Legacy

Eulogy

A eulogy is a good word or message usually delivered as a tribute for someone who has passed away. This week my wife’s aunt died. Today, the day this blog posts, we will be having her funeral service. Her name is Paulette Ball and she was a devoted believer in Christ and committed wife and mother. I am confident that there will be many joyful memories shared and the pain of grief brought by the separation between now and eternity. Of course, these times are made easier because of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. The reality for us who are in Jesus is that death is not final for He has defeated the grave and will deliver us and the whole creation from death’s effects by His resurrection power (Romans 8:9-23). In this post, I would like to consider some of the things that are the legacy of Christians because of the gospel. 

Faith

Because of the life transforming power of the Holy Spirit and gift of grace that has come to us in the message of the gospel, we as believers must acknowledge that the measure of faith given to us by God is a powerful legacy (Romans 12:1-5). It is remarkable that the gift of faith that is given to us by Jesus through the Holy Spirit then produces in us a real faithfulness which is powerful testimony to the transformation accomplished through the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. Notice it is not just faith but the faithfulness that sincere faith produces that becomes a witnessing legacy. 

Hope

Paul instructs us as Christians, when facing the reality of the death of our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, that we would grieve with the confident hope that resurrection is a real promise for us from God (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). We must remember that the Bible does not use the word hope to simply mean something that we wish will be true but rather to mean something that we know with confidence will be true based on the covenantal commitments and promises of God. God does not lie and cannot lie, so we can trust the prophecies and promises that He has given to us in the Scriptures.

Love

Paul tells us that the greatest of the legacies that remain for us as believers is love (1 Corinthians 13:11-13). Jesus reiterates to us that the greatest commandment is that we would love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and that we would love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40). So often, I think that people believe that God’s commands are essentially about restricting the things that we can or should do but in reality everything is about what we ought to do and get to do. We are called to love God and love one another. All the prohibitions and restrictions are because those things are not serving the ultimate goal of loving God and His image bearers. Actually those things that are against the law of Christ are actually ways of not loving God or others at all.

As we remember Paulette Ball the emphasis will certainly be on how she loved God and His people well and even more so on how Jesus loved her so well. This is ultimately the legacy of every genuine Christian. If we love Him, we will obey Him because His commandment to us at its core is that we will love Him (1 John 5:1-3)!

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