As I write this, I am preparing to go to my uncles funeral. He had not been well for a while.
As it is said, there are two things that are certain in life, and those are death and taxes. I have lost many important people in my life, including my father many years ago. I still remember visiting him in hospital. He was in terrible pain. I could not bear looking at him suffering like that. It was the last time I would see him alive. I feel sad that I had no father to call or to spend time with on Fathers Day, but I thank God for the grace of death. Death is grace. It is Gods kindness and mercy to humans and all living things.
When Adam and Eve had sinned, God stopped them eating from the tree of life. Why? He wanted them to die. But, why did God want them to die? Because if they ate of the tree of life after they had sinned, they would live forever in a state of sin and disease. If they suffered from liver cirrhosis like my father did, they would suffer forever without relief. If they suffered from cancer, they would suffer forever with no hope. Cancer would not kill them. By grace, God introduced death so that we can escape the pain. Death was not a punishment for sin; it was a grace that would lead to life.
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by Gods grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6 NLT)
When Jesus came to die as a human, it was to free humans from the prison of death. By entering the grave, Jesus was joining all humans who have ever lived and died and those who would still die. However, his plan was to come out of the grave together with all humans. As Paul puts it, we have been raised with Christ when he was raised from the dead. (Colossians 3:1)
Antidote to sin
We are actually told that when sin and suffering increased in the world, God shortened the lifespan of humans. We are told in Genesis, Then the Lord said, My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years. (Genesis 6:3 NIV).
Years later, Moses lamented the state of humans in a prayer recorded in the Psalms. He prayed, All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away (Psalm 90:9, 10 NIV). Sin had increased even more, and the lifespan of humans had decreased from one hundred and twenty years we read about in Genesis to seventy years at the time of Moses.
Sin is like cancer. The only way to treat sin is to kill it. Death is the antidote to sin. It is for this reason that Jesus came to take our sins upon himself, and die a horrible death on the cross. He nailed our sins to that cross. He killed our sins on that cross. It is in his death that we find grace to live. The sting of death is no more, because Christ died, and then rose again.
It is because Jesus died and rose again that we look forward to the resurrection of believers. When Christ returns, He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4).For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive(1 Corinthians 15:22).
It is because of this hope that Paul tells the Thessalonians not to grieve like those without hope. Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind,who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14).
Relief from pain
Whilst we cry for our loved ones who die because we will miss them, we do so with the hope that we will see them again. It is like saying farewell to a loved one going overseas for a long time. Death is not the end. Death is a grace that gives us relief from pain. When Jesus returns, there will be no more death, nor more pain, no more sorrow. It is okay to thank God for the grace of death when a loved one has died after a time of suffering.
Having said that, what about those who suffer for a long time before they die? Why are they not getting the grace of death? Has God forsaken them? Of course not! He will never leave us nor forsake us. Suffering is also a grace of God. Jesus, who is God, suffered the pain of being a limited, flesh and blood human for more than thirty years. The worst of this suffering was the beating he endured for almost 12 hours, which ended in his crucifixion on the cross.
Sharing in Jesus life
What many Christians dont know is that it is blessed to suffer. Suffering is a grace. It is in suffering that we share in Jesus life of suffering. I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church (Colossians 1:24 NLT).
Peter understood the role of suffering in the lives of Christians. So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin(1 Peter 4:1 NLT).
Pauls view of suffering was similar to Peter. Paul wants us to see suffering for what it is, a grace for which we must rejoice. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. (2 Corinthians 1:3-6 NLT)
However, it should be noted that not all suffering is a participation in the life of Christ. Peter reminds us that it is when we suffer unjustly that we share in Jesuslife who suffered unjustly.
For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:19-21 NIV)
Whether in suffering or in death, we rejoice in the grace of God! Like Job, we know that when we suffer unjustly all kinds of diseases and calamities, it is not because God has forsaken us, but it is because God is happy with us. May you be a comfort to others through the comfort you have received. It is in your suffering when you are pleading with God to take the suffering away, that God wants you to hear his comforting words: My grace is sufficient for you(2 Corinthians 12:9).
0 Comments