The Mystery of Death, the Great Divide!

 

 

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is they victory?”

 

      1 Corinthians 15:55

 

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who died at the early age of 35, wrote this astonishing letter to his father on April 4, 1787:

 

“Since death is the true end and purpose of life, I have made it my business over the past few years to get to know this true, this best friend of man so well that the thought of him, not only holds no terrors for me, but even brings comfort. I thank God that He has granted me the good fortune and opportunity to get to know death as the key to our true happiness.

 

I never go to bed without reflecting on the thought that perhaps, young as I am, the next day I might not be alive any more. And no man who knows me will be able to say that in social intercourse I am morose or sad. For this happiness I thank every day my Creator, and with all my heart I wish this happiness for all my fellow-men.”

 

Mozart could doubtless have been occupied with a more cheerful subject, but for him, after facing all its implications, death had lost its sting and the grave its victory. He viewed death not as an enemy, but as a benefactor.

 

  

What is death anyway, and how can it be defined?

 

There are three medical definitions for death:

 

1-The moment at which irreversible destruction of brain matter, with no

     possibility of regaining consciousness, is conclusively determined.

2-  The moment at which spontaneous heartbeat cannot be restored.

3-The moment “brain death” is established by the electroencephalogram.

 

Perhaps the simplest definition from the religious point of view is separation from the source of life. Scriptures differentiates three types of death.

 

1-   Physical Death, the separation of the body from the soul and the spirit and constitutes the transition from the visible world to the invisible. For the believer, it marks his entrance into Paradise and into the presence of Christ Jesus ( 2 Cor 5:18; Phil 1:23); for the unbeliever, death is the entrance into hades “Hell” (Lk 16:22, 23; Mt 10:28; Rev 20:13) Physical death is not the end of existence, but only a change in the state of existence. For the believer physical death is the ultimate effect of sin and the last effect of sin to be canceled by Christ’s Redeeming work on Calvary (Ro 5:12-15; 1 Cor 15:26). Although all men die physically, the Atoning Death and Resurrection of Christ have robbed death of its sting for the believer. In fact, the Christian can triumphantly declare that, for him, “to die is gain” (Phil 1:21)

 

2-      Spiritual Death, is separation from God, both in this world and in the world to come. For example, Adam “died” as a result of his disobedience in accordance with the warning of God: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Gen 2:17) However, his death did not consist of immediate physical death, but his death was a spiritual death. When Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Mt 8:22), He meant “let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead”; by the spiritually dead he had reference to those separated from God by unbelief. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, said: “And you have been made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Eph 2:1)  Formerly, as sinners, they existed in spiritual “death”; when they came to Christ, they were made alive. When one comes to fellowship with God through faith in Christ, he passes from “death unto life” (1 John 3:14).

 

3-   Eternal Death, when those who are “dead in trespasses and sins” die physically and are unrepentant, they enter into the state of eternal death.  James refers to this death, explaining how it may be averted: “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death…” (James 5:19-20) Clearly, eternal death is not cessation of existence; it is an everlasting punishment. Paul warns of this eventuality in 2 Thessalonians: “the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power..”  (1:7-9) At the final “Great White Throne Judgment” all the wicked dead will be cast into the Lake of Fire which is called the “Second Death” (Rev 20:13-15)  The eternal death is described in Scripture as eternal or everlasting fire (Jude 7; Mt 18:8, 25:41); eternal punishment (Mt 25:46); eternal damnation (Heb 6:2);  and everlasting destruction (2Thes 1:9).

 

Death is not the most pleasant subject.  But it is an important one because death is the result of sin in the world and sin and death are all around us.  Sin brought death.  "The sting of death is sin..."   1 Cor. 15:56

 
Throughout Scripture, death is represented as the end result of sin. So Paul is right in describing it as the last enemy to be destroyed. The early church shared his view and came to regard death as a defeated enemy and hence, as a benefactor as Jesus stated on Calvary (Luke 23:43) “Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Heaven is better by far!    (Phil 1:23)

 

The reality of death could be found in Second Corinthians Chapter 5:1-9 is full of insights into what happens to us when we die. Our new resurrection bodies are ready and waiting for us--they already exist. When we step into our new bodies we will immediately be attuned to life in heaven. Our resurrection bodies will be like that of Jesus. There is, furthermore, no soul sleep, no intermediate state, no limbo, and no purgatory. When we die, we step immediately out of time into eternity, and "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" we time-travel to the day of resurrection and rapture. We are then instantaneously reunited with the believing dead of all ages. That is, all believers arrive in heaven at the same "time." We shall recognize one another in heaven, and believers of all ages will be able to meet together "outside" of ordinary earth-time frames. Resurrection bodies are no doubt capable of time and space travel and have vast capabilities our present bodies do not possess.

 

This is in addition to the fact that in heaven we are removed from the presence of sin and our new bodies are completely sinless and immune from sickness, death and decay.

