I have been confronting my mortality over the past few weeks.
A beloved aunt died a couple of weeks ago. She was like a mother to me. Then, over the last week, I have heard of the deaths of two of my high school classmates, as well as another woman who was a year behind me. A fellow pastor’s wife has been stricken with a viral infection attacking her brain, and while God is capable of a miracle, it doesn’t look promising for her. We hope, but we also hear the news and wonder.
Both my parents died before their 64th birthdays. I am 63 years old myself. Dad died from complications from emphysema, caused by his decades of non-stop smoking, and my mother died from Alzheimer’s. I’m not a smoker and am of sound mind (though there are those who would question the last part of that statement), so my odds of outliving my parents are good. Still, one wonders.
Confronting one’s mortality throws cold water on plans for the future. It raises questions. How much of a future do I have? How many more years, months, weeks—days?—do I have to enjoy life?
The Bible speaks about mortality, as it does on all matters affecting life and the living of our lives. So today, stepping away from social issues, let’s take a look at what the Bible says about death and dying.
An Observation
I have noticed over the past few years that people don’t die anymore. We pass; we are lost; we even “cross the rainbow bridge,” whatever that means. The first time I read the phrase, “crossed the rainbow bridge,” I had just seen one of the Thor moves. I read the phrase and wondered if someone had entered Asgard.
I wonder if our refusal to admit that someone died is an expression of our fear of death. “So-and-so passed,” we say, to which I want to ask, “What were they studying?” Or we say, “We lost our dear friend,” to which I want to say, “When did you last see him? Have you retraced your steps?”
I’m being facetious, I realize, and somewhat disrespectful. But the truth is, people die, and we are uncomfortable about it. We don’t understand death; no one has ever really experienced personally to the degree that they can give a personal account of what it means to die. There are those who profess to have had an afterlife experience, but I’m not convinced they’re really seeing what it’s like to die.
Since we don’t really know what death is like, we really can’t be sure what awaits us on the “other side.” And that is unsettling as well. Yes, the Bible describes heaven in broad terms, most noticeably in Revelation, elsewhere as well, yet it still does not prepare us for knowing what it will feel like to die. Is it just like falling asleep? At night, when we lie down to sleep, we’re awake one moment, then sound asleep and unaware of what’s going on around us until we awaken again in the morning. Is that what death is like? I don’t know. I wish I did, but I don’t.
That’s why we rely on faith and hope. Everyone does, whether their faith and hope are in God or not. We all have our own idea about death and what it will be like, and we all hope and faith that what we have come to believe is what it will be. But none of us can be absolutely certain, even if our faith is in Christ.
Please understand. I believe the Bible, and I believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. I believe grace and truth come through Him. I believe that He give us eternal life, and that eternal life begins the moment we first believe. I have no doubt in Christ and His promises I read in the Bible. I know when I die, I will be with Him. I don’t know where exactly I’ll be or what I’ll experience when I’m there.
Will I see loved ones who have gone before, and will we recognize each other? I mean, when my parents died, I was in my 30’s, and I am different now 30 years later. My dad’s mother and my mother’s father both died when I was nine years old. I am very different now than I was when they died. How will we recognize one another? Will we all revert to our best earth moments? If we’re being honest, no one knows.
And because we don’t know, it’s all unsettling for us, no matter the strength of our faith or lack of our faith. That’s why the Bible says we hope—we anticipate, based upon our faith, what we will experience, so we hope. That faith will be made complete and that hope realized when we die, but we do not and cannot know beyond faith-belief until we each experience it ourselves personally.
We All Have to Go Sometime
“Just as it is destined for man to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
“The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength” (Psalm 90:10a).
“The Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever” (Genesis 3:22).
These three verses let us know the general view of the Bible regarding death. The first verse tells us we only have one life, the second verse tells us about how long we should expect to live, and the third verse tells us that death is the result of sin.
The writer of Psalm 90 speaks about God’s control over life. “You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning—though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and whithered” (v. 5). He talks about being under God’s wrath and judgment, and prays for God to end the judgment. “Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants” (v. 13).
When Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, was ill, Jesus intentionally stayed away, despite a request that He come to his home. It was only after Lazarus had died that Jesus went to the home Lazarus shared with his sisters, Mary and Martha. By the time Jesus had arrived, Lazarus was dead for four days, a day longer that Jewish tradition held for a soul to remain with the body. Seeing the crowd and their reaction to Lazarus’ death, the shortest verse in the Bible tells us, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). There is no explanation about why Jesus wept, but it seems reasonable to suggest His tears were on how death affected those who survived the deceased. Even though Jesus is the resurrection and the life (cf. John 11:25), He understood the futility and frustration of seeing loved ones die. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but He also knew that Lazarus would die again, and this second time would be the final death for His friend.
In the Bible, there are only two recorded times when a person didn’t die, but was translated into heaven. The first is Enoch, and the Bible has only a few verses that speak of him. “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:21-24). Most understand the term “God took him away” as being distinct from letting Enoch die.
The second record is that of the prophet Elijah. In 2 Kings 2, the description of Elijah’s transport into heaven is recorded. He knew God was going to carry him up, but Elisha, Elijah’s successor, insisted on travelling with Elijah. The event is recorded in verse 11: “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.”
Moses died, as did David and the prophets. We can include the apostles in that majority, for they, too, died. Everyone dies until Christ returns.
The greatest death recorded in the Bible is the death of God Himself—Jesus. All four gospels record the crucifixion of Christ, with the event lasting less than a day. While the different gospels record different sayings of Jesus from the cross, they all agree that Jesus died that day on Calvary.
Except for Enoch and Elijah, no one escapes the cold, clammy grasp of death. Yes, Jesus rose again, giving us the promise of eternal life, but He did die. We all die.
So What’s the Purpose of Living?
The writer of Ecclesiastes raised the issue of what is life all about. Tradition attributes the book to Solomon. Whether it was him or someone who came after him, the writer gives glimpses into his “experiments” in living life. He tried wealth, sex, hedonism, monuments and wisdom, among other things. His conclusion after each “experiment” was that it was all meaningless. He realized that we all die and when we die, everything we did in life ceases to matter. He came to this realization: “Now all has been heard; here is my conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
I’ve cited Micah 6:8 many times, because it also speaks to the purpose of life: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Of course, any mention of the meaning of life has to come back to Jesus. John writes in the introduction to his gospel account, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). John also says that grace and truth came through Jesus (John 1:17). John 3:16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus will never perish but have eternal life.
Throughout the New Testament, the message is clear: a faith-belief in Jesus leads to eternal life, and it begins the moment one begins that faith-belief. To finish that Hebrews 9 statement, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear our sins, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him” (Hebrews 9:27-28).
Conclusion
It may appear that I have some real qualms about death and dying. The truth is, I enjoy living this life on earth. I have a wonderful wife who inspires me and humbles me, who lifts me up and brings me down, who is delightful and frustrating—I love my wife dearly and deeply in a way she cannot ever fully understand.
I have three wonderful children and a son-in-law, though they are all young adults now. Still, they are my children, and I thoroughly enjoy being around them. They bring me a joy that is unknown outside my family.
I have a wonderful church, the greatest church in the history of Christendom. The fellowship is real and genuine. After worship, they don’t race out the door to their cars. They stay in the church and talk, then they make their way outside, and, instead of getting in their cars, they stay on the sidewalk and talk some more. There is a freedom in my church, and I can’t imagine leaving that wonderful fellowship of believers.
I have some truly remarkable and blessed friends, friends I’ve had for almost 50 years. It has been my privilege to have known them and to count them as friends.
I have cousins, and one remaining aunt and uncle that mean the world to me.
All of these things I don’t want to leave behind, but I know that one day, we will each begin to leave as we die. And that makes me sad just thinking about it.
But I rejoice, because each of these people, for the most part, will be with me for eternity if the Bible is true. And I believe with all my heart that the Bible is true.
In that, there is comfort and there is assurance.
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
© 2019 Glynn Beaty