Although it is not the subject we usually like to talk about, the issue of death has come to the fore in a number of areas in the last week. The arrival of a group of firefighters, policement, etc., from New York has brought back to the surface the tragedy of September 11 and the thousands who perished. One firefighter I heard being interviewed spoke of how he still has trouble coming to terms with the fact that a number of members of his unit were killed in that disaster.

On another tack, the media were reporting last week on the latest attempts by asylum seekers in Woomera to get some resolution to their case. According to reports, a number had dug their own graves and declared that they would rather die than be sent back.

In another issue, there was discussion on the John Laws programme last week about a lady who is suffering terribly from bowel cancer, and is making preparations to end her own life. This, naturally enough, aroused a great deal of sympathy. Even though her actions are technically illegal, numbers of listeners talked about her "right to be free from suffering" and her "right to die with dignity". No one that I heard raised the question of what God might think of the whole idea.

This is the question that another young family are wrestling with as they have just received news of widespread cancer throughout the young mother's body. They are both committed Christians, but, faced with the news that she may have only weeks to live, they are asking the question "Where is God in all this?"

The Bible calls death "The last enemy to be destroyed", (1 Cor. 15:26). It is the opposite of God's gift of life. It is the consequence of mankind's rebellion against God. As Romans 6:23 says: "The wages of sin is death", but the wonderful news of the gospel is that, when Jesus voluntarily submitted to death, on our behalf, he broke death's power, and opened up for us the door to eternal life. As he said to Martha, whose brother Lazarus had died: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25)

The great hope that has sustained Christians for 2,000 years, even faced with execution for their faith, is that, for those whose faith and trust is in Jesus, death is but a doorway through which they pass into His presence. Thus, the Apostle Paul could say: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21)

This does not, however, give us reason, or the right to take our own lives, no matter how painful our present circumstances may be. Contrary to what modernists claim, our life is not our own. We did not commence life by our own choice and we do not have the right to end it. These matters belong to God.

Of course, at least a quarter of the population today do not believe in God. And many more do not actively consider His viewpoint when making decisions. For most of them the sufferings of this life are the greatest reality and death is often seen as a way to bring the suffering to an end. There is very little thought that ther might be sufferings beyond death even greater than anything experienced at present.

That is what the Word of God teaches. And the very justice of God demands it! After all, when we consider the horrendous suffering that some men have inflicted on others: the horrors of Auswitz and Belsen, the killing fields of Pol Pot, the genocide in Rwanda etc; can the suffering of hell be any less? And, when we catch but a glimpse of what the sinless Son of Man suffered for us we begin to understand that death without Christ is a horrible thing indeed.

However, while we do not dilute the reality of hell in any way, our focus is much more positive. For we have been delivered from the wrath to come. We do not have to fear the coming judgement, but look forward with joy to being with our Lord forever. We know for certain that we have Eternal Life, not because we deserve it, we never shall, but simply because Jesus has done everything necessary to purchase our place in heaven.

The fact that, even though we have received Eternal Life through faith in Jesus, we are still here on earth, is simply because God has work for us to do. Sometimes he takes us home early, by the world's standards. At other times He heals us so that we may continue in His service gor a little longer. In either case our times are in His hands, but we do not fear because He knows what is best.

Rev. John Davies
10 March 2002