able being made in the image of God. He was capable of an entirely different kind of life from that of the rest of God's creation. He bore in himself the evidence that he was created for a destiny unlike any others. This destiny could only be fully realized in the ages of eternity to come. There is a death which relates to man's physical nature. This is the death of his body. There is spiritual death which relates to man's natur al state in his relationship to God. The natural, unregenerated person is rightly described as being dead in trespasses and sins. He is certain ly an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger from the cove nants of promise, without hope and without God in the world (Ephes ians 2:12). Death is not a cessation of being but rather a continuation of living. Death, as the Bible uses it in a spiritual sense, is a state and a condition. There is also spiritual death which takes place prior to the death of the body. This can continue while the natural life con tinues (Revelation 3:1). The wages of sin is the continuation of spiritu al death. This is separation from God Who is the author and source of all life. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Thus, death holds sway even while man is nat urally alive. The Bible also uses death in a figurative or secondary sense. In the story of the prodigal son he is described as dead by his father. Paul also described the pleasure- loving woman as being dead while she liveth (I Timothy 5:6). Death is likewise used to describe the eter nal state of the ungodly. It is called the second death which does not mean destruction as some religion
ists would erroneously teach. It does not mean annihilation or ces sation of being. It is rather a life that is lost forever in a world of dark ness without Jesus Christ. The basic meaning of death is separation from life or from something which is most desirable. How tragic that most people do not fear death, they simply ignore it. No one is immune to it. Let us be ever mindful of our glorious future and blessed hope in the Lord. There are some people who would like to avoid a discussion of the subject of death at all costs. This was certainly not the case with the Apostle Paul. He knew that his physical demise could come at any moment, yet his eyes were always focused on the certain prospect of the Lord's return. What does it mean when one passes from everything he knows to that which is unknown; to cast off all moorings and set forth upon an unchartered ocean bound for a port which has never been visited before and from which no one who has been there has ever come back with a first-hand report. Any pru dent person, knowing the certainty of this inevitable trip, would cer tainly be foolish not to prepare for it! I well remember the first time I went to the Middle East. I read ev erything I could get my hands on about the area. I wanted to be ready. I talked to people who had already been there, and sought to do my “ homework" well so that I could enhance my pilgrimage all the more. This is the way it should be when it comes to death, the time when there is the separation of the soul and the spirit from the body. We ought to "study up" on what it Page 41
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