The word “death” is almost unmentionable in some quarters. Instead of saying that a person died, we tend to say, “pass on” or “pass away.” Many people do their utmost to push all thought of death farthest from their mind. The doctor and family members often join in a tacit conspiracy to conceal from a loved one the prospect of imminent death.
Is it to spare ourselves or our ailing loved one? Arnold Toynbee affirms that there are “two parties to the suffering that death inflicts; and, in the apportionment of this suffering, the survivor lakes the brunt.”1 Confronted with the stark reality of death we do our best to “soften the blow” with blankets of beautiful flowers, expensive caskets, soft music, grass carpets, and so forth. Perhaps Francis Bacon was correct when he said that “men fear death as children fear to go into the dark.”
The endless procession of death, particularly in our day, forbids us the luxury of shutting our mind to this discomforting subject! The reality of 40,000 casualties in the Vietnam war is written indelibly on our national conscience. The image of the dead and the starving in Biafra and Pakistan cannot be erased from our mind. The wholesale slaughter on our highways, as well as the victims of race riots, criminal acts and drug abuse, speak forcibly to us. The grim statistic of one death every twenty seconds in the United States cannot be disputed.
A pastor too has the added responsibility of sharing both the sorrows as well as the joys of his congregation. Frequently within one day he moves from the joyful experiences of birth and marriage to the sorrows of death. It was the realism of facing death on several occasions in the span of but a few days that led me to reflect more than casually on a question of the Heidelberg Catechism that had not particularly arrested my attention previously. Question 42: “Since, then, Christ died for us, why must we also die?” The question is relevant at any time but especially so as we move further into this season of “Lent.” In view of Christ’s “finished” work, why can’t there be a visible distinction between the believer and the unbeliever in the hour of death? Could not Christ do for us what He did for Enoch and Elijah and take us to heaven without our experiencing death? Could not some arrangement be made for us, similar to the exemption the saints will enjoy who remain alive at Christ’s return?
Such questions are sure to he asked in the hour of personal sorrow when we painfully part with some loved one, if not before! Thomas Howard in an article, “The Human Experience of Death,” has correctly termed death “the double difficulty” for the Christian. Howard writes: “Christians have a double difficulty, on the one hand they experience all the usual human feelings in the face of death, hut on the other they may be nagged by the idea that they ought not to give way like this, and that they ought to be experiencing joy and victory—that they ought to be living witnesses to their claim that death has no more terror for them.”2
So the question persists: why must we die? Because death is our enemy! So Paul termed death in I Corinthians 15:26, and so it is! The fruit of sin cannot be other than an enemy to us because it does an enemy’s work tearing asunder what God joined together, namely body and soul or spirit.
– it is our common enemy in that it is no respector of persons. It has been noted that there is no discharge in this army no deferment or exemption becausc it is “appointed unto all men to die.”
– it is our certain enemy none of us will be able to finally avoid. Shakespeare said it well: “By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death will seize the doctor too.”
– it is our cunning enemy that can meet us at any time or place, and under any circumstances. Death meets some at home, others on the highway, and still. others in the hospital. Death has no mercy for the young nor pity for the aged.
Further, according to the Apostle Paul our enemy is yet to be finally destroyed. To quote Paul, “the last enemy to be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15:26). We are privileged to live in the light of Christ’s resurrection which shines into the shadow of death, for Christ has already taken the sting out of death and robbed the grave of its victory. Christ has made infinite satisfaction for our sins so that we will not die spiritually or eternally. Nevertheless, physical death is still a reality for the Christian. But death cannot be looked upon as a punishment for sin for Christ has paid the ultimate price as our “Only High Priest” in offering Himself. So the old Instructor asks in Lord’s Day XVI, Question 42, “Since, then, Christ died for us, why must we also die?”; and answers in following the truth of Scripture, “Our death is not a satisfaction for our sins,” but only an abolishing of sin, and a passage into eternal life.
Death sets us permanently free from sin’s presence, power, and penalty. Must not death, therefore, he looked upon as our final preparation for glory? Knowing that “flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life,” especially sinful flesh, we face the day when the silver cord will be broken, “when our earthly house will fall,” and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” As death is our fast enemy we await its final destruction. A Bible expositor has pointed out that the devil was our first enemy to enter the garden, followed by our second enemy—sin, and the last enemy—death. In that order Christ destroys His and our enemies!
Dr. Bryant Kirkland, in his hook, Home Before Dark, “to the familiar childhood prayer of surrender, adds the newer lines of confidence:
If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways.”3
1. Arnold Toynbee, Man’s Concern With Death, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968, p. 271.
2. Thomas Howard, “The Human Experience of Death,” Christianity Tori/!y, November 21, 1969, p. 7.
3. Bryant M. Kirkland, Home Before Dark, Abingdun Press, 1965, p. 50.
Garrett H. Stoutmeyer is pastor of the Christian Reformed Church of Elmmhurst, Illinois. A year ago he authored a catechism book SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES published by Presto-Print Company, Westchester, Illinois.
