Death I
An Introduction
Death has been on my mind.
Old deaths have come to the forefront of my memories. Relatives (both distant and near), teachers, friends (both distant and near), celebrities (even the news has been reminding me of death), Biblical stories, and my own advancing years ALL have been clamoring for my attention.
And recently, in our church, it seems that death has been lurking.
And while all of that might seem a dismal set of thoughts, in the end it has not been. Because I have learned some things about death.
(I WILL be returning to our Biblical Survey after a few days… but it is time for this insertion.)
Death is not actually hanging around our doors. Death, while lurking, has actually been overcome by Christ. More than that, really… Death was trounced on Good Friday, the three days in the tomb, and the Resurrection by ALL of the Trinity. Even Christ’s Ascension helped transform death.
Because death has not simply been beaten. Death is not merely a toothless old hag who used to have power. When God defeated THAT enemy, the last enemy, He actually changed it… Death is now a means of our entrance into heaven. Of course we grieve when death strikes it’s feeble blows. But those very blows for Christians have been changed. THAT is why we do not grieve like the world grieves. Because death is no longer tragic. Death no longer demands sorrow. Death no longer is a shadowy lurking thing. Death works for God. Death is God’s mechanism to give us our new bodies. Death is now God’s planned entrance Gate for His people into HIS Presence.
God beat death by transforming it from the epitome of the curse to the last stage of our glorification.
Death is now another way we get to follow Jesus… His path… His way… His example… His gift.