Is that the Best You Can Do? - Pt. 5

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:17-24 ESV).

 

In his book Six Hours One Friday, Max Lucado refers to death as “the bully on the block.” The apostle Paul calls death “the last enemy to be destroyed.” Author Joseph Bayly, a father who lost three young children, says that death is “the last thing we talk about.” Death will touch all of our lives in one way or another. Many of us are uneasy or even afraid when we think about that. But fear of death, also called death anxiety or thanatophobia, is when this fear becomes so intense it interferes with your everyday life. The Scripture tells us that this “bully” has been beaten, once and for all.

 

That is good news! However, the reality of this fear can be enormous. Who wants to talk about death when you’re enjoying life? Who wants to think about something so morbid when you’re all set to live for many years to come? And who wants to be reminded that death could come at any time? Maybe you feel like the young man who, after I had talked to him about death, said to me, “I don’t come to a counselor to hear about death. I pay you to tell me how to feel better.”

 

The truth is that death is a fact of life that all of us must face someday. Death is no respecter of age or gender or season. We are born, live our lives, and die in the context of eternity. Each of us has an appointment with death that we cannot cancel. But in spite of all that, Paul urges us to live life to the fullest, because Christ overcame death when he rose from the dead. Death is not the end. That’s the reason we can enter into any day, any week, any season with confidence.

 

When we face the truly challenging circumstances of life, often beyond our control, the key to peace and joy is in knowing the end is secure. This is how I can be assured that the path God has placed me on is “the best.” It ends perfectly, no matter how many seeming detours or construction zones must be endured. It ends with me living forever in heaven! Death is no longer able to bully me!