Gospel Prism

Today was the day that Brian’s family and a few friends, including me and Shua, got to see Brian’s body. As you can imagine, it was quite an emotional and trying time. It never seems real until you see the person lying there. Brian almost seemed as though he were sleeping, ready to wake up. But of course, that would not be the case.

After things settled down, we stood around his casket having a brief worship. I shared from 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 which says:

1 For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

For the Christian, these words are no pipe dream. Our bodies are mere tents, ready to be folded up at any time, exchanged for the permanence of a building that God has prepared, able to stand the test of eternity. Brian’s body is nothing more than his earthly suit, unworthy now of his perfected nature by Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. What a promise this is, a hope far greater than any one apart from Christ could ever grasp.

Tomorrow, as I share this hope with those who gather to remember Brian’s life, to reflect on the barbarism of his death and the vivacity of his life, my prayer is that God would extend this hope to so many more. I know Brian is now at home with the Lord and that place is not merely better, but it is perfect and enduring. There is no better place.