Photo: American Psychology Association
In my profession as a paramedic and a county medical examiner investigator, I experience almost every week, the effects of death. I witness each individual's method of coping and mourning. I've seen some people calm and understanding, and I've seen others hysteric as if the world was ending and for them, it might possibly be. Working this type of profession brings a person to consider and think about death in a way that most people don't think. We see the inevitability of death, even in young people and yes, even infants.
I think the only time most people really think about death is in the event of a death of a loved one, or around this time of year: Halloween. It seems to me that when Halloween comes around, people fall into the mainstream Halloween theme of ghost, zombies, grave yards, and of course, death. But it appears that most people use death in Halloween as a cliche theme rather than a reality. Because of that, I feel that I should point people to the right belief about death.
In my profession, it is easy to say that death is a natural process and I hear this often. In some sense, that is true. It is only a part of the life cycle that we are accustomed to. The definition of "natural" is summed up as created by God. Even though death came into the world by God's allowance, it was not the original plan when God created to world. Genesis chapter one is the account of the creation by God and we see in verse 31 that "..God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very Good". When God first created the world, it was perfect without suffering or death. But in Genesis 3, we see how Satan went into the garden, deceived Eve, leading to Adam's disobedience resulting in sin entering the world, and with sin comes death as the punishment. So God allowed death into the world as a punishment for sin, but it was not the original, natural plan God had.
I want to point out 2 sides of death that we can observe and the first is in the perspective of the unsaved person. Because death is the penalty for sin, we are all born into the sentence of death*. For the person who refuses God's gift of salvation, death is terrifying. Lately, I have been studying the beliefs of other world religions and cults and it is amazing, the different beliefs of life after death. Whether it is reincarnation, becoming a trapped spirit, we don't exist in the first place, purgatory, or even no life after death, there is no hope in these religions for after death. Some religions, such as wicca, do not talk about life after death and avoid discussing it, leaving each person to their own belief. Some religions, such as Shinto, choose not to even address the afterlife in their religion. Other religions, such as Norse and Germanic mythology (which is coming back into belief by some), go the other way and believe in a triumphing afterlife, becoming a god.
In America, the prominent humanist belief seems to be no life after death. From a young age, children are taught that we evolve from single celled organisms and, by chance, form into a human with no personal God being involved in our existence. If we evolve by accident and have no purpose on this world other than to exist and have no personal God (or even God at all) to interact in our lives, then death means we just turn into compost in the ground. If there is no God, there cannot be a hopeful afterlife. It's no wonder some people see death as the worst tragedy. If your loved one dies and has no immortal soul, you will never see or interact with that person ever again.
The Bible tells us that there are 2 options for the afterlife. Hebrew 9:27 tells us "..it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgement". Once an unsaved person (has not accepted Christ) dies, the only thing to look forward to is God's judgement where all of his sins are displayed before him (Revelation 20:12-13). After the judgement, he is thrown into the lake of fire to eternal torment (Revelation 20:15). There is no purgatory (NEVER mentioned once in the Bible, or any concept of it), only judgement and hell. So from a Biblical perspective, death is worse that any other religion's belief about the afterlife and the reason is because there is a personal God that will judge us and hold us accountable for what we do here on Earth, which most people reject. If we are accountable for our actions, then we aren't at liberty to just participate in every sin we wish. That is why man-made religions do not have a belief that we are accountable to a god that will judge us.
The other side of death that we see is also the second option for the afterlife. In John 3:16, we are told "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If we go a little further in John to 5:24, we see Jesus say, "verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believe on him who sent me [God], hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto light." For the Christian, we have hope in death. We know that upon death, we will see the face of Jesus and live with him for eternity.
As Christians, we need to have a right perspective about death. I do not discount the emotions tied to loss and mourning. Losing a loved one here on earth, not having the opportunity to interact with them anymore in this life, is sorrowful. But we also need to maintain the reality that we will see them again in Heaven, if they are saved. At a funeral for a Christian, we should be rejoicing that the deceased person is now in the presence of God with no more sorrow, no pain, no suffering, no sickness. How can we mad at God or be sorrowful that the deceased person is in the presence of God? We also need to use that time to remember the reason death exists. For me, each death I see is a constant reminder of the sinner that I am and need I have for a savior. But this is comforting as well, knowing that even though I am a sinner deserving of hell, God loves me enough to have died, taking our sins so that I can spend eternity with him.
I do not mean for this post to scare anyone, or maybe I do. If you are not a Christian, this should scare you. Read through Revelation and you will see the terrible things that will happen to non-Christians. Only doom follows death for the unbeliever and maybe this will open your eyes to your need for the savior. God is not an unloving God to allow someone to enter hell, but cannot allow sin to coexist with him in his presence, for he is a just God and will punish sin. He wishes for each person to repent and accept him. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise...; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance". (2 Peter 3:0) For the Christian, I hope you are encouraged that there is hope after death that does not compare to anything we can have or experience here in this world. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
*Some people ask if, since we are born into sin and as a sinner, does this mean when an infant dies, he will go to hell? My answer is "no". Jesus tells us that we are to accept him, repenting of our sins and turning to him. Infants and small children cannot yet understand this and upon death, God accepts them. We are shown in the Bible that Jesus has a special compassion toward children and will not condemn them to hell when they do not yet understand their sin and need for a savior because of their young age.
