13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Recently, supposedly one of the most intelligent men on Earth passed away – Physicist Stephen Hawking. The man was an atheist who had no time for God and was quite hostile towards religion. His brilliance was going to see him through.

“We are each free to believe what we want and it is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realisation. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.”

That was a man without hope. He was grateful for the grand design of the universe but never acknowledged the God who created it.

How sad. I originally said, “supposedly one of the most intelligent men.” Of course he was intelligent, but at the end of the day if you worship that intelligence, what does it leave you?

The world mourns for people like Stephen Hawking. When a famous celebrity dies, immediately those still alive justify why they think he’s going to heaven. It sounds something like, “God needed a great comedian” (or musician or actor). Then they’ll tout every good that person has done.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thank the Lord today for the Hope you have in Christ. Consider what a day in heaven will be like.