In my posting yesterday I introduced you to Simeon in Luke 2, to whom God had made the promise that he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah, the consolation of Israel, that he had longed for his whole life. As you continue reading in this chapter you see that 40 days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph bring Him to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice for the ending of Mary's purification process.
At that same time, the Spirit of God led Simeon into the temple were he sees the young couple and God reveals to him that the baby they carried in their arms was in fact the promised Messiah. Simeon then takes the Baby in his arms, blesses Him and says, "Now I can depart in peace!" With these words, he is speaking of his death. What a great word to use. The word "depart" is actually a word that was used in several different ways.
The word "depart" spoke of a prisoner being released. What a great view of death for the believer. Death for the one who has put their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is instantaneous freedom from every burden of this life. Think of all the burdens we face. We face physical burdens. We face emotional burdens. We face mental burdens. We face relational burdens. We face marital burdens. We face parental burdens. We face occupational burdens. We face financial burdens. We even face spiritual burdens. But for those of us that know Jesus, death is the instantaneous freedom from every burden of this life!
The word "depart" spoke of loosing a ship so that it can sail to a new destination. What a great view of death for the believer. For those of us who have put our faith in Jesus, death is departing from this life to a more glorious destination - one that will be magnificent!
The word "depart" also spoke of pulling up the tent spikes and going home. What a great view of death for the believer. For those of us who have a personal relationship, death is pulling of the tent spikes on this temporary world that we live in on this earth and going home to our eternal dwelling in God's heaven!
It's true - for the Christian the best is most definitely yet to come!
Yeah! I'm so glad that the best is yet to come. It is so reassuring to have this promise and it puts life into perspective esp. during the hardest moments in dealing with our burdens.
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