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Unbenanntes Dokument
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"I Know That My Redeemer Lives"
by Michael Furchert
During the defeat of the German Kaiser in World War One, my grandfather Johannes Neubert was asked by his teenage friend where he would be if he would die this very day. "In heaven I hope!" Johannes answered. His friend was outraged. "You cant just hope! You have to KNOW where you will spend eternity." This statement penetrated deep into Johannes' heart. The same night he committed his life to the Lord. From this day on he proclaimed with passion and committment "I Know That My Redeemer Lives!" A declaration of faith that was soon to be put to the test...
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 In 1938, the Nazis marched into the house of my grandfather, a German school teacher under Hitler. They demanded that he had to take down the painting of Jesus Christ over his study desk, join the Nazi Party and conform to their beliefs. My grandfather had to make a choice. He took courage, stood up to them and declared: "This painting remains!" He refused to join their Party, conform to their beliefs or turn away from his faith in God. Instead he lead secret Bible Studies at his house.
The Nazis were angered by his resistance. They took away his house and career, they threatened his family, they sent him into the war. But they could not silence his faith. With passion and conviction he continued to proclaim that Jesus was alive.
After Hitler was defeated, the Communists rose to power in East Germany. My grandfather - who after a series of miraculous protection from danger, death and two almost certain executions had returned safe from World War II - was offered a teaching position at an East German school. Now the Communists marched into his house. They demanded that he had to take down the painting of Jesus Christ over his study desk, join the Communist Party and conform to their beliefs.
Once again he had to make a choice. As before, he stood up to them and declared "This painting remains!" He refused to join their Party and conform to their beliefs. As before, discrimination and persecution was the response. Finally, he lost his teaching position and was denied his pension after three decades of teaching.
But my grandfather would rejoice in all circumstances. "I know that my Redeemer lives" was his firm proclamation even under persecution. He knew that following Christ was not always easy and that the Bible didn't speak about comfortable Christianity. Faith was free but it wasn't cheap. There was a cost to consider and a price to pay. But he also knew the price that Christ had paid for his Salvation. This was the greatest gift of all and he never wanted to turn away from God's love and faithfulness. In spite of having lost his career twice he would not be silent about the love of God. Instead he became an evangelist proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel in Communist East Germany.
His example was an inspiration to all of us and a testimony to the promise.
"In all these things we are more than conquerors. For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the past nor the present, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
 My grandfather's faith was encouragement to me as I grew up behind the Berlin Wall. My dream was to visit him, walk hand in hand through the streets of his city, listen to his life stories and see the painting of Christ over his study desk. But we were separated by a 12 foot tall concrete block with electric fences and barbed wire, guarded by armed soldiers on high security towers.
My grandparents, who had moved to West Berlin before I was born, now lived in a world I would not get to know for many years. The Iron Curtain of Communist East Germany deprived us of freedom and liberty and separated our family, our city and our nation.
In the shadow of the Berlin Wall my family and I experienced a life of choices, difficulties and sacrifices on the one side and God's love, grace and faithfulness on the other. My father a pastor and my mother a Sunday school teacher, led their congregation faithfully through the struggles of the persecuted church in Communist East Germany. Throughout the years of Communist rule my grandparents continued to encourage us to stand strong in the letters they sent to us across the Berlin Wall.:
"Be Strong! In the name of the Lord, be strong and stand your ground so your joy in Him may be complete. Keep praying that all that is disturbing your life, all injustice and all fear is buried in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and always remember that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, our Good Shepherd will always have the victory. Be blessed and protected in the Lord."
 Starting at age seven I had to learn to make choices in a Communist school system and against the pressure of an entire class of conforming peers. Not wanting to compromise my faith, I had to let go of one privilege after the other, faced mocking and ridicule, ostracism and rejection. Looking longingly at the birds soar across the Berlin Wall, not knowing if I would ever be free, I found freedom in Jesus Christ and the strength to confess him in the world around me.
Refusing to conform to Communist beliefs, I often found myself a target of ridicule and exclusion. During flag raising at school - where all classes had to line up in almost military order - my sisters and I were the only students at school not wearing the Young Pioneers uniform. We had refused to join this mandetory Communist organization. There was no place for us to hide in a crowd of many other believers and remain anonymous. We were the only three. It was only the beginning of a childhood and youth of choices and challenges as the Communist regime sought to break our faith and resistance with ever increasing pressure.
As a teenager I had to decide between my faith and the priviledge of getting a drivers licence. I had to chose between God and the school's graduation party, between faith and a future career. When my class went on an one-week school sponsored sightseeing tour, I was put on a construction site to carry stones and clean up the trash instead. In moments like this I would look up to Christ and remember what he had gone through for me, how he was mocked and ridiculed for me, beaten and spit at. They pierced thorns into His head and nailed Him to the cross to die for me and my Salvation. He had given his very life so I could live. But He had risen and I knew that He was alive. In Him we would have the victory.
 Against all odds the Berlin Wall came down. It started within the churches as people were praying to God. And out of the churches we marched into the streets, with burning candles in our hands, songs of praise and freedom on our lips, approaching the soldiers that were lined up around the churches waiting for order to shoot. One lady even had the courage to put a flower into the muzzle of a gun and watch a tear run down the cheek of the soldier who maybe deep inside his heart had been longing for freedom and liberty himself. Not one shot was fired. Instead, the Berlin Wall came down.
After years of dictatorship, we gained freedom and liberty. What was finally stronger in the end, I wondered, as I stood in front of the rubbles of an once mighty barrier. Was it their military dictatorship, the guns, tanks and cruse missiles that they were parading, the wall that kept us imprisoned, the totalitarian regime with it's atheist ideology trying to break our faith in Christ? Or was it our faith in Jesus Christ itself? As I watched the 12 feet concrete block collapse in front of my eyes I knew that Communism in East Germany had just come to an end. The Berlin Wall had come down. Our faith in Christ had remained and grown stronger with every day.
Our faith had outlived dictatorships and totalitarian regimes. From the Nazi regime of Hitler Germany, through the Cold War, the Communist rule, the raise and finally the fall of the Berlin Wall, we had held on to our faith in God and finally become victorious. A feeling of triumph and pride filled my heart. We had overcome. This mighty barrier had to give room to the spirit of freedom that rose from our fervent prayers to God. As I stepped over the rubbles of the shattered wall into a new future I had to firmly say it to myself, over and over, just to know it was true; this simple statement that carried so much weight and importance: "I am free".
With the fall of the Berlin Wall our family was reunited again. Now I could walk hand-in-hand with my grandfather through the streets of his city, slowly though. I could listen to his life stories and see the painting of Christ over his study desk. The painting that I had heard so many stories about it, that he had never taken it down. But my grandfather had grown old by now. He gathered us around him and thanked God that he could live long enough to see the Berlin Wall come down and his family be reunited again. He knew his remaining time with us was short and asked us what we would like to inherit so he could pass it on to us right away. As I walked through his apartment there was one thing that most of all captured my attention:
"Grandfather" I said "I really would like to have this painting of Christ over your study desk!" He looked at me with a gentle smile "This painting has carried me through life, I have never taken it down." he said. "Not when the Nazis demanded so, not when the Communists demanded so. No matter who did. I always wanted to follow Christ and put Him first in my life. It was not always easy. There was a cost to consider and a price to pay. We had to endure unrighteousness for our faith, discrimination and persecution. But God has always been faithful and blessed us so much in return. I have never taken down this painting. I don't want to take it down now, either. I would like it to remain over my study desk until the last day of my life. But once the Lord has called me home I shall pass it on to you - as my legacy."
A few years ago my grandfather died. And though we were sad and mourning and missed him dearly, we were rejoicing. We rejoiced that he was about to see the One he had believed in and followed so faithfully his whole life long. He had always proclaimed "I know that my Redeemer lives". Not "I think so", not even "I believe".... "I KNOW!" We were rejoicing for his example of a strong faith in the middle of hardships and trials. It had meant so much encouragement and inspiration to us as we lived our own lives and faith behind the Berlin Wall. And we were grateful for the legacy he left behind for us to carry on...
The painting of Christ now hangs over my study desk. I have promised to God I shall never take it down. It has become a daily reminder of the price that Christ has paid for our Salvation. It is a reminder to me of the choices we have to make in life, even under freedom, a reminder that we can only follow one Lord in our lives. We can take Salvation for free, but we should not take it for granted. If we do not make Jesus Christ Lord of all, we don't make him Lord at all. The painting shows the The Great Commission, Jesus Christ sending out his disciples into all the world to preach and live the Good News that God, who loves us, has provided for us a way of Salvation, forgiveness of sin, everlasting life and everlasting freedom through Jesus Christ...
* * *
 As I now tour the USA to share my testimony and music with the American people, speaking and performing in churches, youth groups, schools, camps and colleges, and occasionally on radio and television, it has become my genuine desire to challenge people not to take freedom for granted, nor their faith in Christ too lightly.
Rather, it is my prayer that they might use this priceless privilege of freedom for a deeper commitment in following our Lord and Savior and to stand up for Jesus Christ, as he has stood up for us.
May God richly bless you
Michael Furchert
"Be Strong!
In the name of the Lord be strong and stand your ground
So your joy in Him may be complete
Keep praying that all that is disturbing your life
All injustice and all fear is buried
In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
And always remember that Jesus our Lord and Savior
Our Good Shepherd will always have the victory.
Be blessed and protected in the Lord."
Johannes Neubert
Michael's grandfather in one of his many letters across the Berlin Wall during decades of separation to encourage his family, children and grandchildren on the other side of the Iron Curtain to stand strong in their faith in Jesus Christ and trust in His faithfulness.
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