Looking Forward To Our Death

A YOUNG CHILD WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A TERMINAL DISEASE. THE PARENTS KNEW THAT HE WOULD DIE SOON. THE CHILD AS WELL KNEW THAT HIS DEATH WOULD BE SOON.

ONE NIGHT HE WAS SITTING IN HIS MOTHER’S LAP WATCHING TELEVISION WITH HER. HE LOOKED UP INTO HER EYES AND SAID, “MOMMY DOES IT HURT TO DIE?” THE YOUNG MOTHER WAS OVERCOME WITH GRIEF AND HAD TO LEAVE THE ROOM FOR A MOMENT TO GATHER HER EMOTIONS.

SHE STOOD IN THE BATHROOM AND PRAYED, “GOD WHAT CAN I TELL HIM?” SHE FELT THAT THE LORD GAVE HER A WORD FOR HIM. SHE WENT BACK INTO THE ROOM AND SAID, “HONEY DO YOU REMEMBER HOW SO MANY TIMES YOU HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION AND THEN THE NEXT MORNING YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR ROOM? WELL I WILL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENS. WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP YOUR FATHER COMES IN AND WITH HIS STRONG ARMS HE PICKS YOU UP AND CARRIES YOU INTO YOUR ROOM. AND THEN THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR ROOM. WELL DEATH IS JUST LIKE THAT. WHEN YOU DIE, YOU FALL ASLEEP AND JESUS CHRIST GATHERS YOU UP IN HIS STRONG ARMS AND CARRIES YOU TO HEAVEN. AND THEN YOU WAKE UP IN ANOTHER ROOM!”

I BELIEVE THIS STORY PAINTS A VIVID PICTURE THAT BRINGS BEAUTY WITHIN THE UGLINESS OF DEATH. IT SPEAKS OF A LOVING FATHER WHO FULFILLS HIS PROMISE OF JOHN 14:1-3, “DON’T LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUST IN GOD, AND TRUST ALSO IN ME. THERE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH ROOM IN MY FATHER’S HOME. IF THIS WERE NOT SO, WOULD I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT I AM GOING TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU? WHEN EVERYTHING IS READY, I WILL COME AND GET YOU, SO THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WITH ME WHERE I AM.”

THE GOOD NEWS WE CAN FACE IN THE INEVITABLE REALITY OF OUR OWN DEATH IS TO KNOW IT IS NOT FINAL. DEATH IS NOT “THE END” NOR IS IT A STOPPING AND A RE-STARTING, BUT MERELY A TRANSITION INTO THE THRESHOLD OF ETERNITY.

PSALM 49:15, “BUT GOD WILL REDEEM MY SOUL FROM THE POWER OF THE GRAVE, FOR HE SHALL RECEIVE ME. DEATH, THEREFORE, BECOMES OUR PASSION AND OUR CONSUMING DESIRE BECAUSE TO SEE AND COMMUNE WITH CHRIST FACE-TO-FACE IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE LONGING FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE.

OUR LONGING IS TO BE WELCOMED INTO THE PRESENCE OF OUR GOD IN HIS KINGDOM AND FOR ALL ETERNITY BECAUSE NOTHING ELSE CAN SATISFY OUR SOUL THAN TO SHED THIS CORRUPTED EARTHLY BODY IN ORDER TO BE CLOTHED WITH THE ETERNAL GARMENTS OF SINLESS PERFECTION AND HOLINESS.

I BELIEVE IT IS EVERYONE’S DESIRE TO TIRE OF THIS WORLD AND YEARN FOR ETERNITY AS PAUL SAYS IN VERSES 2-4, “WE GROAN, LONGING TO BE CLOTHED WITH OUR HEAVENLY DWELLING, BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE CLOTHED, WE WILL NOT BE FOUND NAKED. FOR WHILE WE ARE IN THIS TENT, WE GROAN AND ARE BURDENED, BECAUSE WE DO NOT WISH TO BE UNCLOTHED BUT TO BE CLOTHED WITH OUR HEAVENLY DWELLING, SO THAT WHAT IS MORTAL MAY BE SWALLOWED UP BY LIFE.”

WE ARE DESIGNED AND CREATED TO SEEK AFTER GOD TO FIND FULFILMENT, JOY, AND HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFE AND THE ONE TO COME. THAT IS WHY, LIKE PAUL, OUR “GROANING” IS OUR EXPRESSION OF THE FRUSTRATIONS WE HAVE WITH THE LIMITATIONS AND DISABILITIES OF OUR MORTAL EXISTENCE.

WE, LIKE PAUL, DESIRE TO HAVE LIBERATION FROM THE IMPERFECTIONS OF OUR EARTHLY EXISTENCE. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE FULFILMENT OF ROMANS 8:21, THAT “EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN MADE IN THE WORLD WILL BE SET FREE FROM THE POWER THAT CAN DESTROY. THESE WILL BECOME FREE JUST AS THE CHILDREN OF GOD BECOME FREE.”

SO, I POSE THIS INTERESTING QUESTION TO YOU NOW: ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR DEATH? DEATH IS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING “I AM PRESENT WITH CHRIST JESUS MY SAVIOR.”

DEATH FOR US IS OUR RESURRECTION. 2 CORINTHIANS 4:14, “WE KNOW THAT GOD RAISED THE LORD JESUS TO LIFE. AND JUST AS GOD RAISED JESUS, HE WILL ALSO RAISE US TO LIFE. THEN HE WILL BRING US INTO HIS PRESENCE TOGETHER WITH YOU.”

THIS IS OUR GOOD NEWS! FOR BELIEVERS IN CHRIST, DEATH IS NOT AN END BUT A BEGINNING. SIMPLY PUT, WE LEAVE THIS BROKEN, SINFUL WORLD BEHIND AND GO TO A MUCH BETTER PLACE, COMPLETING THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH WE WERE MADE.

AM I TRYING TO TRIVIALIZE THE ANXIETY AND UNCERTAINTY THAT WE NATURALLY HAVE WITH DEATH? NO! I FULLY REALIZE THAT ANYTHING THAT WE HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE CAN CAUSE SOME LEVEL OF NATURAL FEAR. I ALSO REALIZE THAT JUST THE MENTION OF DEATH CAN BRING BACK SOME UNPLEASANT MEMORIES FOR SOME OF US.

DEATH MAY NOT BE THE MOST PLEASANT SUBJECT FOR A SUNDAY SERMON, BUT TO ME, WHEN THE LOCATION OF WHERE WE SPEND ETERNITY IS AT HAND, IT COULDN’T BE A MORE IMPPORTANT TOPIC TO DISCUSS.