The Grim Reaper?

I live by my Outlook calendar.  Meetings and appointments are duly entered so that I will show up in the right place at the right time.  But, there is an entry in the calendar I have not made; when I will leave this world.  That appointment is inevitable, entered by God, Who alone knows the span of my days on this globe. The Bible says that " it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27, NLT)  Death is for many a grim reality, a thought to be avoided as much as possible. Some refuse to prepare a will, unwilling to consciously acknowledge that they will die. Some refuse to go to funerals, not just because of the grief they will encounter, but because of the reminder that death will come.  Christian, you can be freed from that fear!

In my pastoral ministry I am often in the presence of death.  I have sat at the side of the dying, walked through grief with hundreds of families, had my own heartbreak when my parents died in recent years.  The sorrow is real. But, Christian, we need to remember that we need not "grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13, NIV)  The moment of death while final in terms of time and our present understanding, is not the end; it is a beginning.  We do not meet the Grim Reaper, we are met by the Glorious Liberator!  Those who die in the Lord do not slip away into the grave; they are drawn into the Presence of their Father in Heaven! The Bible says that God "will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. … In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God. We trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!” (Isaiah 25:6-9, NLT)  Note the phrase – ‘swallow up death.’  Isn’t that a wonderful thought?  Death does not overtake God, He envelopes the Last Enemy with His eternal Presence.

Christians are not just people of the Cross, though we rejoice in the forgiveness of sin and the peace with God obtained by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus at Calvary.  We are people of the Resurrection! The early church was much less focused on the Cross than we are.  They met on the “Lord’s Day” celebrating the day of Jesus’ triumph over death. They constantly reminded one another that life did not end with the final breath, but that the best life began when the body perished.  Paul, with the inspiration of the Spirit, reminds us that Christ is the first-fruits (the evidence) of immortality. Our Gospel, he says, is not just a bit of hope for now, it is glorious assurance of eternal life! "Now let me remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. … It is this Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it—…  I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me—that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles." (1 Corinthians 1 5:1-5, NLT)

He builds on that truth and tells us that death is not victorious over us. "Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20, NIV)  "For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55, NIV)

As grim as it may seem to some, when I stand alongside the coffins of the dead, I consciously remember that not many years from now, my own kin will stand in that place for me.  The body in which I live is not immortal, the evidence of that grows stronger with each passing year.  But, I do not fear death.  Oh, yes, the process of dying, is something I dread.  One cannot make the ravages of cancer, the forgetfulness of Alzheimers, or the tremors of Parkinsons pretty by any stretch of imagination.  But, the moment of our dying need not be grim at all!  It is a departure from this present world, an arrival in our eternal home. 

Christ is our assurance of life. So, we say, with Paul, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but
also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8, NIV)

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Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,

Sing His mercy and His grace.

In the mansions, bright and blessed,

He'll prepare for us a place.

While we walk the pilgrim pathway

Clouds will overspread the sky.

But, when trav'ling days are over

Not a shadow not a sigh.

Let us then be true and faithful

Trusting, serving, ev'ry day.

Just one glimpse of Him in glory

Will the toils of life repay.

Onward to the prize before us,

Soon His beauty we'll behold.

Soon the pearly gates will open

We shall tread the streets of gold.

When we all get to heaven,

What a day of rejoicing that will be!

When we all see Jesus,

We'll sing and shout the victory!

Eliza Edmunds Hewitt | Emily D. Wilson

Public Domain