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Mankind has always bewailed death and stood weeping at the deathbed of their loved ones; or the news of death, especially when unexpected, causes deep shock and great suffering. Death is usually regarded as an enemy, even though for the aged and the terminally ill death is seen as a release. Suicides cannot come to terms with the problem of life and feel that death is the only solution.
Life and death are two sides of the same coin. Death is an integral part of the biological cycle in which all living things are involved. There is a constant process of growing and dying so that a natural balance is maintained. All those who grieve must reluctantly accept that “Death is an inviolable law of nature.”
We are comprised of body and soul, the mortal and immortal, furthermore we, as opposed to the rest of creation, are intelligent enough to think about death and involuntarily reject it as the enemy of life. We seek comfort when faced with death. The bitter tears of a mother over her dead child, the sobs of a wife over her husband killed in war, the heartfelt cries and sighs of people in similar situations, all this is an expression of innate longing for immortality.
In the Garden of Eden, death, and the sorrows it brings, did not exist. These came through sin and disobedience. (Genesis 3:19 & Romans 6:23). Subsequently sickness, death and sorrow became our lot. The enemy of our soul had led the first people astray and brought them great misery.
Have we been sentenced to death from which there is no repeal? Is death our end then? Is the cemetery our terminus? Will the power of death be triumphant always and eternally?
Thank God that the answer to this is a comforting “No”. God in His mercy and forgiving love has promised us through the Bible that death will have no hold on us and will have no power over our soul. The same was also testified in the Old Testament, when the Prophet Elijah revived the son of the widow Zarephath (1 Kings 17: 22), and through the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel who saw skeletons given a new life (Ezek. 37:10).
The final victory over death was on the cross at Golgotha. On Easter morning the sorrow of death was wiped away from the three grieving women at Jesus tomb, when two divine messengers consoled them “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” (Luke 24: 5-6). A Little while later they together all saw what was beyond human comprehension, their risen Lord in their midst.
The birth of Christ was the start of a new order. Jesus was the first witness to it and in it there will be no death with all its sorrows. This is why Christians who mourn should be comforted with the words “Death is swallowed up in victory!” (1 Cor. 15:54). God will wipe away all tears of mourning from your eyes and give you and your loved ones a completely new life with totally different standards in eternity. The eye has not seen nor the ear heard, nor can anyone, even in his wildest dreams, even imagine what God has prepared for those whom He loves (1 Cor. 2:9). We are subject to death till the Lord comes again. The resurrection of our Lord made death powerless, therefore a faithful Christian has no reason whatsoever to fear death. Through rebirth by water and the spirit and by constant prayer and attending Divine Services a new life with the Lord begins, developing the indestructible divine part of our being. Unwaveringly believe the good news which the Bible tells us: “0 death where is thy sting? 0 grave where is thy victory? (1 Cor. 15: 55).