Death.
In all of human history, only two men have escaped physical death. Scripture tells us that because of Adam's disobedience and sin - death entered the world and affects all mankind.
Death.
It has become the normal end of life event that occurs for all of creation, especially for you and me. Even a man who was revived like Lazarus in John 11 tasted death again.
His heart stopped. His lungs struggled for breath. His eyes grew dim. Not once.
Twice. He went through death's procedures on two different occasions.
Death.
It is proof that God is not liar. He told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree. The consequence for disobedience would be death. And for the 1,185 chapters we see how man suffers that consequence. There is a reason all the genealogies are listed in Genesis 5. At the end of each man's life we see how long they lived and then the phrase "and he died."
So what do we do with Death? It is a powerful enemy and we cannot defeat it alone. Isn't that what we just celebrated a few days ago? The defeat of Death? But wait... Jesus died. Think about that.
JESUS DIED.
Yes, but Death did not have the power to keep Him dead. Unlike Lazarus and the few others who came back from the dead - Jesus LIVES today. Death couldn't hold Him in the grave.
Death.
How do we face it today? That answer depends on what you do with Easter. What you do with the resurrection. What you do with Jesus as your Substitute and Savior. By embracing Him as your Savior we can echo Paul's desire for death.
If we haven't embraced Jesus, it isn't safe to die. At death, we know our eternal destiny. We are either in the Lord's presence or in torment. Forever. No second chances.
Death.
What about friends? Family? Neighbors? Co-workers? Death comes for all. What would happen if we started to see people the way God does? Beings with souls that will spend eternity somewhere?
What if God has placed us here to share with them hope? To share with them how Jesus defeated death? To share with them how we can have life?
Life. Eternal. Everlasting. All because of Jesus.
A family I know just suffered the loss of a loved one . . . someone I reached out to a year ago, but not really since even though God had laid her on my heart. It is easy to get caught up in our own 'stuff' but it is an eternity we are talking about and not knowing whether God used another person to 'reach' her has made it really hard to sleep the past couple nights.
ReplyDeleteI would encourage everyone to plant the seed; share the gospel. We just never know how long we have and our obedience may not just save a life - but a soul's eternal placement. That is not to say that we are responsible for their conversion - God will draw them near...but we are responsible for helping show them where they might go to seek Him...