Most of us have sung the old song affirming the central Christian hope that we shall live on into eternity. This grand aspiration springs from our faith in Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The belief that “I’ll live on” empowers me to overcome life’s adversities.<\/p>\n
“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain.… For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable<\/em>” (I Corinthians 15:12-19, NKJV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Let me suggest another way in which all of us live on. Recently, I have pondered the power of memory and recollection in my life. I suspect that you and others have had similar thoughts.<\/p>\n
As I have grown older, my mind has become more reflective and introspective; in some ways, for all of my forgetfulness, I am much more aware of my past. I have flashbacks that bring to mind events long forgotten. I actually feel myself blushing when I recall those embarrassing moments when I did something incredibly dumb; at other times, I savor one of those rare occasions when I stumbled into saying the right thing.<\/p>\n
But my most persistent memories involve my mother and dad. I have been quite surprised by how frequently my mind reflects about my parents. In my car, in my office, or even during a conversation, I will think of my Dad and something we did together.<\/p>\n
I had a few quarrels with my father when he was alive, but I am happy to tell you that my memories now are universally wholesome and helpful. I treasure all of the things my Dad did for me that went unnoticed then. He directed me and formed me. And he helped. Most of us probably feel some regrets that we did not notice more and say more.<\/p>\n
But I feel less and less guilty about these oversights because my Dad lives on. Long after his death, he still guides and helps me. His presence is real and powerful. I needed his help when he was here, though I never knew how much. Since his death, and as I have grown more reflective, he has continued to help and mold me.<\/p>\n
Such thinking gives me great confidence that I shall live on. I am pretty sure that thirty or forty years from now, my children’s minds will be flashing back with regularity, remembering our good times and the best of my efforts to help them. I know how persistent and powerful those thoughts will be. It makes my leaving the world seem less final. Their memories of Daddy will strengthen their hopes that we shall meet again – that those “who have fallen asleep in Christ” are not perished.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Ed Harrell “Rear Views,” Christianity Magazine, June 1993 (Volume 10, #5), p. 32 Most of us have sung the old song affirming the central Christian hope that we shall live on into eternity. This grand aspiration springs from our faith in Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The belief that “I’ll live on” empowers me to overcome…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[353,41,1410,1458],"class_list":["post-67796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-influence","tag-life","tag-memory","tag-remembering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24427,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-the-dead-cannot-come-back-to-earth-then-how-did-jesus-raise-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":67796,"position":0},"title":"If the dead cannot come back to earth, then how did Jesus raise the dead?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If Jesus said that dead people cannot come back to earth, how did He raise Lazarus and some other people? Answer: \"So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep\" (Job 14:12). \"And as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-firstborn-from-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":67796,"position":1},"title":"Jesus, the Firstborn from the Dead","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood\" (Revelation 1:5 NKJV). \"Firstborn\" is a term that can point\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-should-you-think-it-incredible\/","url_meta":{"origin":67796,"position":2},"title":"Why Should You Think It Incredible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong The death of Jesus was a stumbling block. The resurrection of Jesus also causes many to stumble. In preaching to the Athenian philosophers, Paul testified that God had raised Jesus from the dead. \"Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked\" (Acts 17:34).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-the-sadducees-bother-claiming-to-be-religious\/","url_meta":{"origin":67796,"position":3},"title":"Why would the Sadducees bother claiming to be religious?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew 22:23-31, it says that the Sadducees said there was no resurrection. Also, Acts 23: 8 says the Sadducees didn't believe in angels or spirits.\u00a0If they didn't believe in angels or spirits, then why believe in the words of the Old Testament? If the Sadducees didn't believe in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21908,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-jesus-say-that-unless-he-went-away-the-comforter-could-not-come\/","url_meta":{"origin":67796,"position":4},"title":"Why did Jesus say that unless he went away, the Comforter could not come?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Jesus say that unless he went away, the Comforter could not come? Answer: \"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47684,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-explain-hebrews-61-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":67796,"position":5},"title":"Could you explain Hebrews 6:1-2?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I do have a question about Hebrews 6:1-2, \"Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}