“I’m losing.”

"This dying is boring.”

"Goodbye, kid. Hurry back.” 

These were only a couple of last words from various celebrities I read about on a website once. Death is the greatest leveling agent in our society. It affects people in every income bracket, race, age, and belief system. You can not escape death, no matter how hard you work at it. It will come for us all. So, what is the point of death with regards to the believer? 

First of all, death brings us face to face with God. Jesus said in the Gospel of John in Chapter 14, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you so that you will always be with me where I am.” In heaven, we will finally be face to face with Jesus constantly and forever. It will be the greatest gift we have ever been given. Our marriages, any children we are fortunate enough to parent, our promotions, our good times laughing with our family and friends, exquisite art, and any decadent meals we have partaken will fade away and seem to us to be a mere poor child's scribble compared to this new reality brought on by death.

Secondly, death will bring about an everlasting peace for us. In Revelation 21:4, the Apostle John saw a new heaven and a new earth. He describes how God will heal us, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” 

No one in this life, however closely we walk with God, will remain unscathed. We will all face disappointment, heartbreak, et cetera, as the years go by. This even happens in our final days, too, as our time on earth draws near to its conclusion. Deeper still, there is, of course, a natural reaction of fear and anger that takes place inside of us as we begin the process of dying. It is unnatural what is taking place. Because we weren't created to die.

We were beautifully and intricately forged to constantly be in perfect communion with God. Yet, due to Adam and Eve's sin, death entered the world, and we all must pass away. Here in heaven, after we die, God will wipe away everything that has ever wounded us. We will finally be a complete and new creation, totally perfect and healed in every way.

Thirdly, death creates a whole new way for the body of Christ to love one another. In Romans 12:15, Paul states, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” In biblical times, they took the mourning of the dead seriously. There was even a profession of women who went around mourning the dead. As believers, whenever a death happens, whether it be at someone's bedside as they pass, or in the foggy moments/years afterwards consoling loved ones, we are called by Christ to love whomever we are with to the fullest.

It might be by acts of service. It might be supernatural grace. It might be by divinely inspired words. However we are led, in these darkest moments, we can shine the brightest in someone's life and point them towards our Heavenly Father.

Lastly, death teaches us to number our days and be mindful of how we spend our finite energies. This is by no means supposed to be scary or fear inducing. It is a simple fact like gravity. We need not fear or obsess over death as those who don't know Jesus can be prone to do. If we follow the Holy Spirit's leading, our days will be filled with more meaning than we could ever comprehend and our upcoming death, whenever it happens, will be more of a welcoming than a journey into an undiscovered country.

May you be blessed now and forever.