The Sting of Death

Manda asked me the other day, "Why do people have to die, and if people have to die, why does it always have to be so painful and miserable?" Her grandma died last night after a several week long battle with all sorts of problems, and it is simultaneously heartbreaking and relieving. We are all relieved that she is no longer suffering, but our hearts are torn in two at our loss, but also at the loss of those around us.

After hearing about her death last night I was incredibly sad and spent a good deal of time in tears, and then I started thinking about death, about the curse, and about the question I mentioned before. So here are my thoughts.

When Adam and Eve first sinned the brought death into this world. What was a perfect creation, full of absolute joy and free from sorrow, suddenly was introduced to a curse that would haunt humanity for the rest of its existence. Where there had previously been eternal, blissful life, tragic, destructive death was thrust into the midst of it all; and we were cursed..."You will certainly die."

Now I have always considered this curse to fall on everyone, but to be on everyone individually. Every one of us will die, it was not meant to be that way, but that is the way it is now, and that is the curse. However, as I was thinking this morning I realized something else. The curse is not just individual. It is a collective curse on humanity. We all feel the sting of death. In fact, there are those who have never died (Enoch & Elijah), but they were still subject to the curse of death.

When someone dies, in many ways, it is hard on those that are left, not the one who died. It is the living who are cursed by and suffer as a result of death. For the one who died, whether it was quick and painless, or drawn out and miserable, death is a completion, a step into what is next, which can be either a return to the glorious paradise we were intended for or a full completion of the curse for all eternity. (Now if someone does not know God and enters death without salvation, the full magnitude of the curse is realized in an eternal death and separation from God. This is far worse than what the living suffer, and it is not God's desire. He "is patient with you, not wanting any to perish...") With that in there, I return to the curse of death on the living. I seemed to realize today how immersive this curse is. It doesn't just cause life to end at some point. It causes sorrow, suffering, depression, confusion, heartache, etc... for those who are left alive. The curse also causes murder, jealousy, adultery, and virtually every other type of evil in the world. The curse of death involved death of our morals and our spirit and our connection with God, and this is the greatest blow. "The sting of death is sin."

So why do people die, and why is it painful and miserable? Because we are cursed. Because we have walked away from God, and this means that absolutely everything in life falls under the curse of death. We are all walking dead.

HOWEVER

If this were the end of this blog I would expect everyone to go away incredibly depressed, but it's not the end. Here is the second part of what I realized this morning.

When Jesus came to this earth and became a human. He willing entered the curse of death. He went from being Life, absolutely, to being subject to death's curse, and He experienced the curse, to its fullest extent. He felt the sorrow and loss associated with those you love dying. "Jesus wept." He felt the individual fulfillment of the curse as He suffered and physically died. He was even separated from God. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He became fully cursed for us, but He then did something so amazing! He conquered the curse! He overcame it! He shattered it against the rocks and offered freedom to us as well!

In the past, when I have read "Death has been swallowed up in victory." - 1 Corinthians 15:54b I have always thought of it in terms of Jesus overcame death and rose from the grave, and because He is alive He is able to offer us salvation. This is absolutely true, but it is so much more! Victory over death was not just victory in that single instance. As I said before, it was victory over the curse completely! "O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?" - 1 Corinthians 15:55 This does not mean that we will no longer die or that death will no longer be painful for those left alive, but what it does mean is that death does not have to hold us in bondage anymore. While it is still painful, we now have hope and joy that run deeper and stronger than any fear or sorrow that death holds! The sting of death is sin, but death no longer has its stinger. Like a bee that stings and the stinger stays behind and the bee dies, Death had its shot. It stung at what it thought would be its greatest victory, but instead its stinger was left behind and the curse of death was defeated!

"He will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face..." - Isaiah 25:8

So we have hope and we have joy in the face of death now! We no longer have to fear it, and while it is hard, and we will miss her grandma, we have that joy that death did not win, and in this passing, her grandma stepped out of the curse and into the paradise of God's presence!