Greg Laurie daily devotion - July 4, 2014
Thursday, July 4, 2014-Independence Day
The Last Enemy
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. - (1 Corinthians 15:26)
When someone loses a loved one, there is a place for mourning. The depth of our sorrow is an indication of the depth of our love. But there is also a place for rejoicing if that loved one is a believer because we know we will see him or her again.
Even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus as he saw the devastating power of death. Death is an enemy, and 1 Corinthians 15:26 tells us, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
No one wants to die. No one looks forward to death. But we all will die, and we want to have put our faith in Christ before we enter into eternity. However, there is something we need to remember about heaven.
Paul the apostle, when he went to heaven and came back to earth, tried to put his experience into words. He could find only one word that helped him describe it, and that was “paradise” (see 2 Corinthians 12:4). It is an interesting Greek word that actually refers to the royal garden of a king. Think about the most beautiful garden you have ever seen or the most amazing sight you have ever laid eyes on. That was the depiction of heaven Paul gave. He was saying, “I don’t really have the words, but it was like a paradise.”
As Pastor Adrian Rogers put it, “The God who sculpted the wings of the butterfly, blended the hues of the rainbow, and painted the meadows with daffodils is the same One who made heaven.”
In heaven all questions are answered, all tears are dried, and all pain is gone. Heaven is pure bliss. That is why Paul said that he longed to be there. Heaven is far, far better than earth.
Copyright © 2013 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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