Here is another article from that Reggie Osbourne. He talks about a friend of his who fought cancer, but a lot of what he said was comforting about death.
"Now Death has done its worst. It has robbed (Hayden) of his body, stolen away the created flesh that gave him a place on this earth. The body has died...given out...succumbed. It can carry (Hayden) no further.
But as (Hayden) breathed his last breath and the heart stopped beating (yours never did!) and the nerves stopped firing and his body went silent, Jesus was there. And as the body failed, Jesus did not. Flesh and blood could carry him no further, but Jesus could.
He is not dead. He rests with Jesus. He is absent from the body and present with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:8).
But he will not be absent from the body forever. There is a new body, a redeemed body, coming to (Hayden). He will have a body untouched by (injury); a body with no chance of failure; a perfect body; and eternal body.
And we will see our brother again. At the return of the Lord, the dead in Christ will rise and meet Him (1 Thess. 4:16).We will be with Jesus, and we will be with (Hayden). And we will always be with (Hayden), from that point on, forever and ever. That is the promise of the Lord Jesus, Himself. It can be trusted more than any promise from any other person in the world. A reunion, joyful and never-ending, is coming.
The Bible says that Death has been swallowed up by life through the victory of Jesus, and that we, Christians, are more than conquerors. Jesus has stood over Death, crushing it and Satan under his foot, taunting them with the words, "Death, where is your sting? Where is your victory? I have won!"
And so has (Hayden). (Hayden) has won. And we will win, too, if we persevere in the faith to the end. This is the love of God toward us, through Jesus, His Son.
(Hayden) has died, but (Hayden) lives. And we will be with him again soon.
Praise God!
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