Death

[Aleksander]

I felt the Lord was prompting me to write on the subject of Death. It has been on my heart and mind for some time, and I was about to write this when one of my friends was killed leaving behind his wife and two small children. This set back my writing of this for months but I believe the Lord was preparing me for that news.

I have seen also some blame the Lord for death, and even for causing death.

So what is death, do we need to fear it, is God evil because he allows it or in some instances apparently causes it. Is it the end, or only the beginning?

First where did death enter into the world? It did with Adam. When Adam ate the fruit he died spiritually and brought physical death into the world. (Genesis 3)

You see God did not want death, he not only gave us the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he gave us the tree of life. The tree was to give us a choice to love him. That is another story altogether but the point is this. God wanted us to have life, and eternal life. Because of this he then brought forth a plan to redeem our spirit to eternal life through Christ. Whom the Bible calls the second Adam.

We seem to have a fear of physical death. But why should we?

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

You see, we all die physically, One thing I have noticed, more then one person in the Bible were raised from the dead. They all died again! Not one of them, at least to my knowledge is alive and kicking on earth to this day. So why worry about our physical death. The when and how we die is not as important as how we lived, and if we have chosen Jesus or not.

As Paul says in Philippians 1:2

21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

So if we have chosen Christ, then our physical death is only the beginning of a new and eternal life with Christ. This then makes it clear why the word says

Psalm 116:15 (New King James Version)

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD

Is the death of His saints.

This means we get to be with the Lord with 100% of our being.

So does this mean that we should seek to die? To become self destructive, to become depressed and not to try to live? No!

Lets look at what Paul says.

To Live Is Christ

19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

For we can be fruitful in our life, as he says to live is Christ! We are to live for Christ and yet look forward to heaven.

As C.S. Lewis put it

Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal

world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the

things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you

read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who

thought most of the next The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman

Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the

Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.

It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so

ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither." C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

Now there is hope when you are in Christ. How ever if you reject him, you have chosen the spiritual second death, known as hell. You chose this while on earth.

Now to address the question of God killing or ordering the killing of people in the old testament. If its only the physical death, which we all face anyway then I do not see an issue. You see since we all die and go to the judgment seat of God, then as I stated before, its not as important how/when we die but how we lived. If we lived an evil life on earth, and God takes us off to prevent us from causing more harm, is that not up to him?

If God killed a child molester who had molested several children and kept doing it unrepentantly, would anyone call God evil, or cruel, for taking a danger off the earth to the final judgment? You see when ever God did order or cause the death of people in the Bible, there was a good reason. He took them to the Judgment, where he judged them by there life on earth.

So in a nutshell its this.

If you don't know Christ, he wants to give you life, and life eternal. He made the way so you can join him!

If you know Christ, then do not forget to think about heavenly things, to life for Christ not for yourself. I know to many people who professing Christ, seem to forget this. They only focus on selfish things and do not live for Christ but for themselves. They miss the whole point!

And for those who are struggling remember we have Hope!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (New King James Version)

The Comfort of Christ's Coming

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Never thought of that verse that way… a whole new light on things. Thank you

Hm, sound like Paul is trying to pick between staying alive for their benefit and death for his and God’s. in my case, its death to escape the pain of this life would be good, but I am not too eager to stay for the benefits of others… as bad and wrong as that is and as bad and as wrong as that sounds. Food for though there. Thank you.

