I visited with him last night, but that may be the last time I ever see him alive. Last summer, he developed a cough and went to the doctor and was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.
He is over 6 feet tall, young, strong and in good physical shape. He worked with wood and has made a lot of crosses for different churches. They are beautifully handmade with a lot of intricate carving and some over 20 feet tall.
In talking with him, he said he may quit the massive doses of chemo and just go on to be with the Lord.
His life reminds me of something in the Bible.
Man was originally created to live forever, but when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, one of the consequences was physical death.
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Job 7:9-10 As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; 10 he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.
Job 14:2, 5, 10-12 He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. 5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, 10 But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? 11 As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,12 so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.
Job 16:22 For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.
There is no way to stop physical death as it is appointed for all of us to die physically.( See Psalm 49:1-12 and Psalm 103:15-16)
Our spirit, our thoughts, our intellect go somewhere else. We can go to be with the Lord or we go to a place of suffering.
Luke 16:22-26 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
For example - the two thieves on crosses next to Jesus. One asked for forgiveness and mercy, and Jesus promised he would be in paradise with Him that day. The other did not receive that promise.
Luke 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (See also 1 Corinthians 15:21-23) Hebrews 9:27-28 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Only those who have accepted Christ will see heaven.
See you in Church next Sunday.