Death and Hope : The Culmination of the Gospel.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, NIV)
I am often asked about death.
For most people, because of my position and the truth claims I stand on, it is both intriguing and curious how one can be so sure of something so final, so absolute. I have come across some mindless statements like “death comes for those that call it”, and careless notions like “premature death” accentuated by insensitive Christian jargon like “It was God’s will.” While they may be well-meaning and sometimes annoyingly true, they elicit a myriad of reactions, especially from the bereaved. They are, for the most part, utterly unhelpful They also present some other unsettling existential line of questioning.
Death is a ruthless and unforgiving reality that takes people by surprise, every time, even when/if they expect it. So, a phrase like “premature death” is used by those who are trying to make sense of pointless death that happens all too often and all too early in life. It is a statement from a finite perspective that delineates our limitedness in this life. From this side of heaven, death can be untimely, premature, unexpected and devastating.
But when our perspective is informed and transformed by the hope of an infinite reality beyond, we can stare at death and cry out like the sages of old, “Where oh death, is thy sting? Where oh Grave is thy victory!”
As Christians, our view of God should inform our experience of death. When we lose someone, we can’t (if we truly grasp who God is) be like those without hope who grieve and mourn helplessly and hopelessly. God knows every detail of every person, at every moment, every time through eternity past and eternity future. Nothing catches him by surprise for he is in control of all things and all death has a point to it.
This is the culmination of the Good News we must know, live by, and live for.
His own Son’s death, pointless and ruthless as it may have seemed to the eye of his mother or brothers served an eternal purpose that millions still reap from to this very day. Its gruesome detail, incessant demand for suffering, and spectacular public shame were all for a timeless purpose.
The purpose of death and dying is often unclear. The two young men on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus were downcast and inconsolable, having watched on as the life of a man [they had hoped would be the redemption of their nation] was barbarically taken from him. So much was their despair that they couldn’t recognize that the Risen Lord and Redeemer of not just their nation but of the world was walking right beside them.
Christians too, those that profess the Risen Lord, often live a lifeless, depressive existence afraid of their own death because they have forgotten or haven’t experienced the promised resurrection power that they are called to fully and wholly live in.
There is a certainty beyond death, whether it be considered a consolation or a crutch, it is nonetheless a hope of life after death. This is the culmination of the Good News we must know, live by, and live for. No sting of death, no void of the great beyond, no great darkness has overcome the light of Christ, our hope of glory!
