Death Defying

Blaise Pascal wrote, “Since men would not do away with death, they decided not to think about it.” Dwelling on it is not mentally healthy. Failure to think about and plan for its inevitably is foolish.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives death its proper perspective. Biblically there are only three reasons a Christian dies.

One is they have finished the earthly mission on which God sent them and they are allowed to come home and get their reward.

At death of a believer they pass on to a higher form of life. A full and rich life cannot be determined by chronology, but by character.

Second is martyrdom that advances the cause of Christ.

A third is that the Christian has committed “the sin unto death.” This means the person has committed a sin, any sin, of which they will not repent that impairs their witness of which they will not repent thus, their death will bring more glory to God than their unrepentant life.

Death, like other events in life, is not a goal, but a gateway.

If all the infants in all the wombs of all the women of all the world could speak, at the birth of one of them named Sam, one could be heard to say, “Poor ole Sam passed on.” The world he passed on to is much larger and more beautiful than the womb. So life in heaven is more grand than life on earth.

In light of that, could it be that we have gotten things backwards? At the birth of a child we smile, coo, and laugh. At the death of a friend we weep and grieve. Known of the difficulties awaiting in life perhaps birth is when we should cry, and at the death of believers rejoice.

Most healthy people take precautions to avoid death. This is a healthy preservative of life. It results in a healthy fear of death. However, one of God’s graces is that in death there is no fear for the believer. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me.” (Ps.  23) Virtually mocking death Scripture heroically avers, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 15: 55 – 57)

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (II Corinthians 5:8),” is the fate of a Christian.

The long shadow of death is removed by life — eternal life.

May the equivalent of this inscription on the tombstone of George Washington be appropriately inscribed on yours.

“A sincere Christian doing all things for the will of his Master and resting his hope of eternal happiness alone on the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”