Dealing With Death
In 1981, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Willian Saroyan, was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that took his life in a matter of months. Five days before he died, Saroyan called a surprised Associated Press reporter and lamented, “Everybody has to die, but I always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?”
William Saroyan was not alone in denying death’s inevitability. We live in a world filled with death. We feel death in our bodies as we age. We grieve death in the loss of our loved ones. Nonetheless, when it comes to our own death, we too often live as if, in our case, an exception will be made. This is a foolish thing to do. Since physical death is certain, shouldn’t we acknowledge it? Shouldn’t we order our lives in light of its reality? In Psalm 90:10, Moses reflects on death’s certainty. Having spent decades watching an entire generation of Israelites die in the desert he writes, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty…they are soon gone, and we fly away.” Knowing this, Moses pleads with God, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
Moses reminds us. Rightly reflecting on the certainty of our own coming death is a path to wisdom. Solomon advises, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4).
Have you taken to heart the certainty of your own physical death? Are you wisely preparing for the day of your departure? Certainly, your preparations will include making provision for those left behind. However, your eternal destiny is of far greater concern. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” What a sobering reality! After death, we will each stand before God to give account for the lives we’ve lived—thoughts words, attitudes, deeds. Left to ourselves, we have no hope (see Hebrews 4:12-13 and Revelation 20: 11-15).
Now, here’s the good news. God has not left us to ourselves. While “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In other words, for we who believe, Jesus not only paid our sin penalty when he died on the cross—he forever conquered death when he rose from the grave. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
This is the death of death. All who entrust themselves to Jesus as Lord and Savior will be raised by him on the last day. Jesus promises, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
Well, do you? If not, will you?
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-56).