Our earthly life has definite boundaries. It begins with our birth and ends with death. This process has been taking place continually from the very moment the first people appeared. If we look at everyone living on Earth, we will see that there are none among them who live for 200 years or more, while the average life expectancy is 70–80 years.
Death is a reality that we will encounter one way or another. No matter how much I may want to live, the hour will come when something will happen to my consciousness, my breath will leave my body, my heart will stop beating, and my soul will die. Many people fear this event and choose not to think about it, believing that they themselves will never die. But reality and statistics give us stark reports that our world does not prolong human life; it only gives us a certain quality of life, which each of us may choose according to our taste, means, and faith.
In the light of the Bible, death is an unconscious state in which there is nothing. It is sometimes compared to sleep. When my children go to sleep, I do not worry that they will lose consciousness for a time and spend the whole night in that state. Instead, I look with special love at their hair scattered across the pillow, at the way they breathe softly together, and at their clothes strewn around the room. As I watch them, I quietly delight in them, and something very warm fills my heart. I know that morning will come and these little people will awaken to delight my soul once again with their little concerns and to learn about life, discovering new opportunities and prospects for growth.
Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” With what love the Lord looks upon His children who have left this world to rest for a time from their labors! To God, our death is not a tragedy. He tenderly lays us down to rest, knowing that a glorious morning will come when He will awaken all His children with His voice, give them new incorruptible bodies, breathe into them the breath of Eternal life, grant them an Eternal prospect of unceasing growth, and always behold with joy the travail of His soul.
If everything ended with death, all believers would be the most foolish and miserable of people. Our entire existence would also become meaningless. Our whole life would be vanity without any significance.
I wondered what it would be like if we could live for a million years. Oh, how much we could accomplish! But if those years were doomed to sickness and suffering, such a length of existence would not be very appealing. And the mere presence of death, even in the distant future, would deprive life of meaning. But God has a better plan for each of us. He gives His children Eternal life, in which there is no death, no sickness or suffering, and there will be no sin or sorrow. Life is the proper state of a believer.
God has conceived a beautiful plan called the “First Resurrection.” It will be the most impressive and momentous event in the entire Universe. In a single moment, all of God’s children from every age and nation will come to life, never to die again. Their suffering ended with their death, and their resurrection will be the beginning of a new and joyful life, which from its first moments will resound with cries of joy and victory. They did not believe in vain, they did not devote themselves in vain to serving the invisible God, and they did not look in vain toward a hidden and mysterious future. Now all of this has become reality, and the believers have received far more than they could have imagined.
The resurrection is an act of God that has been very carefully planned and considered and will certainly be carried out. In this event, not one righteous person will be forgotten, and none of the wicked will rise by accident, except those who pierced Jesus, so that they may see what they lost through their cruelty and unbelief.
The case of every person has been examined and weighed in the judgment, an Eternal verdict has been pronounced, and God will carry out the decision of the Heavenly court concerning the First Resurrection of the righteous.
But the First Resurrection will have one special feature. Those of God’s children who are still alive at the time of Christ’s Second Coming will not die in order to rise again. Without seeing corruption, they will meet their Savior. With their own eyes they will see graves open and their departed friends from every age come forth. Human wisdom will not accomplish this; the great Divine creative Power will transform us all. We will become so fully alive that sickness, death, aging, and decay will never again have power over us. Eternal youth, joy, and love will become an everlasting seal upon our faces. The beauty of God’s character will be continually revealed in all our deeds, and our garments will never cease to shine with the righteousness of Jesus, which will rightfully become ours.
We are now considering the simplest things, which will certainly happen and will be natural and inevitable. Yet the following is astonishing: many people do not know this, do not believe in God’s Power and plan, and do not consider whether they will be numbered among the righteous.
It should be noted that God’s plan also includes the Second Resurrection. At this event, all those who had no part in the First Resurrection will rise—all sinful and wicked people who never came to know that God has the best plan. These are those who rejected their salvation while believing in something else. All these people will rise in order to receive just punishment for their sins and crimes.
But God does not desire the death of the sinner. He longs for the wicked person to turn from his way and live. The Lord has an abundance of grace for every person, and all Heaven rejoices over every sinner who accepts the plan of salvation by faith and forsakes the works of darkness.
Building happiness makes us fit for Eternity even now and opens to us here on Earth the Heavenly joy of the life to come. Love is powerful even now and can act in exactly the same way as it will on the New Earth. It is governed by the same Eternal laws that will be available to all the saved at their First Resurrection. Why wait for that beautiful distant future and deprive ourselves of Heavenly joy and happiness when we can study these principles now and live by them?
Are you not drawn by the prospect of the First Resurrection and Eternal life? Yet these are all conditional rewards, which will be granted only to those who accept God’s plan for their salvation. We are now offered justification through faith in Jesus and in the truth that He paid for our sins. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit in love, happiness, and friendship in Christ as the pledge of our salvation.
Why, then, with such knowledge, do many of God’s children fear death? We live in a world of sin, where the enemy of souls tries to deceive even the elect and, if he cannot take away their salvation, at least to spoil their lives by holding their minds in fear and trembling. But “love casteth out fear,” because “fear hath torment.”
Some people have been deceived by Satan and believe in the immortality of the soul, which has no Biblical foundation or meaning. God alone has immortality, and He will not give Eternal life to a sinful soul in order to torment it continually. There is simply no love or meaning in this. But Eternal life without death makes sense and is entirely logical and right in its fulfillment. As for me, I intend to live forever, and I abide by the laws of Eternity even now, believing in the One Who possesses it and gives it.
Questions for Reflection
Please read Job 19:25–27; Psalm 146:3–4; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Ecclesiastes 9:5–6, 10; Daniel 12:2, 13; Isaiah 25:8; John 5:28–29; 11:11–14; Romans 6:23; 16; 1 Corinthians 15:51–54; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 20:1–10 in the light of this chapter. What did you understand from this chapter? Are you interested in thinking about death? In what circumstances can death be a blessing? Does death mean a continued life in the world beyond the grave? Does the prospect of the First Resurrection bring you joy? Or would you accept the Second Resurrection, as long as you rise? What must you do to be among the living who meet Christ? Why does Jesus call death sleep? John 11:11–14. Is it permissible to pray for people to die if they are suffering greatly from illness or something else? Have you ever had such an experience? To Whom does a person’s life belong? Can God give life and take someone’s life without giving an account to anyone? Are you afraid of death? Will you be saved if you die tomorrow? Have you experienced the death of those close to you or of your relatives? Is it possible to be happy at such a time? Does this book about love teach a happy life?