Unwanted But Inescapable Life has so many different dynamics. Life if full of turns and twists, so many events, so many unexpected surprises and tragedies both, so many challenges, so many opportunities, so many decisions, so many questions, etc., ete., etc. But there is one event in life that is absolutely unavoidable and inescapable - DEATH. Death is the one absolute certainty that every single human being must engage and experience. It is the ONE event in life that is unwanted but inescapable. As a minister I have preached many funerals and without fail it is always a very perplexing dynamic. One of the messages I have preached at funerals is entitled It Cant End This Way. That title seems to capture the sentiments of EVERYONE in relation to a loved one lying in a casket. Everything in us is repulsed at the very concept of death. Everything in us just pushes back at death. It is the single most difficult reality one must deal with. But everything in us screams it shouldnt be this way. Every fiber of our being fights to LIVE and not die. The reason every fiber of our being resist death and fights for life is because we were NOT SUPPOSED to die. Every fiber of our being fights for life because we were supposed to live forever. Death is a terrible tragedy that disrupts the continuity of life. Even though doctors can diagnose how the body breaks down and ultimately dies, they do not understand why we die. The body as it was originally created had the ability to recreate itself every 7 years. But inspite of all of that we die. Why? We know that our original parents sinned in the beginning. And the Bible says that when sin is finished it bringeth forth DEATH. So, there we have it unfortunately. With sin coming into this world it has introduced the human race to death and mortality. Now, death like a thief in the night comes to steal the continuity of life, and we who were not supposed to die, now die. Death is universally unwanted by every human being on the planet, because it was not supposed to be. So, death is a depressing reality to conceptualize. To face ones own immortality is without question the most traumatizing experience for a human being, who was originally designed to live forever. But to borrow a phrase from Paul Harvey: And now for the rest of the story. God was not taken aback by mans fall and sin coming into this world to thwart Gods original plan for humanity to live and not die. God had a plan to redeem fallen mankind and bring him back to Gods original plan. So, Paul writes: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 6:23 Through the life saving sacrifice of Christ, He has restored to us the life we lost through sin taking our life from us. Through Christ we have been REDEEMED. What does redeemed mean? It means that through Christ we now have the ability to live forever restored to us. We have the continuity of life back in place. This is the blessed hope of believers. It is the hope of those who believe (In Christ). Those outside of Christ do not have this blessed hope. For unbelievers death is the most feared experience, because they die without the hope of living again. Because of the believers faith, they have a tremendous perspective when it comes time to die. Listen to Paul speak of this awesome dynamic: So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O GRAVE WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? 1 Corr.15:54-55 Death has no sting for the believer, because they have peace at death, because they have a promise, the promise of life after death. Death is not the end, but rather the BEGINNING of eternity, life without end. I have preached funerals for believers and for unbelivers, and I can tell you that Christians know how to die, because they die in peace with a promise. But unbelievers die hard because they die without a hope and a promise of life beyond the grave. Come to Christ, and when it comes time for you to die, you can die with a hope and promise that affords you the ability to die in peace.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:37:13 +0000
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