts and fears.

When the people brought infants to Jesus to touch and bless them, Jesus’ disciples would have turned the people away, but Jesus said, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Luke 18:15ff.).

But woe to those who would keep little children and babes from the Lord Jesus! Woe to those who would deny to them the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5)! Woe to those who do not teach their children the Word of God! Woe to those who by their own poor example and sinfulness turn their children away from the Lord Jesus who loves little children and shed His blood on the cross to redeem them! Woe to those who by rejecting Biblical truth and teaching the lie of evolution turn their children or other children from their one and only Savior! Yes, “offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

And, if we have caused a believer to stumble, if we have caused a child or new believer to doubt God’s Word or turn from a confident faith in Christ their Savior, if we have kept a child from Jesus by denying baptism or neglecting to teach God’s Word or take them to services at God’s house, what can we do? The answer is Jesus! Turn to Him for pardon and forgiveness. He died for the sins of all and rose again in victory. He offers to you and to me forgiveness and life everlasting. Trust in Him!

O Jesus, my dear Savior who died and rose again that we might live, forgive me for any offenses I may have caused to other believers and move me to do all in my power to encourage my fellow believers to continue to trust in You alone for full forgiveness and life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture from the King James Version of the Bible]

“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” John 12:31-33 (Read v. 27-43)

How is Jesus’ death on the cross the judgment of this world? And how is it connected to the prince of this world being cast out? We find the answer in God’s Word, the Bible.

To understand, we must consider what happened in Genesis 3. The serpent deceived Eve, and Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s commandment and brought sin and the curse and condemnation of sin into this world. Satan used God’s good law to bring about God’s curse upon man and all creation. As a result of Adam’s sin, all are conceived and born in sin and guilty before God and under the condemnation of His holy commandment (Gen. 1:16-17; Psalm 51:5; Rom. 5:12).

Jesus, by His innocent sufferings and death on the cross, suffered the curse of God’s law for us (cf. Gal. 3:10,13). He undid the damning work of the devil by making atonement for the sins of all that through faith in his name we might have pardon, forgiveness and life everlasting instead of death and eternal condemnation (cf. Heb. 2:14-17).

The devil, also called the accuser of the brethren, was cast out of heaven – he can no longer accuse us before God because our sins were judged and atonement made on Jesus’ cross (cf. Rev. 12:7-11).

This world, too, is judged by Jesus’ death on the cross. Since Christ died for sin and atonement has been made, all those who refuse to repent and believe in the promised Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15), Jesus the Messiah and Savior, stand condemned for their unbelief (cf. 1 Pet. 3:18-20).

And the same holds true for people today. Those who hear the Word of God and repent, placing their faith and hope in Jesus and His cross, are saved. They have pardon and forgiveness for all their sins, and they have eternal life in God’s kingdom.

But those who neglect and refuse to heed God’s Word stand condemned for not believing in the name of Christ Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son come into this world to redeem us from sin and death. It is as Jesus said, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18; cf. v. 36; John 12:47ff.).

O dearest Jesus, grant that I hear Your word, acknowledge my sin and guilt and look to You and Your cross for forgiveness and life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible]