In life, we face a truth that stands like a veiled specter. In our most lucid moments, we can actually live as though it doesn’t exist, but there comes a time when we must face it.
I want to broach this often taboo subject in effort to draw you closer to God and not leave you merely at the mercy of the machinations of your mind. Most people’s concepts death and eternity are not grounded in evidence or truth, and may often be the consequences of a seared concience.
In combat, soldiers are challenged with missions that risk death, it can be a test of human ability to push the boundaries of our courage. Despite a limited knowledge of the infinite nature of God, we sense glory, something worthy and eternal in a noble confrontation where life and death are at stake.
There are times in which, even when we are not fighting for our lives, that the idea coming to an end is terrifying, or losing those who depend on. We may dream or ruminate about death and it takes on different unfathomable dimensions.
No matter under which conditions you must face death, how can God’s Word help? How can the message of the gospel help?
The Bible is clear about important truths that help build a foundation for how we can begin to place death, not only in perspective, but in its place with respect to God’s glory. It’s never too late, as long as you are still alive, to get an eternal handle on what God, who created you, wants you to know.
It’s my desire, because it is God’s desire, to exhort you to prepare for death with a sense of sobriety and urgency, and to understand your essential need for God’s saving grace.
This does not mean we give up on this life, far from it.
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. – 1 Thessalonians 4:13
God created humans in the image of God, he created us with purpose.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.” -Genesis 1:26-28.
In the image of God, we are provided the ability and opportunities to lead and to rule, yet are limited to comprehend God’s infinite nature. We remain in awe.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11
We all heard about Adam and Eve disobeying and not trusting God, that’s all in the first chapters in Genesis. We humans are all sinners, and to offer a level of certainty of our unholiness, Christ stated candidly to the rich young ruler, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” – Mark 10:18.
So we need to stop with the self-righteous self delusions, of which we have such a high propensity for. We will be judged by the righteousness of a holy God. The sooner you can realize that, the mystery and the burden of the passage that death represents subsides.
There’s a simple passage in Isaiah that describe the essential problem sin causes between us, who are sinners, and God, who is Holy.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear – Isaiah 59:2.
The result of being a sinner and living in a sin corrupted world is death. It’s a 100% certainty (exception given for the Rapture).
For the wages of sin is death… – Romans 6:23a
We were not meant to live in sin, nor were we meant to die. God, in His mercy, set a limit to our sinful lives through death so that we may glorify God and enjoy life in the fullness of the spirit of God.
By God’s grace, we may choose to live with Christ as Lord and Savior and be redeemed into God’s family.
In his mercy, God’s provides a solution to destroy death:
…but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord -Romans 6:23b
That means, God offers the way, the Narrow Way (Matthew 7), to restore the eternal fellowship humans were meant to have with God who is righteous and holy. He loves us so much:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. – John 3:16-17.
Without hyperbole, Jesus said it quite plainly. When you trust these words from God Himself, as a sinner you will wrestle, but as a believer you will delight and be transformed in the struggle, through the help of the Holy Spirit, by the God’s power.
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
God will not be a stranger to you. God has always been there, even during your worst trials, he is present. King David wrote:
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me. – Psalm 139:7-10
The Old Testament has many references to what living with God will be like:
And the ransomed of Yahweh will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting gladness upon their heads.
They will attain delight and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away. – Isaiah 35:10
and what your new body will be like:
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a corruptible body, it is raised an incorruptible body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power… – 1 Corinthians:42-43
Life without sin will be breathtaking, beyond words, joyous and comforting beyond measure.
God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things passed away. – Revelation 21:3b-4.
So, are we just suppose to live to die? Under God’s grace, we all have a purpose and mission in life and we are meant to serve God in our earthly lives. That can look quite different from person to person. The main thing is that you seek God’s will and discover your purposes.
To look for our purpose, we seek to understand God, largely through Scripture. In it, we discover God’s long suffering and lovingkindness:
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9
With so many eternal rewards that Christ promised would be ours, in our evangelistic mission, we cannot ignore that many are on the wide path (Matthew 7) that leads to eternal separation from God’s goodness and blessings. This is a monumental race, a battle, a dogfight filled with urgency.
I hope to highlight that by trusting in Christ, death is not some ignominious dead end but, rather, offers a believer to possess the greatest hope of a bright and exciting future of growth and noble service in the community of saints, surrounded and filled with the love of God.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:12-13.
Christ never promised we would not see trials and tribulation. A believer has every right to expect that in the world, we will suffer if not be persecuted for our faith. The evidence is prevalent around the world through which thousands of Christians will not back down in the face of evil forces and suffer the consequences.
Although common grace and happiness and joy are very much part of life, rooted in the loving desire that we be at peace and harmony with the Creator, to deny the presence of suffering, often senseless and cruel, is to deny the reality of the fallen nature of the world, not to mention that active presence of satanic forces that form a real battle ground. Within this battleground, our suffering and death and the suffering and death of those we love take a tremendous toll.
The redemption for our sin, paid for by Christ, comes at a greater cost, through which we are able to transcend the worst this world can subject us to.
At first, this declaration by Christ may not touch you as truth, but as you disentangle yourself from the pride of life that separates you from the knowledge of God, you will have greater and greater comfort in the promise as the mirror becomes less dim, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
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