 

“For we know that when this earthly tent (present body = skenos, a tent, booth or tabernacle) we live in is taken down — when we die and leave these bodies — we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.  For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies.  Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life.  God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

 

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.  That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.  So our aim is to please him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body.”   (2 Corinthians 5:1-9) NLT

 

People always want to know if we will know and recognize one another in heaven, and the Biblical answer to that is most certainly, "yes." This question has great sentimental value with hope that we shall again be with our loved ones for eternality.  Heaven would not be a blissful place if we were not able to recognize friends and loved ones of the past.

 

One of the anticipatory joys of heaven is the prospect of reunion.  Jesus makes this clear in the Gospel of Matthew 8:11 …” I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”  This distinction between our forefathers’s demonstrates personal individuality in Heaven.  The hope to see one another on Heaven is entirely natural, genuinely human and in harmony with Scripture.                                       

 

What will our Heavenly bodies be like?

 

1- It will be a spiritual body, but it will be perfectly adapted to our heavenly

    environment.  (1 Cor 15:44)  “They are natural human bodies now, but when

    they are raised, they will be spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural

    bodies,so also there are spiritual bodies.”

 

2- It will be a real body, not a phantom, but will be like that of the risen

    Christ, whochallenged His disciples, “Touch Me and see!”

 

3- It will be a recognizable body, having identity with the physical body

    that has been laid to rest. After the resurrection Jesus spoke of having

    “flesh and bones.” The  Apostles recognized Jesus.

 

    To clarify the issue, Paul then proceeds in 1 Corinthians 15 to draw

    comparisons and contrasts between the physical and spiritual bodies.

 

4- It will be an incorruptible body (v42) it will be deathless, not subject to

    decay.

 

5- It will be a glorious body (v43) no longer “the body of humiliation” subject

    to the tyranny of sin and the attacks of Satan. 

 

6- It will be a powerful body (v43), having thrown off the frailty of its   

    mortality.

 

These earthly bodies are only an imperfect vehicle and often frustrates the Spirit of God which dwells in us; in heaven the new body will be perfectly suited to conditions in its new sphere. “Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the earth, so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven.”  (1 Cor 15:49)

    

An additional question with great sentimental value is: will I still be married in Heaven?  Jesus states, "Marriage is for people here on earth.  But that is not the way it will be in the age to come. For those worthy of being raised from the dead won't be married then.  And they will never die again. In these respects they are like angels. They are children of God raised up to new life.”    (Luke 20:34-36)  

 

To some this will bring “great relief,” but to many it might cause some bewilderment.  Jesus brings comfort by his reply to the Sadducees — a group of Jews who say there is no resurrection after death. They posed this question:

 

“Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will be the brother's heir.  Well, there were seven brothers. The oldest of them married and then died without children. So the second brother married the widow, but soon he too died and left no children. Then the next brother married her and died without children. This continued until all the brothers had married her and died, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman died, too. So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her."  Jesus replied, "Your problem is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God. For when the dead rise, they won't be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.”      (Mark 12:18-26)

 

Since Angels do not marry and are bond together with a godly love “agape” we will recognize one another as cherished friends, but the desire to be married to one another will disappear, since we all are now married to Christ.

 

I love the way John puts it. He says, “...it does not yet appear what we shall be. [The sons of God do not look any different than anybody else, do they?] But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”   (1 John 3:2)

 

Funerals are sober reminders of our own mortality. They have a way of quietly bring us face to face with the fact that one day we will die.  Death is a patient and perpetual enemy that reduces all our arguments about life down to one truth:  one day, we will die.  But, for the Christian, this death is simply a step to the fullness of life in the presence of the Lord Jesus in whom we have placed all of our hopes and confidence.  We know that death is not the end, and so at funerals, especially of those of believers, we have a future hope that we see our loved ones again.  We are comforted by this and the pain is made more bearable. 

 

But what about the non-Christian?  For them, death will be an awakening.  Right now, they are not aware that death's present sleep is allowing them to have a false sense of security.  One day, for them, death will awaken and claim them and when it does, they too will awaken to the harsh reality that there is a pure and holy God who requires purity in His presence, a purity that they do not possess.  For now, the lost fight against God by not submitting to Him.

They are fleeing the truth of God's love and God's Son. But the sting of death will abruptly awaken them.  Then they will see the spiritual reality and realize that they have lived a false dream without God all the while not worrying about what the future will bring.

If you are not a believer in the true Jesus (God in flesh, John 1:1,14; risen from the dead, John 2:19-21), then you are now dead in your trespasses in sins (Eph. 2:1).  The only way to escape the righteous judgment of God upon you is to receive Jesus (John 1:12), to call upon His name (Rom. 10:9-10), and to trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins so that you might be made right before God (Rom. 5:1).

If you are a believer, then you already know what it means to be forgiven and to have the hope of the future resurrection in Christ.  We look forward, with hope and joy, to that day when death will free us from our bonds of flesh so that we might forever dwell with the Lord.  We are not asleep.  We are alive and well in Christ and when He returns, or the rapture happens, or our bodies fail us, we will live with Him forever and ever.

 

What a hope! What a difference that makes to everything in life! It transforms the way you act, the way you think. It transforms your dreams, your aspirations, what you do with your time. Everything is changed if you are a man of heaven! 

 

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is they victory?”                                   

1 Corinthians 15:55