Some of my best conversations and thoughts come at our Church's Bookstore/Coffee Shop. They usually involve Randy Harris, the Resource Pastor at Church, the man is brillant. Today I was asking Randy about his thoughts on the pageantry of Michael Jackson's funeral yesterday and he responded with this:
"America's philosophy is Salvation by Death."
Randy credited RC Sproul with the thought and whoever said it,
there is such truth in that statement!
Most American's eulogize the dead (especially young deceased celebrities) with incredible graceful rose colored glasses and revisionist history. For most American's, the dead earn heaven/salvation/eternal life from God simply because they died.
This was never more evident than what was said at Jackson's memorial service yesterday. The man sounded like he was the second coming of Jesus, the way people spoke of him.
Stevie Wonder said (and I paraphrase), "God must have needed Michael Jackson more than we needed him."
The sad part about Salvation by Death is this: It isn't True.
Jesus himself said in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3,
"17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
Our entrance into heaven is not determined by our death, but by our choice while we are alive to believe in the only one who can rescue us from judgement of our sins, Jesus Christ.
Later in John, Chapter 11, Jesus says,
"25Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
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