The Gift of Death
Genesis 3:24: So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Death is a hard thing for many to understand. If there is a God, how could a loving God allow death? I tell you it is His love that allows us to die.
A mistake that many of the faith make is to look at life the way the world does. Enlightenment is a God thing, that is coming to the knowledge of the truth. Knowing the Truth helps you truly live. People who live based on their ideas never have hope and never find the answers. The Bible tells us that the Word of God causes peace. This is because not knowing the truth is what makes people unstable.
We see as we read through the beginning of Genesis the things God intended for mankind. He created the earth and all that’s in it before He made man. Once everything was already here, He made man and placed Him in the midst of everything he would ever need or desire. It was then commanded of us to be fruitful and multiply. God’s desire was that we would live in His perfect earth, enjoying all the days of our lives in His presence, which by the way, were intended to be forever. Everything was good for man. Yes everything was good indeed! There is no other conclusion one can come to as they read Genesis.
So when did this all change? It was the moment man sinned. Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death.” A wage is not forced upon you, it is what YOU earn. Along with physical death that word death in the Greek also means the miseries that arise from sin. Sin in the flesh, not God, created all the misery that we see on earth. We are now at a place where we see the result of thousands of years of sin perfecting itself on this earth. The earth was cursed because of sin, not God’s will. God intended man to live, thus is the reason He put a tree of life in our midst. The will of man brought forth sin.
We see however, once sin appeared, Man was banned from that tree so that the flesh would die. Why would God do this? God made man to live in perfection but our bodies were corrupted and consequently bound by sin. If God allowed man to partake of the tree of life, he would live forever in a corrupted fleshly body that would increasingly know the miseries arising from sin. It would grow worse and worse, binding us tighter and tighter.
God allowed death so that our bodies could be restored. Notice I said allowed and not caused. The Bible tells us that death is an enemy and a wage earned not an action of God. God’s intent is restoration. This restoration is freedom from sin’s bondage and the ability to once again revel in the splendor of the presence of God!
For the Christian, death is not and should not be a sad thing. Sure we will miss those we love for a time but Heaven is the promise we don’t just hope for, it is the goal we set our sights on. God in His mercy allows this flesh to die so that we can be joined again with Him, in a body that will never be corrupted. God loved the world so much, He allowed us to die, so we may be with Him. Live your life for the growth of His Kingdom. When your body dies you will receive the reward that He has waiting for you. Everlasting perfection in the presence of an everything God!
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
