Timshel

A friend of mine told me the other day that death didn't bother him. To him, it was all a part of the show; part of the natural processes of life. I took issue with that when he first told me, and I take issue with it now. Here's why:

Death is part of the natural process of life, yes. But death was not a part of the original design of the universe. If it were, then the resurrection would be no reversing of anything, except for the moral culpability of humanity. Death is a by-product of sin. Sin is the desire of humanity to rule their own destiny.

The apostle Paul certainly took an issue with death. In 1 Corinthians he writes, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin...But thanks be go God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." For Paul, death and sin are closely related, much as they are in Genesis 2-3 (see also Romans 6). But because of Christ, sin is no longer a problem and the curse of death (through resurrection, both in our Christian life and future glorification) is left harmless.

Death is natural, but not original. This makes death our enemy. But death came because we more or less invited it. Its consequences have haunted us ever since. But Christ took that specter away. We no longer need to fear it. We no longer need to let it control us. Jesus gets the last word, not our sin nature, and certainly not our deaths. Or the deaths of others.

"Death is at your doorstep. It will still your innocence, but it will not still your substance."