Perhaps we should take up the subject of death on Culturewarcollege.com. Many will conflate the notions of death and war but it doesn’t have to be that way. In discussing worldly warfare, Sun Tzu said that to convince your enemy to surrender without fighting was considered the “acme of skill.” The truth is that death does not have to be an outcome of war, but it will always be an outcome of physical life.
In recent years my parents have died and we have mourned their passing even though we are convinced their eternal spiritual perspective resulted in God’s grace and, ultimately, their salvation. We always remember the day they returned to their heavenly home. We may cry but those tears are for us.
I believe we do not shed tears out of selfishness but rather as an expression of our groaning for a heavenly “tent.” You see, the Bible says that for those of us who also know the Lord as our Savior, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in ways we are not aware. The frequency He uses to communicate those needs on our behalf is what the Bible calls “groanings.” And yet, the Bible also tells us that while we remain here on earth our earthly bodies groan for their heavenly tents or eternal life. Mourning then becomes a natural expression of our desire to be united with our loved ones and other believers in our eternal home, even if we ourselves cannot quite put a finger on why we cry for and mourn those who are finally healed and in heaven. The sadness and loss we feel are real, but so are the natural longings of our hearts should we know and love our Lord as Savior.
In the continuum that is the timeline of your life, there is a beginning point that marks the moment of your conception. Along that continuum are waypoints that mark events that have occurred in your life. Inevitably, death will mark another waypoint on that time line continuum. Death is an outcome of physical life here on earth, but is that the end of your time line as far as you know? Or, will your life’s continuum go on into an eternal future?
Make no mistake, your life’s time line will have marks beyond the waypoint labeled “physical death” even if you don’t want to recognize them. If those waypoints mark the time in your life where you also experience eternal spiritual death without God, then you have truly died and that finality will be horrifying. That’s a difference we may have between us if you do not have a relationship with the living God through His only Son Jesus Christ. Because of my relationship with Him, I grieve with hope. I don’t understand how you can grieve without it.
The absolute Truth is that physical death is an outcome of life on earth. But physical death is not the end of the time line. Should you physically die without first accepting our Lord’s sacrifice for you and acknowledging Him as your Lord and Savior, then I weep for you already. Only then does the sting of death become all too real. That’s where it is.
What then is your response? What are you going to do about this Jesus, who is called the Christ?