"At Home"

One of the words used to describe the departure of the Christian from the present life is the Greek verb analuo. It occurs in Phil. 1:23. Paul longed to "depart and be with Christ". In 2 Tim. 4:6 he used the noun form, "the time of my departure (analusis) is come". In Greek poetry the word is said to have a nautical connotation. It has in it the idea of "being set free, of loosing a cable, of weighing an anchor, of unmooring a ship, so that the voyager may depart to another shore".

The metaphor is deeply impressive. Farewells are often tinged with sadness. We recall the touching scene when Paul took his leave of the Ephesian elders: "they all wept sore ... sorrowing most of all for the word that he had spoken, that they should behold his face no more" (Acts 20:36-38). During 1977 some "greatly beloved" saints have been taken from us by death. We could ill spare them, but a loving Saviour had a prior claim. He said, "enough" and called them home.

But what a glorious arrival they had on that other shore! "It is the Lord", exclaimed the disciple whom Jesus loved as he recognized the figure on the beach of the Galilean lake in the dim light of daybreak (John 21:7). What a welcome the Master gave them, "Come, and break your fast" He said! What words of greeting came from His lips as our loved ones reached their longed-for home? We know not. But we know there was no strangeness. There was the peace and joy of perfect love.

We know that the dead in Christ are "at home with the Lord", and that this is "very far better". Beyond this there is little in Scripture to indicate their present employment. They still await the glad morning of resurrection when all the saints will stand resplendent in glorified bodies. Mrs Cousin's paraphrase on Rutherford's last words express this well:

"Twixt me and resurrection, But Paradise doth stand;

Then, then the glory dwelling In Immanuel's land."

unknown | Dec 1977
Comment By Torchlight