TERMINAL

 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

Psalm 103:15-16 (NIV)

                On March 13, Suanne and I visited my older brother, Paul, and his wife, Denise. Paul was battling with pancreatic cancer and had just completed three chemotherapy treatments. We had a great dinner with them and spent the night at their house. A week later I talked to my brother on the phone and he told me that the doctors had informed him that his situation had become terminal and he was going on Hospice. On March 30, Paul lost his battle with cancer and went home to be with the Lord.

                Terminal; it is one of the most chilling words we can hear. Terminal, end of the story, lights out, game over. There is no return from terminal. It is the final period at the end of our life.

                Most of us don’t think about dying, until we are faced with the death of a loved one or close friend. Then for a time we think about what it means to be terminal. Yet, we are all terminal. We just don’t know what the time table is. For my brother, the time table was made very clear, although it ended up being much shorter than any of us expected. The clock is running for all of us and one day our time will run out.

                We live in a society that “plays” with death. We trivialize it through graphic movies that turn death into entertainment. We anesthetize ourselves against death through video games that make death seem reversable. Just reboot and start the game over. Most people spend their entire lives running away from death. Many people are looking for the “fountain of youth” that will keep death at bade indefinitely. But all of our efforts to ignore death, or trivialize it, or redefine it fail miserably. Death will always win in the end. The statistics are against us; 100% of people will die.

                The Bible is very clear that death is a reality. Death is the consequence of sin in our world. It entered our world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden and ate of the forbidden fruit. From that time on humanity has had to live with the fact that we are all terminal.

                But the Bible also tells us that we don’t have to run away from death. Unlike the fantasy world often created by us, the Bible offers us a genuine reboot. The truth of this promise rests in the events surrounding what we call Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday, death met its match. Jesus conquered death and raised from the death. By His death on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for all of our sin. By His resurrection He makes it possible for us to have eternal life.

                In John 11 we read of story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha after the death of Lazarus, their brother. In the midst of Martha’s grief, Jesus offers her hope. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26 (NIV) Jesus assured her that even though a person will face physical death, it is not the end of the story. Through Jesus, there is life that transcends death. Jesus made good on His promise when on Easter Sunday He rose from the dead.

                Later the Apostle Peter affirmed the promise that Jesus made. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) The resurrection of Jesus changed everything. No longer is physical death the end of the story. No longer do we have to live under the diagnosis of being terminal. Through Jesus we can enter into eternal life.

                The Apostle Paul made it clear that for those who place their faith and trust in Jesus, death is not the end of the story. Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)

                Jesus has parted the curtain of death and showed us what comes next. For all who trust in Him, what’s next is an eternal home with Jesus. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:1-6 (NIV)

                In one very real sense, we are all terminal. As the Psalmist has said, our lives are like the grass of the field that is here today and gone tomorrow. But we are not hopeless. Although our physical life has a shelf-life our eternal life does not. As it tells us in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

                When the doctor told my brother that his situation was terminal he accepted it with grace. The doctor asked him why he was so calm. He responded, because I believe in Jesus. For those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, death is only the birth canal into eternal life.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 (NIV)