Jackie Ray Lane

Introduction

1 John 5:11 ESV

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Tribute to Life

Today, we come to proclaim the gospel over the life of Jackie Ray Lane. I want to share three things with you. They aren’t things that you don’t already know, but they are those things we need continual reminder.

“that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son”

About Jackie Ray:

Jackie Ray’s life wasn’t lived in these few, short, difficult years on this earth. They will be marked by eternal life.

And it isn’t simply an eternal existence. There is an infinitely better life that awaits all of us when we take our last breath before eternity.

I cannot imagine the difficulty of this situation from every side, nor will I belabor the point. However, I am confident of this truth. Jesus saw Jackie Ray, and He made it right.

I don’t know what that means. I can’t spell out the details. I can’t fill in the blanks for you. I truly wish I could. But I know that Jesus made it all right.

And I am also confident that you will one day see Jackie again.

He will be without pain.

He will be in his right mind.

For the Family:

I am always comforted by Jesus reaction to Lazarus’s death.

He wept. There isn’t a tear you have cried or a struggle you have had that he hasn’t seen. And it breaks his heart.

He isn’t far and removed. He counts our tears in a bottle.

He numbers our days, and not a moment is wasted.

He walked into the grace and called Lazarus out of it. He is both sympathetic to sinners and able to save.

The best we can do for each other is sympathize and bear one another’s burdens. That is no small feat for the Christian community, but it is insufficient to meet the ugliness of death. We need God to do that.

And thus Jesus shows us he is God. He calls Lazarus out of that grave.

Romans 12:12 “12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

Hope is sure. We have steady and sure assurance that Jesus is God, and he will do what He said.

Tribulation is temporary. We patiently await the moment he makes all things right.

The presence of God is forever. I heard a song recently that said, “Nothing is wasted in your presence, Lord.”

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:16–21 ESV

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.