[Dr. Gilliam]

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

The rest of men... means those who are without Christ. Those who don't know Jesus grieve most sorrowfully, and so they should. Death is the end of life, love and relationships. It is all over... it is the end. There is nothing to hope for and nothing to look foward to. It is the bitter end.

But for us... we know there are far more to life than what we spend here on this earth. We will spend a short time here and then we spend eternity in heaven with the LORD. That is what takes the sting from death and the finality from the grave. God sent Jesus to teach us just how little hold that death has on us! Paul said he did not want us to be ignorant. There are only two times that Paul wrote that. Once he was speaking of eternal life and once of spiritual giftss. Sadly, we are most ignorant of those two things.

The simple truth is, death is a doorway to eternity! We spend to rest of eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ because of what He did for us!