Death - the paradox of life

Today is Good Friday where Christians commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary about 2000 years ago.   Death is certainly a subject the Bible confronts head on.  Beginning with the death of Abel in Gen 4:8 (due to fratricide) to the evil plot of Haman to exterminate the Jewish race (Est 3), death has been used by the devil to thwart God's plan of redemption.  The Scripture tells us that the devil wields death as a powerful weapon to put fear in the hearts of men and women (Heb 2:14-15).  When Jesus was born, Satan used king Herod to issue a command to destroy all male children 2 years and under (Mt 2:16).  Failing in this attempt, he used a close disciple of Jesus, Peter, to hinder his path towards Jerusalem to accomplish His mission (Mt 16:23). Finally, when the time was fully come, the devil used Judas Iscariot (another disciple of Jesus) to betray Christ into the hands of religious people (Jn 13:2). 

Without the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, there can be no eternal life for mankind.  He came for the expressed purpose to bring us the abundant life, while the devil seeks to steal, kill and destroy the good things God has in store for us (Jn 10:10).   Alluding to what happens in nature, Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."  (Jn 12:24 NIV).  He is the righteous seed of Abraham that was prophesied at the beginning of time that would possess the gate of his enemies (Gen 22:17).  Gate here speaks of Satan's dominion and power to shut people in.  He does this through the power of sin, by enticing people to do things against God's righteous commands, leading them to bondage and slavery, and ultimately death (Jas 1:14-15).

At the cross, our sins were laid upon Christ through the nails and stripes that were inflicted upon Him.  And by so doing, He cancelled the debt and death charges held against us (Col 2:13-15).  Christ's death brought Him down to Hades, overpowering the enemy camp and setting the captives free, bringing them into heaven and at the same time bestowing spiritual gifts to His church (Eph 4:8-10; 1Pet 3:18-19).  Eternal life is therefore seen as life in the presence of God where there's joy, wholeness and liberty.  As you can see, without the death of Christ there can be no impartation of life to us.  And without the death of our physical body, we can never fully experience the eternal life that those who believe in Jesus Christ were to receive.  Our human body was not made to last for eternity due to sin and corruption.  This was a point I made home to a pre-believer in hospital today, warded for all kinds of complications in the body.  I offered Him the hope of eternal life through Jesus, and he said he would consider it as yet he's still half-hearted. 

The wonderful words of Jesus to Martha ring out loud and clear at funeral wakes, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  (Jn 11:25-26 NIV).  All of us will have to die physically one day, if Christ tarries in coming.  But the glorious hope held out in the gospel is the resurrection (thank God for Easter Sunday) of our corruptible body with an incorruptible one; whereby the last enemy to be destroyed would be death (1 Cor 15:26,51-54).  When that day arrives, death would no longer be a subject discussed as it would no longer exists.  But for now, it remains a taboo for some and to be avoided, for fear of offending people.   For us Christians, we cannot but speak of the wonderous working power that was wrought through the cross where our Saviour died for lost humanity.