Man has conquered the earth, subdued nature and explored outer space. Yet humanity remains unable to circumvent the inevitable calling upon it’s mortality. The Psalmist wrote, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4). 1 Peter 1:24-25 also conveys the reality that man’s days are numbered upon this planet. “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall; but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Most of us will be forgotten within a couple of generations after we are gone. Our time on earth will be marked by no more than a headstone that will be visited by a few family members for awhile but eventually left alone to weather the elements. Psalm 103:15-16 reminds us, “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower in a field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” In the grand scheme of existence, our lives amount to no more than a drop in the ocean of eternity.
Man has succeeded in prolonging life and through improvements in medical technologies many people have survived to an age that was unattainable not long ago. Cryogenics is thought to be the answer in preserving life and postponing death until the technology is developed to re-animate humans that have been intentionally frozen (for those who can afford it). Will mankind succeed in rendering death impotent?
Seek A Spiritual Solution
Unfortunately, seeking physical solutions to a spiritual problem is attempting to treat symptoms but ignoring their cause. The Bible tells us that death entered the world because of sin (Romans 5:12) and “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement,” (Hebrews 9:27) therefore defeating death is not a physical proposition but a spiritual one. With these truths in mind it is incumbent upon each of us to confront this dilemma and seek the only path that leads to life. Eternal life.
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14). We must understand that Jesus wasn’t speaking about an exit, He was talking about an entrance. He wasn’t speaking about an end He was talking about a beginning. He was referring to existence beyond the gate.
The “gate” is death. Jesus makes no mention of going around the gate, over the gate or under the gate – only going through the gate, which means that in order to find “life” on the other side of the gate, one must experience death. When we approach death with the assurance of salvation we can be confident of what lies beyond the grave. Christ’s resurrection is a profound mystery to the temporal mind and is incomprehensible to a secular worldview.
John 3:12-15 records Jesus conversing with Nicodemus and saying, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”
A Paradoxical Invitation
Non believers cling to their health and physical life with everything they’ve got, which was very evident during the recent pandemic from the lengths people went to protect themselves from a viral threat. Yet Jesus taught the exact opposite: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it. (Matthew 16:25). He wasn’t advising anyone to be reckless with their well-being in the face of danger but He was providing reassurance that when we put our faith in Him we have no reason to fear physical death.
Whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life (John 6:47). He is the only person in the history of humanity to conquer death through His resurrection and the Bible promises His followers that they too will be raised up just as He was. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:14, “By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.” And in 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken,’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.”
Paul elaborates on the concept of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. “Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
In Ephesians 2:1-7 Paul explains that believers are made spiritually alive in Christ in even before they physically pass away and calls upon us to live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Citizens of Heaven
The Bible tells us that we no longer belong to this earth and that we have citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20), and that anyone who embraces worldly values over heavenly values is in essence opposed to God (James 4:4). Herein lies the challenge for mankind – to embrace our spiritual nature and overcome our temporal disposition. Only then can we look beyond the grave and contemplate our eternal destiny.
While scientists grapple with theoretical perceptions of the mysteries of the universe, it is the conquest of death that is truly the final frontier. The crux of the matter is that the battle has already been won and most of civilization doesn’t realize it or refuses to accept it. Jesus accomplished this incomprehensible feat when he rose from the tomb after 3 days and forged the passageway for humanity to obtain eternal life.
Paul informs us that Christ was buried, resurrected and appeared to many people afterward (1 Corinthians 15:3-9) and goes on to say He is the first and will be followed by all believers. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 reads, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through one man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through one man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul declares, “This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:9b-10).
Everything is in place for humanity to take the final step into the wilderness that lies beyond mortality. Yet most people are intent upon “reinventing the wheel” because they reject the call of the gospel on their lives. They would rather ignore what has already been accomplished or they prefer to avoid exploration of the subject all together. The proverbial time clock that counts the seconds of each of our lives keeps on ticking whether we acknowledge it or not and the reality is either we confront death or it will confront us. This is non-negotiable.
The good news of the gospel is this: We are invited to follow Jesus – through this life, through death – and into eternal glory. Praise God for this paradoxical invitation!
