"Reverently Entombed"
It is true that the Bible does
not specifically deal with cremation of the body, but note that
in the Word of God, the handling of the body after death is
always done with respect, and it is
reverently entombed.
Believers realize that the body will someday be resurrected. In
the New Testament, it is quite interesting to find that the
early Christians adopted a very wonderful word for the burying
places of their loved ones. It is the Greek word, koimeterion
which means a “rest house for strangers” or a “sleeping place.”
It is the same word from which we get our English word cemetery.
The same word was used in that day for an inn or what we would
call a hotel or motel, places where you spend the night to
sleep, expecting to get up the next day and continue your
journey. This is a picture of the place where you bury your
saved loved ones. The Scriptures teach in 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18 that the body of a believer is put into a sleeping place
until the resurrection because the Lord is coming and the body
is going to be raised up. Note that it is the body, not the
soul, that is in the grave. The soul is eternal. It never sleeps
or dies but goes directly to heaven when released from the body.
When you and I bury loved ones who know Christ, we have the
confidence that we will see them again. When we bury them in the
soil, it is like planting a seed in the ground: “It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:42).
I believe burial is a testimony of our
faith, which is the reason I strongly recommend it.
J. Vernon McGee, 1904-1988
