Death
Death has been in the news lately. The COVID pandemic has recorded an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide with 160,000 in the United State. Tropical storm Isaias left 9 dead from tornadoes, flooding and falling tree limbs. The massive explosion in Beirut has an initial death toll of 135 and is expected to rise considerably. In an interview, Dr. Fauci shared how he and his family have received death threats. The list can go on. There has just been so much death in our news feeds these days. And this clashes with the secular purpose of comfort and entertainment. Death impedes this purpose. So many want to throw a blind eye toward it. Don’t talk about it! Just ignore it. All in the hopes of getting back to “life.”
This is quite sensible from a secular perspective but the Scripture teaches us differently. Scripture teaches us about death. We understand it as a departure from God’s original design. People rebelled against Him. And the wages of sin is death. Therefore, everyone will face this first death. And from a historical perspective, just analyzing the data from all generations (with the exception of Enoch and Elijah), the death rate is 100%. No one can escape this fact. So it seems sensible to consider death’s inevitability. It’s wise to understand life’s fragility. Instead of ignoring ‘death’ we need to ponder it and the corresponding stewardship of our life before the Lord. This is what Jonathan Edwards did. Let me share a few of his resolutions about death:
“7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.”
Rather than ignoring death, Edwards thinks about it. Doing so clarifies what is important. It’s like the difference between having an infinite amount of money versus a certain amount. If you have an infinite amount then you can spend indiscriminately. Purchase whatever you want! Put no thought into it! But if you have a certain amount then you have to be careful. You prioritize what is important. You discern what is of value for purchase. Likewise, when we consider our death, we remind ourselves that our days are numbered. Let us, therefore, not live wastefully but with wisdom from above. And with a purpose that is centered on the Lord’s glory. Let us live with resolution rather than apathy.
And when we have our own death in view we are reminded that there is a second death. The first pertains to the body that will die in this life. The second regards the resurrected body that will face judgment before the Lord in the life to come. Those who stand without the forgiveness and righteousness that Jesus provided in the gospel of grace will face the second death for eternity. I pray that we will ponder this second death and consider the purpose the Lord has given us to proclaim the good news. The good news of salvation for anyone who will place their trust in Jesus. The good news of being adopted into the family of God with the assurance of escaping the second death by means of the death of Jesus on the cross and His victorious resurrection. It is this view of death that will spark a purpose of living for the glory of God. May the Lord bless us with grace toward this end!