4/20/2021 - 1 Corinthians 15:22 [NIV]

 4/20/2021 - 1 Corinthians 15:22 [NIV]

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

As others have observed, death is the ultimate statistic: one out of every one person dies. I have attended and officiated at many funerals, an especially important duty but never my favorite. As a Salvation Army officer, I was often called upon to do funerals of those in my community who were unchurched. Often those who attended were ill at ease with a religious service, and cold or resentful of the Gospel truths about death. Hollow assurances at funerals provide no real comfort, and the gospel is little comfort to those who have made up their minds to avoid God. It was especially difficult when the loved one had committed suicide.

Religion tends to parse out harsh rules from the commandment “do not kill”. I don’t believe that. The judgment faced by humans is whether to come into the light and receive the mercy of God through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, or not (John 3: 17-21). Those who die by their own hand in a moment of despair, or who have the duty to protect us and must make quick judgements about the use of excessive force are, I believe, subject to the mercy of God depending on their inner motives and should not be judged by us, apart from state sanctioned trials, that will also be judged by God.

Death is not our ultimate fate, and I think Believers waste much anguish on it, at the death of others or imagining our own. I have twice faced the certainty of knowing I was about to die, and against all odds miraculously walked away without a scratch. Even the first time, God removed all fear in me and upon surviving, from that moment on I lived with the certainty that I was already in eternity. My 2-year-old son and I were completely unharmed, while my wife who had lost control in the rain died, while we were on our way to open a new Corps in Visalia California. When I asked God, ‘Why?’ Jesus answered me directly: “If I told you now, you wouldn’t understand. But I will tell you one day face to face, and you will understand with tears of joy”. Tears He will wipe away with his gentle nail-scarred hand.

The certainty of death has been transformed by the certainty of redemption and resurrection in Christ. One of the most powerful of human emotions is the mingled grief and joy often experienced by the death of loved ones, or even the knowledge of our own impending deaths. Both are good and natural, to be experienced without guilt or shame.

Joy rather than fear… Only in Christ Jesus who in his death and resurrection claimed forever the keys to death and hell.

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