30DaysOfBibleLettering - Round 4 Sample

And death shall be no more.
Revelation 21:4 ESV

When was the last time you stopped and thought about the reality of death? 

It’s not something we enjoy thinking about, and for good reason. It’s a tragedy, a severance, a leaving, an abandonment, an absence — it marks all that is wrong with our world, and brings to the surface all the darkest emotions we are capable of. And it’s a reality we all share. As Romans reminds us in chapter 5, “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” We see the tragedy of sin most clearly in the pain and ache that accompanies death. We feel the wrongness of it, as image-bearers of an undying God of Life. Every time we encounter death in our lives, our souls resonate with the cry: “This is not how it was meant to be!” 

But Believer, this is not where we stop thinking about death. Even as we echo Paul in Romans 7:24 — “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” — the answer comes swift and worshipful: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” 

Because we have a Savior who took our death that we might know true life; a perfect King who sacrificed his throne, his unending fellowship and ceaseless joy, to enter time and suffer all that our sin had wrought and then rise triumphant from the grave; a spotless Lamb to bear our most terrible punishment for our most terrible crimes; a glorious Redeemer, who knew our shame and gives us his worth and his life: a life that we never deserved, but which now fills our existence with hope and strength to face our pains, and our aches, and—yes—even Death. 

This is the mystery around which our entire faith revolves. This is the crux of the good news we share. And it is this glorious Revelation verse that anchors our faith, pointing us to a day of final hope when our mourning, our crying, our pain — all our former darkness and misery, all the stings and bruises and hollowness in our souls—will have passed away. We may know an earthly death before that day, but on that day, death will be no more. 

So think about death, and when you do, remember the grace of Christ, the love of the Father, and the power of the Spirit who will guide us to that final day “blameless before the presence of his glory (Jude 29).”"

by @dandrawnwords