The last several weeks I have watch a friend loose the battle to Cancer. I have stood and watched this precious family in my church morn, ask questions and battle their own warfare. The reality hits you like a mac truck pushing down the highway of life.
You see, death was not apart of God’s plan in the beginning. When God created, He created us for life and to live! He created us for relationships, and companionships. God said, “It was good, very good.” But something changed all, of that. Something within each one of us.
Today, death is a classroom we do not ask for, a teacher we despise. Why? Death tears us apart from those we love, admire, and relate to. In death we experience the consequence of sin and rebellion. I am reminded today that there are two kinds of death: spiritual death and physical death.
But you say I noticed that Adam did not die in Genesis chapter 3. He went on and he lived several more years. So if death is a part of the consequence why didn’t he die immediately?
It is here we learn a valuable lesson: Death in the Bible is not termination, rather it is separation. The day that you die, the day your body quits breathing you do not cease to exist. It is true your body is gone. But, you are still very much alive.
You, meaning the soul of man? Yes. A man’s soul is still alive and lives on long past you draw your last breath. As I reflect on watching my friend take his last breath, I only find comfort today in knowing that he has made a great transition, he has not stopped existing but now he exist in a different manner, for now he is spirit in the presence of God's spirit, and one day he like many others before him will find a promised glorious Resurrection. In this I hope for, confidently expecting God to redeem this sad moment. You see the simple truth is this: every person is going to live forever somewhere.
Statement of truth:
The Bible does not speak of death as termination it speaks of it as separation.
Today, Tim is separated from us, but he is not lost from us, he is only a breath away!
Still there is not only a physical death, but the Bible teaches that there is an eternal death and a spiritual death. This is an eternal separation, not a temporary one. In Christ we experience a temporary separation, and in Christ we have the promised hope of an eternal reunion that will be grand and glorious.
Yet without Christ, one will experience eternal separation from God. The word of God is clear: One day this individual will spend forever separated from God and place called hell. The reality today is this: You will continue to exist, death is not the end of life but a transition in life.
Where we live forever depends on what we do with Jesus!
In his dying days Tim told me he wanted his life and death to be an expression of the Gospel...
I just happen to think it was.
Death - it is real, it is really hard, and it really stinks. At least on this side of things. Because we who are left experience the pain of separation. So I hold on to a wonderful promise that God can work all things to his good, even when I think it stinks.
Thanks for sharing. Some sobering and accurate thoughts!
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