Living with Death

We spend quite a bit of time at our congregation talking about death. Some of that time is obviously spent on the death of Jesus, but also on the fact that death is our enemy.

It started way back in the Garden of Eden. The Garden where the Tree of Life was. When Satan deceived Eve and Adam into sinning, one of the consequences was that they could no longer live in the Garden. And that is where death enters the story. No tree of life anymore. Now death. Physical death as a consequence of sin. Forever death as the consequence of sin.

The death of Jesus changes all of that. He died for our sins, and we die with him in baptism. So as part of our teaching on death, we teach on the resurrection. How to live a new life after baptism.  

But physical death is still a reality in our world. Jesus got it. His famous statement to the sisters of Lazarus confirms this. He states that he is the resurrection and the life. That if we believe this, even though we die, we will live. So we Christians believe in the reality of life forever after death.

But death is still painful. Even when older Christians pass on, there is a sense of loss and grief. Not on their part, but on ours. And there is the reality that the dying process may be painful, both emotionally and physically. Sometimes death is sudden, due to accidents, heart attacks, or even violence.

But the day is coming when death will be no more. That is the promise of Revelation 21:4. No more death. No more mourning. No more pain.

And the tree of life? Read Revelation 22:1-4. In the new heaven and new earth there will be the river of the water of life. And on both sides of the river… the tree of life. God gives back what we lost.  

And death will be no more.  

A lesson for us to teach, but also to live into.