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Hoyte Nelson's Poems/ Reflections & Biblical Essays
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Essay Babies In Heaven “Can
I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me,” said
David. (2 Samuel 12: 23) Across
the years of my ministry, I have stood with families as they looked down into a
little coffin with the question, “why, and more often, where? What a comfort
to be able to share with them the words of David. “I can go to him.” For the
Christian those words are unending, and to the non-Christian, those words are an
invitation through Jesus Christ. Remember that the Holy Spirit is always present
at such a time to fulfill His divine purpose, to comfort and to save. While
pastoring in Mobile, Alabama, a child that drowned in Dog River. I was present
when the neighbors recovered the body, and although the Para-Medics was present,
their attempt to save her life was unsuccessful. The family asked me to conduct
the funeral service (They were a non-church family). I remember sharing with
them the assurance that though they could not bring her back, they could go to
her. The following Sunday the family came forward and individually make a
profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Faithful in attendance,
dedicated in service, they never took their eyes of the “blessed hope” that
is ours in Jesus Christ. We cannot bring them back, but we can go to them.
(Paraphrase mine) When
Jesus called the little children to Himself and embraced them in His arms is but
a picture of the wonder of His care of a little child, “safe in the arms of
Jesus, safe on His gentle breast; there His love o’er-shadowed, sweetly my
soul shall rest.” (Hymn) Isaiah
said, “… In His arms He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His
bosom…” (Chapter 40: 11). It is with this as a background that I write this
article. The
question that is often asked is this: “On what scriptural basis does a child
go to heaven?” According to the Scriptures, we are born with a sinful nature
and become separated from God in our “trespasses and sins.” The Apostle Paul
says this about our sinful nature, “And were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others” (Ephesians 2: 3b). Though we inherited our sin nature from
Adam, it is not, I believe, the sin-nature that condemns us, but the sins
committed because of that sinful nature. Paul again says, “And you were dead in
trespasses and sins” (Ephesians
2: 1). Paul said, “I was alive apart from the law once, but
when the law came, sin revived, and I died” (Romans 7: 9). The Law existed long before Paul was born, but he was not
accountable to the Law, or conscious of it, until he was old enough to
comprehend it. The Scripture says, “Sin is not imputed when there is no Law”
(Romans 5: 13). Again Paul wrote, “...and so death spread [passed on] to all
men, because
all have sinned. My point is
this: We are born with a sinful nature; that is true, but we are “dead” only
in “trespasses and sins.” Therefore, (I repeat) Paul could say, “I was
alive apart from the law once, but when the law came (that is, made known to
me), sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). I believe the Apostle is saying
this: I did not die because of Adam’s sin --- though I inherited his sinful
nature, but I died [became separated from God] because of my personal sin. (And
death was the consequence of that sin). A
question that is often asked: “What about Jeremiah 17: 9,” when he said,
“The heart is more deceitful that all else, And is desperately sick; who can
understand it?” I believe this
was written in the context of Judah’s apostasy, not in the context of the
subject before us. (Read the seventeenth chapter of Jeremiah as a whole as to
Judah’s Apostasy). I
do not claim to have all the answers to this all-important question; what I do
have is the fact that David, a prophet of God, looked forward to meeting his
little child in heaven. In this truth I put my trust. I would not for a moment
suggest that the lack of knowledge of the Law, one would be safe from Judgment.
No, the following Scripture would prove otherwise: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to
them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what
has been made, so that they are without excuse”
(Romans 1: 18-20). Also, Paul said this about the Gentile:
“For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the
Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the
work of the Law written in their hearts, their
conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else
defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the
secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Romans 2: 14-16).
In other words, everyone who reaches as age of accountability, Jew or
Gentile, Christian or non-Christian, knows that there is right and wrong in
life’s choices; Therefore, we are accountable before God. Nevertheless, little
babies cannot see “the invisible things by the things that are made” (Romans
1: 20) and know the difference between right and wrong; Thus Paul said, “I was
alive apart from the Law once; but when the commandment came, sin
became alive, and I died.” (Only
when “sin” becomes “alive,” (A reality), is one separated from God by
personal sin. (Romans 7: 9). |