Sermon Central
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Dying To Know
Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 20, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: Christ turned death from final sentence to sacred sleep; those who die in Him will awaken when death itself has died.
Opening Story – Everybody’s an Expert
Have you noticed that everybody’s an expert on heaven until you ask for directions?
A little boy once asked his Sunday-school teacher, “Do you really go straight to heaven when you die?”
She said, “Yes, honey.”
He squinted and said, “Then why does Pastor Bill keep saying he’s ‘going by way of the cemetery’?”
Another child drew a picture of the pearly gates with a “Now Hiring” sign and told his mom, “They probably need more angels since people keep dying.”
We laugh—but underneath the humor lies our universal curiosity. We are, quite literally, dying to know.
What happens when the heartbeat stops, when the screen fades to black, when the song ends on the final note?
Humanity has been guessing for millennia: pyramids packed for the afterlife, philosophers dreaming of the immortal soul, poets writing about crossing rivers.
Every culture tells its version of the story—but Jesus told the truth of it.
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Our Curiosity About Death
From the moment Cain buried Abel, the human race has been haunted by one question: Where did he go?
We sense that death is wrong—foreign, like a typo in creation’s manuscript.
We dress it in euphemisms: passed on, departed, asleep in the Lord.
But behind the soft words is hard reality.
Death doesn’t politely knock; it barges in and rearranges everything.
Even Jesus wept at a tomb.
Yet Christianity dares to face death without superstition or sentimentality.
We don’t call death a friend. Scripture calls it “the last enemy.” (1 Cor 15:26)
It’s not a graduation; it’s an interruption.
It’s not evolution; it’s invasion.
But here’s the paradox: to understand life, you have to study death—because grace rewrote death’s definition.
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What the Bible Actually Says
The Bible’s vocabulary for death is surprisingly gentle.
Abraham slept with his fathers.
David rested.
Stephen fell asleep.
Jesus Himself said of Lazarus, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” (John 11:11)
In Scripture, death is not consciousness relocated—it’s consciousness paused.
It’s not an open door to another world; it’s the shutting down of this one until God calls.
Ecclesiastes 9:5:
> “The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing.”
That’s not nihilism—it’s mercy.
God doesn’t let pain echo forever; He silences it.
He doesn’t let the grieving live half here, half there; He holds them safe in His memory.
If death is sleep, then resurrection is the alarm clock.
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Lazarus — The One Who Knew
So when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth,” He wasn’t interrupting harp practice in heaven.
He was breaking the silence of the tomb.
Think of it.
Four days dead.
Wrapped tight, face bound, body cold.
No oxygen, no brainwave, no heartbeat—only stillness.
Then a voice.
A single name slicing through eternity: “Lazarus.”
If Jesus hadn’t named him, every grave would’ve opened.
But He personalized the miracle—proof that resurrection is not mass production; it’s personal invitation.
And Lazarus came back.
No travelogue.
No near-death story.
No “you wouldn’t believe the light.”
Why? Because he hadn’t been anywhere.
He’d been nowhere—nowhere but the memory of God.
When he opened his eyes, the first face he saw wasn’t St. Peter or Grandma Rachel—it was Jesus.
That’s the biblical picture of death: complete silence until the Savior speaks.
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Why We Fear Death
Let’s admit it—death scares us because it reminds us we’re not in control.
We can Google symptoms, take vitamins, eat kale until we turn green—but mortality still shows up on the doorstep.
We fear death because we confuse delay with denial.
We think, If I can’t control the ending, maybe I can edit the middle.
But Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matt 10:28)
The worst the world can do is temporary.
The best God can do is eternal.
And here’s the secret: we’re not just dying from something; we’re dying to something.
We’re dying to sin, to self, to separation.
Every funeral whispers the same question: Have you died before you die?
Because if you die before you die, then when you die—you won’t really die.
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Dying Before You Die
Paul wrote,
> “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)
That’s spiritual death—and it’s the only death you should practice daily.
The gospel invitation isn’t “try harder” but “die sooner.”
Die to ego, to pride, to karma, to scorekeeping.
Grace begins where self ends.
When Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it,” He wasn’t being poetic; He was describing divine physics.
Only an empty seed can sprout.
Only a buried bulb can bloom.
That’s the paradox of the kingdom: resurrection power is released only through surrender.
