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WHAT IS DEATH? |
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What is death? Simply put, death is the opposite of life.
Nothing dies that has not first been alive. Life came first. In the first booklet we looked at life - what life is, how it came to us, and how we can define life. This booklet moves on to look at death. The question that every body in every generation has asked is ‘What is death?’ What happens when someone dies? At one moment the person is there with you, and at the next something is different. These are the oldest questions of all. They are questions that often come from fear, fear of the unknown, fear of the process of dying. We have such a strong desire to carry on living that the thought of life coming to an end can cause very real distress. The Bible knows this for it says, when speaking of Jesus,
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likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lives subject to bondage.' Hebrews 2:14-15.
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We talk about being afraid to die. Death and fear are linked in our minds and it is helpful that the Bible recognises this.
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So - what is death?
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| Here are some examples that we are all familiar with - the fish on the fishmonger’s slab, the squashed hedgehog on the road, the dead plant in the pot, the meat hanging in the butcher’s shop, or the shrivelled flowers in the wreaths on the grave. They are dead. We know they are dead. Death is an absolute, and we know that we cannot bring them back to life again. Life has gone for good. This is why we feel fear. It is those words ‘gone for good’ that strike alarm into our hearts. It may be for ourselves or it may be concerning those we love. Will we be ‘gone for good’ too? If you think about it, there is no half-way position. Either we are dead or we are alive. When we talk of something being half-dead, what we mean is that something is close to death, but it is not actually dead. It has not died and therefore it is still alive. |
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We do not like death.
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The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory. 1 Corinthians 15:55,56.
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| The Bible recognises our emotions about death in the use of words like ‘enemy‘, ‘sting’ and ‘victory’. As we put someone down into the grave, we feel we do not know whether we shall see them again. It can seem as if the enemy has beaten us. It is as if our loved ones have been locked away in a prison never to come out, and it hurts. We ourselves look in this life and see the grave looming at the end of the way, and wonder if that is all there is. After we have lost someone close to us, we become keenly aware of our own end. At first it is with fear, then with resentment or even fight, that we have to acknowledge that old age is coming and death is getting |
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