Is it to spare ourselves or our ailing loved one? Arnold Toynbee affirms that there are “two parties to the suffering that death inflicts; and, in the apportionment of this suffering, the survivor lakes the brunt.”1 Confronted with the stark reality of death we do our best to “soften the blow” with blankets of beautiful flowers, expensive caskets, soft music, grass carpets, and so forth. Perhaps Francis Bacon was correct when he said that “men fear death as children fear to go into the dark.”
The endless procession of death, particularly in our day, forbids us the luxury of shutting our mind to this discomforting subject! The reality of 40,000 casualties in the Vietnam war is written indelibly on our national conscience. The image of the dead and the starving in Biafra and Pakistan cannot be erased from our mind. The wholesale slaughter on our highways, as well as the victims of race riots, criminal acts and drug abuse, speak forcibly to us. The grim statistic of one death every twenty seconds in the United States cannot be disputed.
A pastor too has the added responsibility of sharing both the sorrows as well as the joys of his congregation. Frequently within one day he moves from the joyful experiences of birth and marriage to the sorrows of death. It was the realism of facing death on several occasions in the span of but a few days that led me to reflect more than casually on a question of the Heidelberg Catechism that had not particularly arrested my attention previously. Question 42: “Since, then, Christ died for us, why must we also die?” The question is relevant at any time but especially so as we move further into this season of “Lent.” In view of Christ’s “finished” work, why can’t there be a visible distinction between the believer and the unbeliever in the hour of death? Could not Christ do for us what He did for Enoch and Elijah and take us to heaven without our experiencing death? Could not some arrangement be made for us, similar to the exemption the saints will enjoy who remain alive at Christ’s return?
Such questions are sure to he asked in the hour of personal sorrow when we painfully part with some loved one, if not before! Thomas Howard in an article, “The Human Experience of Death,” has correctly termed death “the double difficulty” for the Christian. Howard writes: “Christians have a double difficulty, on the one hand they experience all the usual human feelings in the face of death, hut on the other they may be nagged by the idea that they ought not to give way like this, and that they ought to be experiencing joy and victory—that they ought to be living witnesses to their claim that death has no more terror for them.”2
So the question persists: why must we die? Because death is our enemy! So Paul termed death in I Corinthians 15:26, and so it is! The fruit of sin cannot be other than an enemy to us because it does an enemy’s work tearing asunder what God joined together, namely body and soul or spirit.
– it is our common enemy in that it is no respector of persons. It has been noted that there is no discharge in this army no deferment or exemption becausc it is “appointed unto all men to die.”
– it is our certain enemy none of us will be able to finally avoid. Shakespeare said it well: “By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death will seize the doctor too.”
– it is our cunning enemy that can meet us at any time or place, and under any circumstances. Death meets some at home, others on the highway, and still. others in the hospital. Death has no mercy for the young nor pity for the aged.
Further, according to the Apostle Paul our enemy is yet to be finally destroyed. To quote Paul, “the last enemy to be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15:26). We are privileged to live in the light of Christ’s resurrection which shines into the shadow of death, for Christ has already taken the sting out of death and robbed the grave of its victory. Christ has made infinite satisfaction for our sins so that we will not die spiritually or eternally. Nevertheless, physical death is still a reality for the Christian. But death cannot be looked upon as a punishment for sin for Christ has paid the ultimate price as our “Only High Priest” in offering Himself. So the old Instructor asks in Lord’s Day XVI, Question 42, “Since, then, Christ died for us, why must we also die?”; and answers in following the truth of Scripture, “Our death is not a satisfaction for our sins,” but only an abolishing of sin, and a passage into eternal life.
Death sets us permanently free from sin’s presence, power, and penalty. Must not death, therefore, he looked upon as our final preparation for glory? Knowing that “flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life,” especially sinful flesh, we face the day when the silver cord will be broken, “when our earthly house will fall,” and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” As death is our fast enemy we await its final destruction. A Bible expositor has pointed out that the devil was our first enemy to enter the garden, followed by our second enemy—sin, and the last enemy—death. In that order Christ destroys His and our enemies!
Dr. Bryant Kirkland, in his hook, Home Before Dark, “to the familiar childhood prayer of surrender, adds the newer lines of confidence:
If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways.”3
1. Arnold Toynbee, Man’s Concern With Death, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968, p. 271.
2. Thomas Howard, “The Human Experience of Death,” Christianity Tori/!y, November 21, 1969, p. 7.
3. Bryant M. Kirkland, Home Before Dark, Abingdun Press, 1965, p. 50.
Garrett H. Stoutmeyer is pastor of the Christian Reformed Church of Elmmhurst, Illinois. A year ago he authored a catechism book SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES published by Presto-Print Company, Westchester, Illinois.