Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– John 11:25
Death is the Beginning
Death is not the end of our lives, but really, it is the beginning of life eternal for all who have trusted in Christ. Death is the time when we get to be present with the Lord as if we’re absent from this body we will be in the presence of the Lord (2nd Cor 5:8) so death is not the enemy that we think it is. Death is just the beginning…the beginning of eternity in the joyful presence of the Lord.
Death is not Final
The Apostle Paul seems to taunt death by writing “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting” (1st Cor 15:55)? Death has been killed by Jesus Christ Himself Who conquered the grave. Someday, “death shall be no more” (Rev 21:4), so death is certainly not final as Jesus defeated death at its own game, thereby bringing many sons and daughters into the kingdom to receive eternal life for all who believe in Him.
Death is Defeated
When Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He told Martha “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:25) to which she said “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:26) so “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). God is not the God of the dead but the God of the living (Mark 12:27). Jesus spoke as if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive…because they are (Mark 12:26)!
Conclusion
We might mourn those departed saints of God but they are more alive than ever before. If they had the choice, they would most certainly not return again to the earth. Those who’ve gone before us are there waiting for us because death has been defeated and cannot possibly hold us and neither did it hold them.
