Recently I was completing some Bible study on 2 Corinthians 5:8 where Paul spoke hopefully of being “away from the body and at home with the Lord.” I thought of the telegram the family of Oswald Chambers sent to his friends upon his death. The telegram consisted of only four words: “OSWALD IN HIS PRESENCE.” Just four words. But they spoke volumes of truth, and they still tell the story of the death of the Christian.
Oswald Chambers, the author of the great devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, had written eloquently and profoundly about genuine faith and commitment to the Savior, Jesus Christ. He’d written about the kind of faith spoken of in the words of the beloved hymn: “Face to face with Christ my Savior, / Face to face; what will it be, / When with rapture I behold him, / Jesus Christ who died for me?”
So many questions about death remain unanswered. So many questions our curiosity would prompt us to ask. But at the moment of death, faith becomes sight. At that moment, all of our questions, the ones that matter, are answered.
Paul, walking by faith, declared, “For me, to live is Christ
and to die is gain” (Philippians
Only faith in Christ gives us such a marvelous hope. Medical
scientists can observe the phenomenon of death and record how the patient
responded just before death. Psychiatrists can record how the family and loved
ones were influenced. But no observer can move beyond the mysterious doorway we
call death. At that point, though, we have both a message and a messenger from
the other side. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies . . .” (John
“OSWALD IN HIS PRESENCE.” What a powerful testimony and wonderful assurance! It can be ours, too.
“Away from the body . . . at home with the Lord”!