Psalms 23:4 (NIV)
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
This
morning as I drove into the office I got run over by the shadow of a semi-truck.
I am very glad it was the truck’s shadow and not the actual truck. The outcome
would have been very different. If we are caught by surprise, a shadow can frighten
us, but it cannot harm us. A shadow can make us aware of some presence, but it
has no real substance itself.
The
Psalmist David wrote that even if he walked in the shadow of death, he would
not be afraid. He knew that his life was in the hands of his good shepherd. All
of us are walking in the valley of the shadow of death. Some days we are aware
of this shadow. Most days we are not.
I am in
the process of preparing for a special event titled “First Christmas in Heaven.”
It is a time for people who have lost a loved one during this past year to
gather to remember and to grieve together. This year I will be joining the
group not just as the speaker, but as a fellow mourner. I lost two significant
people from my life this year; my mother and my older brother. It has caused me
to reflect upon the reality of the shadow of death.
Death is
the reality that few people want to think about. Someone once said that when it
comes to the statistics regarding death, the odds are against us. 100% of human
beings will die. The only question is when. Some will die young and some will
die old, and many will die somewhere in between. Most people, at least in the
Western world, try to distance themselves from death. They don’t want to think
about it, especially when it comes to their own demise. In some ways, people
spend their lives running away from death. They join health clubs, take
multiple supplements, and even have cosmetic surgery in an attempt to distance
themselves from death. But in the end, all of these efforts are futile. Death
always wins.
But we
don’t have to live that way. In fact, we can face death head on without fear. How?
By placing our faith in Jesus Christ. When Mary and Martha were faced with the
death of their brother Lazarus, Jesus came to them and gave them a whole new perspective
on death. Jesus said to her (Martha), "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 took the finality out of death by declaring that He is the
source of life eternal. Even though we will have to face physical death, it is
only a shadow. Our physical death is the birth channel into eternal life with
Christ.
Paul
picked up on this new reality in his first letter to the Corinthians. He
pointed them past death to the reality of the resurrection and the new life
that awaits us. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen,
I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a
flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the
perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and
the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is
your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let
nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because
you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
(NIV)
Paul
gave us further words of hope and encouragement as we face death in his first
letter to the Thessalonians. 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)
Death is
the ultimate reality that every human being has to face. It is a formidable enemy
that we cannot defeat. In the end, death will always win. For those who have
rejected God and the message of the Gospel, the shadow of death will become the
darkness of an eternity separated from the light of God. But for the believer
in Christ, death is only a shadow that we must pass through. On the other side
of that shadow is the light of life found in Jesus Christ. He will dispel the
shadow of death and welcome us into the light of eternal life in Him.
Philippians 1:21
(NIV)
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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