“Through the Eyes of Faith”
Baylee Tadlock Memorial Service
January 30, 2010 @ 2pm
FBC Elk Grove
As we have come together today to Celebrate the Life of Baylee, we understand that being able to celebrate is only possible because of faith.
As I think back over the past year that I have gotten to know Duane and Sonda, especially the last 6 months as they have dealt with the difficult news of Baylee’s diagnosis the one word that keeps coming back to me is FAITH.
The Scriptures say that without faith it is impossible to please God. I would take a step farther and say that without faith it is impossible to deal properly with the idea of life and death.
I believe that is exactly what the Apostle Paul was trying to get across in II Corinthians 4:16-5:8
The key verse that seems to be the overarching theme of this passage is verse 7; “—for we walk by faith, not by sight—”
I believe that “walking by faith” involves two things:
1. Walking in relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord
2. Faith gives us a proper perspective – which is the ability to see things as they really are, not simply as they seem to be.
If there is an area that we need a proper perspective on – it is the area of life and death.
It is only as we walk with Jesus that He gives us the proper perspective on life and death, and only then can we face them properly.
When we see things as they really are (when we look through the eyes of faith), we see that:
I. LIFE IS MORE THAN WHAT WE CAN SEE AND TOUCH – 4:16-18
Without the proper perspective that comes from faith, we can make the mistake of believing that life is all about me and all about now. (That is our world’s perspective)
The promise of the resurrection in II Corinthians 4:7-15 gave Paul the proper perspective on life.
è He could accept the aging process in his body (4:16)
è He could accept temporary afflictions (4:17)
è He could see things as they really were (4:18)
We need to be able to see our lives from an eternal perspective, not from a temporal perspective.
Paul saw that life was more than simply what he experienced from a physical perspective.
If there is one thing we can say about Baylee’s life it is that the life she experienced was more than we could possibly see. It is only as we look through the eyes of faith that we see the life she truly lived, for it was much more than simply a physical existence.
While life is to be enjoyed (Jesus said He came to bring abundance to life), it is more than that – it is preparation for eternity (vs. 16-17)
II. DEATH IS MORE THAN THE CESSATION OF THIS PHYSICAL LIFE – IT IS THE BEGINNING OF ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD – 5:1-8
Popular Misconceptions about death:
è Temporary Transition -- (Purgatory)
è Repeated Reincarnations -- (Eastern Philosophy)
Cf.-- Hebrews 9:27 -- "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment."
è Ultimate Conclusion -- (no afterlife)
What does the Bible teach about death:
When it comes to theories about death we often hear the words, "we think...we believe....we hope"
But this passage says "We know"
What is it we know about death?
When we leave this physical life – we walk into the presence of a loving God.
I believe this passage settles the issue of what happens at death for the believer
There is no intermediate stage of death, some type of waiting place.
There is no repetition of life to be lived over again
There is more than simply physical death
One of two choices for the believers: either to be in the earthly body absent from the Lord, or absent from the earthly body and present with the Lord.
This is why we can rejoice and celebrate a life instead of mourning a death – because we know where Baylee is right now.
In fact, that Saturday morning when I heard of Baylee’s death the first image I had in my mind was of a little girl running through a grassy meadow – leaping and jumping – and singing!
You see, when you look at this whole thing through the eyes of faith you see it differently.
With the Eyes of Sight With the Eyes of Faith
We see death, the end of life-------------------------- We see life eternal being lived
We see someone who lost a struggle---------------- We see winning of a victory, the ultimate healing
We see sorrow and sadness--------------------------- We see joy and celebration
We see weeping------------------------------------------- We see rejoicing
We see a grave-------------------------------------------- We see heaven – our eternal home
