Death is not the end

 At church on Sunday our elder made this statement: We start dying from the day we are born.

It is not a pleasant thought, but it is the reality of our human existence. 

But it was not always this way. When God created humanity, His plan was that we would live forever. One of the trees planted in the Garden of Eden was the Tree of Life, which Adam and Eve had full access to before they sinned. It was only after they disobeyed God that they were prevented from eating the fruit from the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22)

This is why death is so painful - it was not part of God's original design, but was a consequence of sin entering the world. There is no escaping it; we may be successful in delaying it by the life choices we make, but it is inevitable. In the words of Elder Joe Caterson, "We inherited a decaying inadequate body from Adam."

But the good news is that death is not the end. 

In John 11:25 Jesus said to Martha after her brother died, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." For those who have put their confidence in Christ for salvation, we have a sure hope that we will live again after we have departed this life. 

That new life that we will attain is far superior to the one we have now. In Revelation 21:4 it is described as follows: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

God wants everyone to be a part of this new life, but the decision to believe on Jesus must be made before we depart this life. The criminal on the cross who was being crucified next to Jesus made that decision just in the nick of time (Luke 23:42) Jesus promised that he would join Him in paradise on that same day.

We do not know when we will die. People have been dying at an increasingly rapid rate over the last two years, so we cannot take it for granted that we will have time to put our trust in Christ at a later date.

For those of us who have put our confidence in Christ, death is not the end; it is the beginning of eternity with God in heaven. The following steps are outlined in the Bible:

1. Recognize that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23)

2. Understand that this condition of sin prevents you from being in God's presence (Isaiah 59:2)

3. Believe that when Jesus died on the cross, His death paid the price for your sin (1 Peter 2:24)

4. Surrender the control of your life over to God (Romans 10:9)

5. Commit to living your life to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Man messed up God's plan for eternal life with Him through sinning, but God fixed it by sending His Son Jesus to earth in the form of man, to take on Himself the sins of the world (John 3:16)

Once we believe on Him, death is not the end; it is just the beginning.