Life, Death, and the Joy of Christ

Reflecting On the Blessings of the Christian Approach to the Grave

Good Morning,

Death has been a constant since Adam’s fall in the garden. It’s as natural now as pork skins and shoulder roast, but none of that is the way of life. I cringe any time I hear someone say at a funeral (even though they mean well) that the dear departed is eating a huge steak in heaven, or makes some similar comment about shooting the perfect buck, catching the biggest yellowtail, etc… Because death is not natural. It is not a part of God’s good creation, but an interloper, one that the Savior of men came to reverse, to put to death, death, as John Owen would say.

That death is not natural needs to take into account the fact that what we understand about the creation of the world includes the reality that there was a time when death was not. In other words, lions didn’t always eat zebras and orcas were not always the jerks of the sea. This may seem a bit strange and does require us to try to imagine a world that no longer exists, but that is kind of the point. As those who walk by faith and not by sight we should be in some sense perplexed about the way things are. We who have been renewed in the image of God share His conception and ideas about the way things should be. It is part of the reason why people who know not the Lord Jesus Christ find us so strange. It’s because we have our citizenship in a foreign land, one that they cannot grasp because they know not our King. Part of the witness gospel Christians give in the face of death is that while we mourn, we mourn in hope.

The more we comprehend this blessing the less difficult it will be for us to see that the redemption purchased by our Savior includes more wonder and glory than can be comprehended in one life. It is one of the awesome mercies of Heaven that we will spend eternity learning and growing in love as the totality of what Jesus has done for us becomes clearer and clearer. It’s not simply that the cross defeats the grave, but what has happened is that what we lost in Adam’s sin has been restored, and us with it. Why do so many struggle then with living out the Christian life and enjoying all that they receive in His daily bread? I think it goes back to this limited view of both what we have gained and how superior it is to life in the Garden.

Meditating on a passage like Daniel 12:1-3 is instructive on this point. The Lord’s prophet writes:

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Notice there how Michael (who we are to see as a type of Christ) the Archangel (or chief of angels) speaks to Daniel about how in the future after the “time of the great trouble” that there will be a moment when those who sleep in the dust shall be freed from the ground and then shall be as bright as the stars above. Much like the moon the brightness of the saints is a reflection of the star of Heaven itself, our Lord Jesus. If Moses glowed after a moment on the mount imagine how the visage of the people of God will look in the day where they rise from the dead after having spent centuries in His presence? There is so much to be considered here that helps us imagine why it is in this life we are not to fear the coming of the grave, for as this passage reminds us even while we rest in the tomb we are already experiencing the first fruits of the blessings won by Christ at the cross and through the evacuation of His own tomb. As I often say we have not because we ask not, or in this case think not. The wonder of grace and the assurance of the future is what sets us apart and truly does make us feel like strangers in a strange land in this present world.

Brothers and sisters as we all deal with death, either with family members or friends, or even as we discussed last week with Jimmy Carter, people we don’t even know, there is a sadness that we should feel as long as the spectre of it exists. Part of the reason for that is because while there is still time before the Second Coming we also hear in that portion of Daniel there is the chance that those you are around might be among that other class of people, those who are raised not to eternal life, but to everlasting contempt, or what Jesus refers to as Hell. It is why in the words which follow the prophet repeats the Lord’s testimony that those men who recognize that this is the situation should spend their time preaching the gospel and thereby turn the many to righteousness. For this is the law and the testimony.

In closing, God has provided a means by which we get out of this life alive. That in and of itself should be enough to cause us to proclaim Hallelujah. The fact we don’t is a sad confession to make. If you find yourself weak in faith and finding difficulty coming to the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day to praise and give thanks for all His wondrous works a good way to kickstart that desire is to spend time looking at the reality of death, and remembering through the blessed gift and grant of Christ Jesus our Savior we have won the victory and rest in His powerful love.

Last word:

https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/death-the-final-calling

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church