 The End
Death is so hard for us because of the finality of it. When someone or something that is alive dies that is the end for that being. As Christian believers, we know that physical death is not the end of anyone’s story. Every person will have to stand before God and give an account and divine justice will be accomplished. However, for our earthly experience, death seems so final! We see people in all forms of materialism and mysticism attempting to cope with this reality. The secularist is trying to find some serum or potion or technology to cheat the grim cold grip of death, but alas this is a fool's errand. The new age mystics believe that through some mixture of mindfulness and meditation they will reach beyond universal consciousness. But again, this is an attempt to escape reality, not to reach the truth. Still others just want to not think about the impending appointment of their own demise. These people pour themselves into whatever obsession or distraction they can find to help them forget or dismiss the fact of death. But none of these approaches are truly helpful or advantageous. Both nature and the scriptures reveal that death and judgment are sure (Hebrews 9:27). Instead let us face this enemy with the promises of God to give us real hope. Plot Twist What we need is a plot twist in the normal pattern of life and death in this sinful world. What we need is a hero who can conquer death and free us from tyranny of death (Hebrews 2:14). If death is an enemy then we need a hero who can save us from this horrible opponent. The Bible tells us that death is the result of sin. Sin is the reason that death is a thing at all in the universe. God is the author of life, but death is the consequence of our sin. God, who is just, must punish rightly and perfectly. This is because we are created in His image but sin corrupts that image and, therefore, lies about the character of God through our evil behavior. This means that we need a sinless hero to overcome the defilement of sin and set free all of us who are captured by sin. The story of the gospel is about how the sinless Son of God took on flesh like ours and died like us. Not having any sin of His own, He took on the sin of every person who would put their trust in Him and be gloriously saved. The point is now that the one who did not deserve death has died for those who do deserve death. The ones who do not deserve life can live because of His indestructible life (Hebrews 7:16). The Beginning The amazing thing is that death didn’t end Jesus, rather, Jesus ended death (1 Corinthians 15:20-26)! Jesus has dealt death the fatal blow and won the victory over sin and death and the grave. On this Good Friday as we remember Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and temporary burial let us also remember that Golgotha is not the scene of Christ's defeat but rather His decisive victory. It was death and the devil that lost the war that day and that is the reason that we can look back on the darkest day in history and call it good.
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