Rest In Peace

Rest In Peace

11/30/17

This is a widely used phrase that most of us have used at some point in our lives to refer to a person who has left the physical world.  It has become such a common statement that it is now considered to be a cliché and not really enforce any peace through its statement.  We have challenged this truth by our own actions in this world and have not produced such a truth of fulfilling this statement.  Our hearts have been turned so much away from God that we have lost the meaning and confidence of this phrase and now just routinely state it when our ears hear about or our eyes see the passing of a person.  In order for humans to truthfully say this phrase, this person must have been told about God and how important it is to live separated from the world.  We have fallen down on this job and have routinely commenced our physical lives with our wishes and left God out, thus not living in peace and surely not resting in it eternally either.

One of the ways that this phrase has become a superficial catch term is that we have forgotten how precious life is and who gave us this life in the first place.  Each day our world is subjected to human atrocities that seem to increase in stature and this trend of human error does not seem like it shall stop anytime soon.  Yet, we plunge ourselves in great detail trying to proclaim that we have the answers and that the other side, whatever side that may be, is wrong and that we should not listen to what they offer.  This superficial response to deep problems only adds to the confusion and pain that represent the results of such incomprehensible tactics of repair.  As our physical battles increase and take their toll on our lives, this phrase becomes more lucrative even as we draw breath, a sign that our way of life is dire trouble.  Why can’t we live in peace and keep this concept close to our hearts in order that when the dreaded day of our last breath arrives we can honestly say that we will rest in peace?  This question was posed the other day on one of my social media pages and it points to a logical and excellent question that is not far-fetched at all, but there is only one way possible to obtain this peace both in life and in death.

With all of the pressures that this world offers it would seem like we would find the extraordinary avenue that guarantees us peace and tranquility that we all seek, but instead, we crave the excitement and entertainment of the world’s seductive spirit not realizing and thus eliminating all chances of true happiness and peace in our lives for the world cannot offer such truth and peace because of the quarrelsome and tumultuous presence it only knows.  Ignorance of the issues shall not give an eternal reprieve of what lies ahead when our lives are over, nor will it provide the necessary covering to protect us from God’s judgment for His Word says that even if God did not give us a personal record of His plan for our lives we as humans have the ability to know about His holy ways.  The world dulls this truth over time and with each day passing without any real hesitations of eternal reality crossing our paths, the dumbing down of our beliefs concerning life overshadow this phrase and produce a death trap that many fall into.

During my tenure in the medical profession, I have watched so many lives be destroyed due to hard lifestyles and rigorous physical punishments and insults that we voluntarily and routinely subject our bodies towards.  I have read newspaper articles and heard news reports of so many popular and famous people that have succumbed to these types of nasty habits that cut their lives short.  I have experienced coworkers commit suicide because of the pressures around them that they believed that was so strong that showing up to work the next day or coming home to their families did not seem to matter anymore.  In every case, I have also read and heard at some point days or weeks after their death the phrase rest in peace is used as a cover for what they could not handle or were trapped in while they drew breath.  But, in truth, they are not resting in peace but are fully alive in the spirit and they now know just how important life was and how many wished that they had another chance to fulfill what they were created to accomplish.

It is not hard to understand that this world is a hard, cold, and cruel place to inhabit but it was not always in this state.  It was pure and holy at one point and we had the opportunity to live in such a place but through our own choice decided to live by our own standards and ways, a mistake that this earth now groans from and our bodies ache in agony over.  Adam and Eve for some reason forgot about the real war that was around them and how they were protected from such war as long as they kept their obedience to God intact.  But through their disobedience, we now live in a world that is filled with unrest and shall continue to spew hatred and death as long as we allow it to. 

It is this war that we need to fight properly in order to know and understand peace while we are alive and after this life is over we can honestly say that rest in peace.  It is not an impossible task for us to know peace while we are alive and actually it is a promise that God gives us through His Word which is easy to obtain and to live by as well.  I have listened to many a funeral speech that praised the life of a person who ended their life in a manner unbecoming while demanding justice even though it was their own actions that produced such a result, then claims that they are finally resting in peace.  What a tragic lie this is not only to the family but to those listening to those words that say it is ok to do things deliberately incorrect and expect to pass in grace without hesitation.  It is these senseless deaths that provide the world’s definition of life while completely misunderstanding the true fight and meaning of life eternal.

A common verse that has been talked about, taught about, and used for several occasions is the cornerstone of this truth about living in peace and thus resting in peace after our lives are over.  Ephesians 6:12 is that verse and it goes like this: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  It is this verse that defines exactly what occurs around us and it also defines how we should respond to the world when it comes against us.  There is no sputtering in this verse nor is it vague in its content, it is a clear and concise statement that points us in one direction when it comes to what we should be doing and how we should be living.  This verse defines how our lives were meant to be represented and to complete the command that God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to dress and keep the Garden.  Our lives are meant to do exactly the same thing today and not waiver on any level of this upkeep.  We may have an interlude between battles at times but for the most part, the war around you is a continual fight that needs to be undertaken with no letdown.

