I am posting this today because my brother-in-law who came to stay with us just after Thanksgiving this year so he could be close to the hospital in Oklahoma City he needed for treatment of a cancer issue had, died on December 27th. My wife and I attended his funeral today. They had the “viewing” at the funeral home yesterday. I witnessed a great deal of weeping from his siblings and his children and grandchildren. My wife loved him and wept a great deal after he died and didn’t hold back during that time in the funeral home nor at the funeral service nor at the burial at the cemetery. My wife and I are about 3 years younger than he was when he died….
I thought the pastor who preached the sermon at the funeral did a great job explaining the gospel in light of our life and death here in the physical in contrast to the eternal or spiritual. What he preached left no room for doubt. There are no grey areas. When we filed past the coffin I held my wife’s hand as she wept some more over her brother as I grasped the pastor’s hand with my other hand and told him, “Well done brother!” So what exactly is “death”?
1 And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Ephesians 2:1-3 (LSB)
The fallen nature of man does not understand death. Depending on culture, some fight to stay alive with their all. The correct understanding of death comes to us from God’s Word. The word death is used in three different ways in Sacred Scripture. The first is spiritual death, which is separation from God (Ephesians 2:1,1). Then, of course, there is physical death (Hebrews 9:27). Then there is eternal death, which is referred to as “the second death” in Revelation 20:11-15). While many would consider the topic of death to be a subject to be avoided, it is vital for us to have a clear understanding of all three manifestations in biblical terminology so that we will have a better foundation for sharing the Good News. <Continue reading post>