Beauty In Death

Beauty in Death

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a,4,11a

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

11a “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:

One of the most difficult things we deal with in this life is saying goodbye to a loved one, especially when they are taken at such a young age. It is moments like this that seem so unfair and often leave us questioning why.

Solomon’s words to us this morning are a reminder that we each face different times in our life. It’s very easy to see the joy and beauty in many points in our life. There will be times of great joy and happiness – times where we are experiencing new life being brought into our families – time where our hearts are merry and content…but then there are those times that we will be heart broken and sorrowful. Times where tears will burn down our cheeks as we deal with moments such as this.

What we must realize is that, even during these moments, that God has designed everything to be beautiful. You may ask me “How can this be something beautiful?” “How is losing a loved one even capable of being a beautiful situation?”

I hope to be able to share with you how this is possible this morning.

I. A time of death is a time of ultimate healing for a saved individual

When a child of God leaves this world, they are literally leaving all of the bad of this life behind. The sicknesses that may afflict a child of God here are permanently removed from their immortalized, holy, perfected body received upon their exit from this world.

Paul writing to the church at Philippi alludes to this perfected body in Philippians 3:21 when he writes “ 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Simply put, Paul is saying that the body of a child of God will become glorified and perfected as Christ’s body is glorified and perfected – Death will no longer have a hold on us and we will never face or deal with sickness, pain or heartache again.

Also, in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, Paul reminds us that death for a child of God is the ultimate victory over this mortal life when he writes “54 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. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

II. A time of death gives God the opportunity to comfort

When we deal with a broken heart – and I am very much aware that nothing I, nor any other individual present today could say to you would heal the brokenness you feel inside – God loves to show you His love.

During times of heartache, God loves nothing more than to draw us to Himself and for lack of better words, hold us while we cry.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 tells us 3 Blessed [be] God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

So we must realize today that while we deal with heartache and sorrow, it is a beautiful opportunity for God Himself to reach down to where we are, pull us up close to Himself and love on us. He wants to comfort us during those times of sorrow so we can taste of His goodness, His mercy and then in turn, let others know how He can help them during their time of sorrow as well.

III. A time of death reminds us to make preparations

Death is a reminder that at some point in this life, we will all breathe our last breath and our hearts will cease beating. Because of this, we must be very much aware of our spiritual condition and make preparations to leave this world. It is imperative that we prepare ourselves to one day stand before God with the goal of hearing “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Mt 25:21)