Neither of us is going to get out of this alive. That’s the only thing a man knows about life.”
–Louis L’Amour (Conagher)
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
–Romans 6:11 (NKJV)
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“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so.”
–John Donne
We often think of “Death” as a person. Images of the Grim Reaper go through our mind; an evil image of horror holding a scythe ready to cut down the living. John writes in Revelation, “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (20:14, NKJV) Notice that the first mention of Death is capitalized, a proper name, and it is part of our imagery. We read in Paul’s writing, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26, NKJV) He continues the thought, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (15:54-55, NKJV) One reason that we use this analogy is that death is so mysterious. When you look at the body lying in the casket they are truly dead–dead to this life, dead to the physical, oh, but the spiritual body is eternal.
One thing every person, male or female, has in common is that all come to meet this mysterious phenomenon we call “Death.” We read in Hebrews, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (9:27, NKJV) Philip Comfort writes in regards to Donne’s poem, “This was a reminder to all that the death of one person is not an isolated event. All share the same fate.” But know this! “Man does not die as a body. He dies as a man, in the totality of his being. He dies as a spiritual and physical being… Physical death, then, is a fit symbol of, and expression of, and unity with, the deeper death that sin inevitably brings.” (New Bible Dictionary)
But know this! Call it fate, call it ironic, but John Donne finishes his poem with this climatic statement, “Death, thou shalt die.” Just as Paul proclaims, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” The victory, of course, is Jesus Christ. By His resurrection, death no longer has control; it has been defeated, overridden, and cast away. “Death cannot be proud because it will suffer what it has done to all others.” (Comfort) Notice what John writes in Revelation what happens to Death–it is cast into the lake of fire. Jesus used death to deliver man from death. He died that men may live. Paul refers to the death of a believer as “sleep”.
Without Christ, however death is indeed grim, there is no hope, no life beyond the grave, only that horrendous and terrible second death in the lake of fire awaits. He is like the rich man who cried out “I am tormented in this flame”. (Luke 16:24) However my friend, the Christian should not and need not be afraid of death. Francis Schaeffer states, “To Christians there is a continuity of life on a straight horizontal line from this life on into the world to come.” Christians because of the new birth do not go down into the pit to await judgment. The chasm, the pit, is past at the new birth. Death cannot separate the Christian from God, in fact, death brings them into the fullness of God. “Death is not the chasm; we have already passed from death to life.” (Schaeffer) As Death has been defeated by Christ, it no longer binds us, but we are free to enter the gloryland that is prepared for us. Live in Christ–die in Christ…