When Death Strikes

Death as we all know is the penalty of sin. Rom.6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death;but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

When we think of death we are fearful. When we experience the death of a loved one we grieve. Death is not at all a nice thing. I’m not sure how many of you have experienced losing a friend or family member, but for those of you that have I hope to be of encouragement to you because I know how it feels.

One day as was at a chess tournament all day. I was having a really great time there and I was extremely happy. When my mother came to pick me up I could tell something was wrong. She looked extremely sadened by something, but I didn’t ask why. When I got home my dad gathered the family together to tell us something. When we all sat down I immediately knew that someone had died by the look on my parents faces. Then my dad started crying and told us what happened. A friend of my brother and I had passed out and drowned while taking a bath the night before. That was two years ago now and I’ll never forget it…

After the news had been broken to us my dad told us that we must mourn for our friend otherwise we would be depressed for the rest of our lives if we just resisted our emotion. And that is the first step to dealing with a loved one’s death. We must mourn and accept what has happened. It might take a long while to sink in (it took me a month), but we must grieve. Even Christ mourned the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11).

John 11:33-36 - “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said, ‘Lord, Come and see.’ Jesus wept. And so the Jews were saying, ‘Behold, how He loved Him!”

Christ knew that he would raise Lazarus from the dead, but he still wept in order to show his love for Lazarus and to comfort the family.

There are some who say that weeping is a sign of weakness (especially for men). But that is obviously not the case as we see in this event of Christ’s life. Being a man does not mean never expressing any emotion. Expressing emotion is a huge part of being a true godly man.

This passage also shows that mourning is not a bad thing, but a blessed thing: Matt. 5:4 - “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”

Is that not what we need? We need to be comforted and mourning is the way to do it. And to avoid putting even more stress on yourself do not worry about the future and how you will continue to cope. Just take it one day at a time and things will all work out.

Thankfully this friend of mine who died was a Christian and expressed that fact in his baptism a few months before. It should bring us tremendous comfort to know that a loved one has gone to be with the Lord. Even though we mourn because they depart from us, we should also be full of joy that they have gone to heaven which is a much better place than earth. So let that bring comfort to you if a loved one departs. Thank God for their time they spent on the earth and for your friendship and love of them.

One day we will all eventually die in one way or another. As Christians though we need not fear death. Christ has conquered sin and death on the cross! Death has no power over us as Christians. Our bodies may die, but we gain “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

1 Cor. 15:54-58 -  “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Isaiah 25:28)

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where O death is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14)

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”