How does this verse relate to the phrase rest in peace?  We must remember that God is a complete God and that He created us in the exact same way thus our lives even though riddled with sin have the choice to live in completeness or not.  If we choose God to be over our lives then we shall keep His command to upkeep (go into all the world) the Garden of Eden, then when our life is over we can honestly say that we have fought the good fight and proclaim that we will be resting in peace for God is a complete God in both life and death so we must be complete in Him to honor this saying.  Our fight is not with our brother’s physical attributes but what controls his spirit and influences him enough to cause him to hurt himself and others.  It is the spiritual realm that dictates how the physical acts and reacts; therefore, if one is at spiritual peace then physical peace is automatically achieved and if not present then there shall be no peace present.  There is an old saying that accompanies this truth and it goes like this: “Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.”  It is short and to the point but holds a valuable truth that we need to return to again.

Once sin entered into this world and our lives God could no longer provide perfect conditions.  God has never promised that our existence was going to always be happy and pleasant for His Word gives us countless examples of pain and agony even to those who live for Him.  But even when these trials and tribulations occur in our lives it should not waiver our trust in God even though those storms may end our physical lives.  When we fight the good fight and push forward the Kingdom of God peace soon follows.  This verse explains that we are in a war but it is a spiritual war and not just a physical one and this verse is the key to understanding that we can live in peace but we must know how to fight properly.  If we do not fight in the spirit we will not understand why we feel defeated all the time, for we are fighting on the wrong battle line which is what our enemy wants us to do.  God has the perfect answer for every question and problem that we have but unless we know to attack the spirit that is preventing this answer from getting to us, of course, we will become discouraged and disheartened.  When this point arrives there is no possible way that we can live in peace and therefore not rest in peace either when our fight is over.

I believe that this single verse is one of the most important Scripture verses in God’s Word, don’t get me wrong ALL of God’s Word is important to know and to keep inside our hearts but this one verse defines our fight and how we are to fight which is vital for our physical and eternal survival.  History comes into play here for it is common knowledge that countless wars have come about due to the proclamations of the Church.  To be brutally honest and this statement will upset a few people but it must be said.  It is for this reason alone that Jesus could not have AND DID NOT give the authority of a human being to be the foundation of His Church.  If He did such a thing then it would give legitimate grounds for Muslims to claim and project their god as the correct God.  Peter cutting off the ear of one of the arresting party members in the Garden of Gethsemane is the perfect example of what God just shared with us, for Jesus immediately healed that ear by replacing it on the soldier’s head a job Jesus is still doing today because of our idiotic humanly thoughts.

God is the Master of all life both physical and eternal and it is our choice to either accept or to reject this truth.  It is this choice that provides the determining factor for countless lives that we encounter each day but if we as Jesus’ Church do not understand how to teach living in peace, real and eternal peace there is no way that we can honestly say that we know that ourselves and others will rest in peace either.  Church, we have had our eyes and hearts on the wrong battle marker and even on the wrong war.  Just as the Germans fell for the diversion tactics of the Allies at D-Day, we have failed in our mission to proclaim the truth about God and His Son Jesus.  We are now at a point where we are giving aid and comfort to the enemy and we have no excuses concerning this matter.  But we do have an opportunity to turn things around and to restore what has been destroyed but as this message has iterated over and over we must get back into the Word of God and allow it to be a sponge into our hearts.  God wants to restore His blessings to our lives and our land but it shall not occur until we get serious about His presence once again.  If our WWII commanders did not understand the entire fight and who to fight on 6 June 1944, what do you think the outcome of that important day would have been?  No one likes war but there is one all around us whether we like it or not and we must know how to fight it properly.

Do you want to look over a deceased loved one and proclaim a situational lie that we know they are resting in peace or do we really want to boldly proclaim their status because we know that they lived through the blood of Christ?  The world will call you strange or might even shun you from their clicks and parties but that is ok for your separation from the world shall ring loud and true to their hearts and will provide a beacon of truth when times of need arrive.  So, do we (you) really understand this phrase and what its content means or are we pretending to know and watch our friends go to their graves without telling them the truth?  If so, then how can you say rest in peace with a clear conscience?  Church, wake up and begin to know God’s Word again like it was supposed to be studied and lived by, on a holy level and not one of an interpretive level.  War is not pleasant in any form but there is a way to have peace while we are living which in turn will mean a good resting state of peace with God after our physical lives are over.

DLB