“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17)
It will be foolish to live on this earth as if it will never come to an end or, as if our existence is boundless, and that we shall live forever. The truth is that we are in transit on this earth. The earth is not our home; we are just passing through. Heaven is so blissful for one to consider earth as a permanent place of abode. Lazarus, the poor beggar at the rich man’s gate, found peace and happiness after his death as he laid on father Abraham’s bosom--far removed from the torment of the scorching heat and unquenchable thirst that the rich man endured in hell.
As soon as we become aware that this is only a phase, life’s battle is half won. Our perspective will alter, so also will our hope. We begin to see the true meaning of our existence and we start falling in line with God’s purpose for our lives. Anyone who lives outside of this setting is not living the abundant life.
Right from the beginning, in the Book of Genesis God had portrayed to our ancestors, Adam and Eve, that death (separation) was a matter of choice. For with God “we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) We therefore must live in a manner such that death cannot surprise us. By preparing ourselves for this eventuality, we must be certain that when we leave this world we are heading home to live the God-kind of life - ‘in eternity.’
No human being has yet invented a means of stopping death. The Bible says of Methuselah who lived for 969 years, “and then he died.” (Genesis 5:27) All those who have trodden this earth have gone ahead. Death has spared no one – a new-born baby, a child, an adolescent, an adult or the aged - all will succumb. Death will therefore not spare you and me. The wise attitude to adopt therefore would be to seek the one who has conquered death, the One whom death could not hold captive.
Maybe you have doubts about the resurrection of those who believe in Jesus Christ – even his disciples entertained such doubts. When Mary of Magdalene (the first to see the risen Lord) broke the news to them in the Upper Room where they had taken cover, not all of them believed her report. It was an unusual phenomenon. They had seen their Master raise the dead yet could never understand that he would die at the hands of his enemies – and brutally at that – and be raised to life again.
By accepting to pay the price of sin which is death, Jesus put his life on the line and died in our place – so that we may live. He became our Substitute so that death would cease to have any grip on us. By conquering death on the cross, He assures us of eternal life. By His resurrection, we are assured that we also shall live. “…and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36)
Paul makes it more explicit in these terms: “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1) When our fragile bodies give way under the influence of death, we shall move into a more permanent structure; ‘a house’, built by God Himself.
As human beings, we will experience death. But let us see death henceforth as a conduit to life lived in eternity, not as an impediment. To get to heaven, one must first die. God, who created humanity, has also thought out a plan of salvation following the fall of Adam and Eve. When we discover the purpose for living this earthly life, then we can understand that we cannot dwell here eternally. As long as we magnify life on earth we shall miss the importance of preparing for heaven. The prince of this world has blinded our eyes to what heaven has in store for us by diverting our focus from the heavenly to the earthly. Jesus admonished: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
God took Prophet Ezekiel into the middle of a valley full of dead bones – bones that were very dry and he asked him whether these bones could be resurrected. The prophet replied: “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” (Ezekiel 37:3) Then He asked Ezekiel to prophesy to these bones so that they may come to life again. He did, and the bones came together. He prophesied again and breath came back into them.
Actually, that was an exercise in physical resurrection for Israel to see. God is saying to you and me what He said to Israel a long, long time ago. “O my people I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them…Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put your spirit in you and you will live … then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:7-14)