Reflection on Death - Part 4

            Jesus raised three people from the dead during His years of ministry, and each of these stands as a picture of the condition of those who are raised out of the death of the carnal mind into the life of the Son of God. First, there was Jarius’ daughter. Do you remember the story? Jesus came into the house and she was still upon her bed. She had just died. She still wore the garments of sleep. Her mother was still holding her hand and moistening her brow with kisses. Her father looked upon her lovingly but she was dead. And Jesus raised her with these simple words, “Talitha cumi.” Her eyes opened! She sat up and was alive again!

            Then there was the funeral procession that took place in the town of Nain where a widow of Nain had lost her only son. He was no longer in the home; he no longer wore the clothes of sleep but was wrapped in the cerements of the cemetery. He was already laid out upon his bier and was being conveyed to his tomb. Jesus did what He always did. He stopped the funeral — because that is why He came — and He said, “Young man, I say unto thee, arise!” He sat up and Christ returned him to his mother.

            Then there was that notable instance of Lazarus of Bethany. When Jesus arrived, Lazarus was no longer in his home; he was no longer in procession; he was already in his tomb. Neither the bed nor the bier but the tomb now contained him and Jesus said, “Roll away the stone.” Martha said, “Lord, he has been dead four days and now he stinketh.” Jesus said to her, “Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” And so they rolled away the stone. No doubt there issued forth from that open cavern those noxious smells of the grave. Jesus having lifted up His eyes to God in prayer, cried, “Lazarus, come forth!” and life pulsated through his body again. Still wrapped in the grave clothes he shuffled out of the darkness into the light. Jesus said, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Reflection on Death - Part 3

            I know many people who are quite intelligent, some highly educated, accomplished in their fields, civil, polite, personable, courteous, and caring in an earthly kind of way; and yet, when the subject of spiritual life, spiritual realities, and heavenly things is introduced into the conversation, suddenly the true nature emerges and the true antipathy the person has toward the living God and His Christ will come forth. They are dead to God, and in truth an enemy of God! The condition of a man outside of God is a condition of complete and utter helplessness, and, insofar as his ability to help himself or lift himself out of the world of darkness he dwells in is concerned, his condition is also one of utter hopelessness. That which is dead is both helpless and hopeless! Such a one stupidly stumbles through this mortal existence working, playing, sleeping, without ever knowing or caring what life is really about, why he is here, or where he is going.

            The portrait of spiritual death is physical death. God gave us physical death merely as a type to convey something of the awfulness of the true death of which all men have been made partakers. Speaking of physical death, Charles Spurgeon once said, “The time will come, ere long, when these shining orbs by which I look out upon you and through which you look into my very soul, will become a carnival for worms; that this body of mine will be inhabited by loathsome things, the brother of corruption, the sister of decay. These cheeks now flushed with life will soon be sunken in death. Beneath the skin there will be going on such activity that, could we look upon it, we too would recoil in horror. The same death of the body is the condition of our soul and our spiritual life as we come into this world.”

Reflection on Death - Part 2

            Imagine this headline in today’s newspaper: Cure Found for Death! Newspapers would soon be sold out. Every television and computer would be tuned to the news channels. Everyone would be scrambling to find out what this fantastic announcement had to say. But suppose the article or news report under the headline reported that a traveling teacher has announced that he personally is the cure for death — he has not made a scientific discovery, nor a new medical breakthrough, nor found some secret fountain of youth — but by revelation he has proclaimed himself as the source of life and immortality! We might begin to suspect that he’s just another religious teacher who has gotten carried away with delusions of self-importance, even if he has raised a few dead people back to life. And when we read about his claim that the only way to escape death is to believe in him, we’d say, “How preposterous!” Perhaps its not surprising that relatively few people take Jesus’ bold statement seriously — “He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). After all, it’s probably the most startling claim that anyone has ever made! Why should anyone believe it? We should believe it, not because Jesus raised Lazarus after he had been dead for four days, but because Jesus Himself arose after He died for us — and because He still lives today! The Lamb that was slain is in the midst of the throne, and He has sent forth from the throne the very spirit of His life into us by the power of the Holy Ghost! It is a glorious fact, for we have received it! Christ alone has the credentials to claim that He can give life and immortality to men!

            Death takes in this whole dreadful realm of sin, weakness, fear, sorrow, pain, heartache, rebellion, strife, war, sickness, sadness, torment, and trouble in which men walk without the peace and joy and transforming power of God in their lives. Men need to know that they are dead even while they walk about in a body that appears to be alive; a Christless death in which they are dead to God, dead to Christ, dead to virtue, dead to truth, dead to purity, dead to righteousness, dead to peace, dead to joy, dead to reality, dead to promise, dead to hope, dead to the bright world of the spirit. A man abides in this death throughout all the decades, centuries, or millenniums of his existence until he is awakened by the voice of the Son of God. It was this very truth that Jesus was making clear to us when He said, “He that hath the Son hath life, but he that hath not the Son of God hath not life…” Though such a one should live in the extreme fullness of earth’s pleasures, yet HE IS DEAD while he lives, a stranger to Christ, a stranger to the realm of eternal realities, a stranger to that higher world of spiritual things, and an enemy of God.

Reflection on Death - Part 1

             “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful” (Rev. 21:4-5).

            Even though we sometimes speak casually about mortality, we are never ready to meet death face to face. Death is a cold thief. A preacher may say that a young boy now sings in heaven’s choir, but his parents are grief stricken, angry, and perplexed, and they feel cheated. All their joy has been stripped from them. An elderly woman may be tired of her husband’s nagging and quirks, but she’d rather have that than the lonely life of a widow. Death takes us to the moment of greatest struggle. Like Job, we are torn up inside and tempted to point an accusing finger at God: “Why have you made me your target” (Job. 7:20)? No matter how we try to dress it up and stress the positive side of it, we sense somehow that death is not normal. We know that we were created to enjoy life! Just as Job did, we turn our hearts and thoughts to heaven, demanding an adequate answer.

            Death and tears and crying are all inextricably related. Human hands are poor at drying tears. Neighbors may help, friends may sympathize, and ministers may seek to console with words of comfort and wisdom, but in the end only God can heal the heart and stop the fount of tears. And God will not trust this task to either men or angels, for God Himself “shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” And then, “…no more death.” What words are these! What blessed anticipation! Death has had a fearful reign. Almost every home has its vacant chair; every village has its cemetery; every small newspaper carries its obituary list; while countless tons of earth’s bronze and marble are fashioned into gravestones. Death has blasted hopes and broken hearts; turned loving wives into weeping widows, and helpless children into homeless orphans. Death is harsh and cold and heartless. But death has met defeat; a tomb has been opened from the inside, and death itself in that first victorious life has ceased to exist. The last enemy to be destroyed is death! And the Christ Himself is the guarantee!

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Through Death