True, we have this hope and the people of the world do not, to them, their loved one is lost, gone. And yes, this is suppose to be comfort for those of us struggling and i am not going to argue the validity of the point, but i have trouble applying it to myself; that is hope for the future... what about now though, when there are problems now... yes i know this means my eyes are still fixed on things temporary, not thing eternal, but i don't see why this would negate the validity of my concern with the now. theoretically, i know a change of what my sight is fixed on(from still fixed on things temporary to fixed on things eternal) will bring about the change of the attitude to the correct one, but i am not eager to, it just seems like a great way to make me not care about what i am dealing with now... if the future is secure, then it is not important to me to think about, but the now is, since it is not secure as far as i am concerned; up there in His realm things may be happening, but down here seems to be nothing happening... and i am here now, have to deal with it all, alone, empty handed, without these untold riches that are supposedly in some account somewhere in His realm that i am supposedly have access to... when i need them.

yeah, well, i'd rather come and take what i need now and use it for what i need now, not sit here with nothing(well, almost nothing) waiting for these riches to grow into bigger riches... that i can only have access to when i get there where You are... someday, when none of this will neither be here anyway nor matter at all... until then i am supposedly Yours but have to be subject to the what a wasted life, sitting here with nothing but Your untold riches that i can't even use(well, some i can)... so much for a princedom, should have said that right away that it only applies for when i die and get Home and here and now i'll have to suffice with being a pauper with an illusion of princedom, and will be forced to depend on pity and last minute miraculous pulling out of fire or whatever. though i should be happy that You are still in business of the last minute miraculous pulling out of fire in regards to me and i am still in health, still not completely broke and still not completely alone because if You were not still in business of the last minute miraculous pulling out of fire in regards to me then i'd be totally broke, totally alone and maybe ever totally dead, instead of in health. yeah, Your way and Your time... too bad down here that translates to me losing what You supposedly gave me... should have right away said that this is all a temporary loan that You reserve the right to take it back should You see fit... not a "gift". yeah, You never left and I am not alone... but You are not doing anything about it, just sending orders to set the wheels in motion... and while You are MIA i have to sit down here alone and deal with it all, left with nothing but hoping those wheels spin fast enough to come here on time when i need help now, not in the last minute miraculous pulling out of fire. i don't need bigger muscle, You'll be pushing the load anyway, by Your strength and power, not mine... and instead of doing what i can do, i'll just be walking by You and under the illusion that i am doing something... yeah, point taken, i never did anything by my own strength and power, it was always You and Your strength and power... too bad i was told that i was doing something... and no, they don't... but if it is not Your idea then maybe soon i'll be allowed to not do that.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Aleksander

[other one]

Isiah, I think being dead is nothing for us to fear. bug the dieing process itself I think is what most christians fear. It usually involves pain and it is all too often a tramatic thing. After watching my dad die from prostate cancer and holding his hand during the process, I gotta tell you I do fear dieing that way. But mom..... she just slowly stopped breathing over a few minutes time and was as peaceful as you can imagine.....

It's the process of dieing that I personally fear, and I think after reading the posts in this thread others are the same.

I agree with Fez on the rino's Elephants, big cats and such...... and maybe Neb's snakes. My personal biggie is spiders. Had an aunt get bit by a fiddle back when I was young and I heard her begging my dad to kill her from the pain she was in. Off and on for almost a week..... Doctors thought she was going to die, but I guess God had other ideas.

[Babbler]

Am I afraid to die? No.

The process though . . . not so much.

Ditto!

[SweetRain]

Am I afraid to die? No.

The process though . . . not so much.

Ditto!

I've been somewhat better, somewhat backfiring. I don't fear dying anymore since its not in my control, though I think about it sometimes. When my friend past away who loved God alot it was the first time I didn't actually fear death. It didn't seem like something learking behind me at any moment. And if I did feel that way I wasn't scared because I knew that if I died Jesus was going to be the one who takes me home. At the funeral when I saw her for the last time was the strangest because I felt completely happy. She finally got to see the face of God, the one who loved me and only could be around in a limited point. I had to admit, I was a little excited to finally have my funeral day. God has been helping me to not let fear eat me and fester on me. Because thats pretty much what it came to. And now that I'm more excited about seeing my savior, satan seems to put other obstacles of fear in my way. Because of the possible depth of what God is calling me, it could say either way on how much satan tries to tear me down. I'm holding onto God so that each time a new fear pops up, God will give me a new level of strength to not be afraid...