LIFE OR DEATH

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”

Death for most of us does not bring thoughts of gladness and joy. The term for us represents hurt, pain, mourning, and grief. It represents the absence of another human being from the earth.

But death from God’s perspective is pleasant, lovely, and joyous. God knows that death is needful. What He knows that most of us forget is that death is only a part of a process and not the end result. We do not look forward to death because it represents the end. But God knows that death is only the beginning.

No one actually dies. Every living soul will go on living forever. The body alone dies. Not many can attest to that because those who have experienced death are not here to render their testimony. But the Bible makes it absolutely clear that life continues—not as we know it, but in the realest sense there is.

God rejoices at death because He knows it’s not the end but a new beginning. Perhaps in this year of new beginnings you have watched some things that you hoped to live die. You may have had the death of a loved one, divorce, separation, loss of employment, burned homes, wrecked vehicles, closed doors and the like. But please don’t think you are forgotten or forsaken. Sometimes before there is a new birth or beginning, there has to be a death or passing away of the old. Death comes to pass, not stay. The loss you have experienced may have been exactly what was needed to pave the way for what God has for you.

Witness #1: Abraham

Abraham had been blessed by God beyond measure. But the one thing he desperately wanted had not been manifested although it had been promised by God. And we know that God is not a man like us—He does not lie and does not change His mind. What He promises is a done deal. But Abraham and Sarah got discouraged and brought life to a child that was not in God’s plan. And the child that was hoped to be a blessing turned out to be a curse. There was no peace and joy, but only sorrow. We know that the child was not a gift from God because he was birthed of the flesh and not by God’s Spirit. “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.” He eventually received the promised child by his wife. But the child born of the Spirit and the child born of the flesh could not exist together. So even though Abraham hoped to enjoy this child, he had to bring death (or separation) to their relationship. There are some weighty relationships in our lives that may need to be severed. And although it will hurt, it is necessary to make room for God’s best. There was only to be one heir and God would only bless the one that He had ordained. Sometimes God’s choice is not our choice. But His choice is the absolute best choice.

Witness #2: Ruth

Ruth had married what we can assume was a good man. A man of God that came from a close knit family. He was her only source: for love, for her livelihood, and her hope for children. But her husband died. When her husband died, all of her hopes and dreams died. But Ruth counted it all nothing so long as she knew Christ. She had found not only a husband, but she had found His God. And that meant more to her than crushed dreams and the hope of ever having a family. According the Jewish law, Ruth was destined to remain unmarried and childless. But she chose her new God rather than returning to the life she formerly knew. Ruth made the crucial decision to move back to her husband’s hometown with his mother. She died to her expectations for her life. She died to pride and went to work in what would be considered their welfare system. Those that were poor had the opportunity to go behind harvesters and gather what they rejected and left behind. But what she did, she did faithfully. So much so, that God saw fit to bless her. In the end, she ended up married to the man that owned the land. Not only had her dream life died, but she also let bitterness and grief die. She shook herself and went on. And through that death she entered into a new beginning of supreme joy and blessing. So even if relationships that you hoped would work out didn’t does not mean that it’s all over for you. That dead relationship may be the transition needed to usher in God’s divine will for your life.

Witness #3: Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God

According to Jewish law, two or three witnesses were required to corroborate a testimony. What better witness to call to the stand than Jesus Christ!

Jesus Himself experienced death on many levels. There was more than the death of the cross that He endured. His life was sought even as a child. He experienced rejection. He endured the murder of his cousin, John the Baptist. He encountered betrayal among one of the people closest to Him. He was misunderstood by those He came to bless. He was accused of being a drunk and gluttonous. He was ridiculed for His associations. Those He needed did not uplift Him in His time of greatest need. His family didn’t understand Him. And there were times when He was tired, but He ministered anyway out of compassion. Jesus was in a tough place. Not only because it was the time for His death, but the death of a covenant that rested on His shoulders.

From the beginning of recorded time, it had been prophesied that satan would bruise the heel of a child, but that that child would later crush his head. Every since then war was raged on male children in Jewish families. God was using Him as a transition: the death of the old covenant and the entering of a new covenant. But a covenant, or will, is not in effect until there is the death of the one leaving an inheritance. The Word states plainly that Jesus was rejected and suffered abuse. It also says clearly that He despised the shame of His experience. But the Word lets us know that it was only a state of transition. After enduring all of the shame and abuse, He is seated at the right hand of God with all things put under His foot. Through His death, the prophecy recorded in Genesis came to pass. Satan’s head was crushed. Through His death, He entered into eternal glory and honor. And those that are Christ’s benefit from the inheritance He left us under the new covenant.

“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” [John 12:24-25]

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day.” [Habakkuk 2:3]

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…” [Ecclesiastes 3:1-3]

From these testimonies, I know that I am not the only one to experience death. At an early age, my older brother died when he was only twelve and I was eight. From a youth I did not have a father in my home until my mom married my stepfather. A few years ago my mother passed from this life into her eternal joy. I expected to be a biomedical engineer living anywhere in the world except for in the state of Georgia. And when the hopes I had for my life died, I had bitterness, anger, and hurt. But through all of those experiences, I have found the opportunity for life more abundantly. I realized that God had a better and more wonderful plan than all of my carefully laid out plans could have created. My stepfather’s remarriage gave me a new mom, sisters, and a brother. (Besides the children my natural father had.) And through my career as a teacher, although I have no natural children, I have more than I can count. God truly gives us beauty for ashes. The residue of our dead hopes and dreams can be a catalyst for a new beginning if we give them to Him. He gathers the dead things in our lives and creates a glory and joy that the world did not give and the world cannot take away.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”

If you are not a saint, then you must die and be reborn (or born again). It is one where you don’t physically die, because the death of Jesus on the cross paid the cost of your former sinful life. It is transitioning from a state of spiritual death where there is separation from God, to a state of union with God and a separation from your life as you once knew it. It is a transition that is effected simply by praying a heartfelt sincere prayer asking God to come into your life.