A Sunday School teacher was trying to figure out whether or not her class understood the concept of going to heaven, and what it took to get there. She asked them, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into Heaven?”  The children answered with a loud “NO!”

“If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?” Again, the answer was a unanimous, “NO!”

By now she was starting to smile and thinking this was fun! “Well, then,” she asked, “if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?” Once again, they all answered, “NO!”

The teacher was bursting with pride for those kids. For the big pay off, she asked, “Well, then how can I get into Heaven?” A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD.” That was not quite the answer the teacher was looking for, but it was accurate. You Gotta Be Dead.

The apostle Paul wrote:

Romans 6:4-5 ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

Today I will be attending the third funeral service I have gone to in less than two weeks time. Three dear ladies that I knew are dead. But in each case, because of their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, because each of them were joined to Christ through baptism, they are alive. They will be spending this Easter in the presence of their Lord. Not because of what they did, but because of what Jesus did for them. He lived and died and rose again so that we could be united with Him forever in heaven.

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.