As we complete this overview on loss, we are again reminded of Adam and Eve, who are for us the father and mother of all our loss. We can see them after they ate the fruit, now uncomfortably aware of their guilt and their different standing before God. What do they do? Needing an effectual covering (a perfect righteousness) for their infinite shame that would turn aside the just wrath of God - a covering which they had no hope of providing for themselves, they nevertheless make the attempt. They stitch together a few fig leaves and make useless garments. In many ways, that action seems to be a metaphor for the history of mankind post-fall; we know we have lost something very special that we were made to enjoy (intimate, eternal, familial relationship with God, with all the liberty, riches, status, purpose, etc. that this entails) and we make futile attempts to compensate for the loss by fabricating our own replacements with useless things stitched together from what lies around us in this world.
We have one more loss to consider before we are done. It is the loss of our own life. This is where the rubber really hits the road in terms of loss, isn't it? If we lose our wealth, status, health and even loved ones in this world, we may be able to regain the first three and find others to be loved ones while we remain here. But our spiritual and physical death is of eternal consequence and there is nothing we can do to avoid them, or to make ourselves live forever. Furthermore (and we are all aware of this at some level) our physical death marks the end of our opportunity to experience the forgiveness that God made available through the death of Christ at the cross. If we haven't availed ourselves of this forgiveness when we die, then it is too late to obtain it, and we must face God in judgment still owing Him the debt that all our sins against Him have incurred.
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
The inevitable verdict without Christ will be that we are guilty. The inevitable (and appropriate) sentence will be an eternity in hell. That this may seem excessive shows that our sin causes us to underestimate the seriousness of sin - the magnitude of the offenses we have committed against God. There will be no parole, no reduction of the sentence for good behavior, no commutation by an earthly president. That is one reason why Paul calls death "the last enemy":
1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Death is final. It closes the window of time in which we may repent and cast ourselves on the mercy of God. So this is the greatest loss Adam and Eve brought upon themselves and us - the loss of spiritual and physical life - and it is because we exist on earth in a godless, living death that all the other losses still afflict us with no gospel mitigation if we reject Jesus as Savior.
Jesus speaks of a life lived for this world's meaningless rewards, and a death without Him as our Savior as losing (forfeiting) one's soul:
Matthew 16:24–27 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Death, then, is our ultimate loss. The permanent and irrevocable loss of our very selves, and of everything meaningful and valuable that we may possess through a restored relationship with God. In it's place, an eternity suffering the just punishment to pay for all our offences against God. Jesus speaks of hell as somewhat like being endlessly eaten alive by worms, or ceaselessly burned in searing flames that are never extinguished and from which there is no escape. It's very possible that some of these "worms" and some of these "flames" will be the eternal "What ifs" and "If onlys" that must plague everyone who is there. "What if I had paid attention when the gospel was preached and had asked God to forgive me?", "If only I hadn't stopped up my ears when my colleague spoke to me about Jesus, and hadn't mocked him and ridiculed him for believing things that I now realize are true."
How different it is for the one who has repented of their sins and trusted Jesus to save them! Jesus has taken the sting out of death for them:
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The believer, rightly understanding what Christ has accomplished for them, is delivered from the fear of death and the slavery that comes with it:
Hebrews 2:14-15 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
This speaks to a different quality of life here and now, because the dark and foreboding storm clouds of death, that obscure the horizon when all we have after death is a fearful expectation of judgment are blown away in Christ. The perfect love of our God, which we come to know through Christ, drives out fear of judgment and therefore fear of death:
1 John 4:16-18 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
Death has become a portal to every child of God, through which they enter into the full enjoyment of God, and of all the rich blessings of the inheritance that He has already prepared for us and that is waiting to be revealed on the Last Day.
For this reason, and in a way that is completely opposite to our usual thinking about death, it is actually described as a gift for the believer, in the same way that life is a gift and the Apostles who gave us the Word of God are a gift:
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
We are also told that God is not indifferent as His children pass through this portal. On the contrary, their death is something very precious to Him:
Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
We see an indication of this at the stoning of Stephen. We know that after His ascension into heaven, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. Yet, as the moment of his passing into glory arrives, Stephen is given eyes to see something very remarkable:
Acts 7:55-56 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
It seems Jesus stood up at the moment of Stephen's death. He is active, He is engaged, He is present to Stephen in a way that I think acknowledges the preciousness to God of the death of every child, since they are welcomed into glory and take their place as a part of the inheritance that the Father promised to Jesus in return for His redemptive work. It was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the cross, and that joy includes having His blood-bought children with Him in heaven and seeing His glory.
Of course, in the age to come, God's children will be in full possession of eternal life (knowing God and Jesus, Whom He sent) all the blessings of wealth, status, purpose and glory that this entails. They will see Jesus face to face and be made like Him. They will know more blessings than Adam lost through the fall, and they will be incapable of losing them again!
This is incomparable gain! In contrast with our existence this side of glory, Paul calls this "truly life", for which all we do as believers in this world should lay a good foundation:
1 Timothy 6:18–19 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
It is this transformed understanding of death and completely different relationship with it that enables believers to welcome it rather than run from it. As we read the account of Stephen's death, and of the martyrdom of God's children down through the years, and see how other holy men and women have closed out the earthly phase of their lives, we often see the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit on display. We see the hope of glory shining brightly. We understand Paul more clearly in his desire to leave this world and experience the ultimate "gain" of God's loved ones, but his willingness to remain here in service to God and the church until he is called home:
Philippians 1:18-26 Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
But we need to guard against the wiles of the Evil One here. When believers give in to fears and misgivings about death, he will be quick to accuse us, and to sow in our minds the thought that we cannot be true believers if these fears still surface from time to time. In John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress", he records the passing of Christian and Hopeful across the river (death) before they enter the celestial city. Hopeful finds the crossing relatively easy but Christian is beset with doubts and fears:
Then they addressed themselves to the water, and entering, Christian began to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me. Selah.
Then said the other, Be of good cheer, my brother: I feel the bottom, and it is good. Then said Christian, Ah! my friend, the sorrows of death have compassed me about, I shall not see the land that flows with milk and honey. And with that a great darkness and horror fell upon Christian, so that he could not see before him. Also here he in a great measure lost his senses, so that he could neither remember nor orderly talk of any of those sweet refreshments that he had met with in the way of his pilgrimage. But all the words that he spoke still tended to discover that he had horror of mind, and heart-fears that he should die in that river, and never obtain entrance in at the gate. Here also, as they that stood by perceived, he was much in the troublesome thoughts of the sins that he had committed, both since and before he began to be a pilgrim. It was also observed that he was troubled with apparitions of hobgoblins and evil spirits; for ever and anon he would intimate so much by words.
Hopeful therefore here had much ado to keep his brother’s head above water; yea, sometimes he would be quite gone down, and then, ere a while, he would rise up again half dead. Hopeful did also endeavor to comfort him, saying, Brother, I see the gate, and men standing by to receive us; but Christian would answer, It is you, it is you they wait for; for you have been hopeful ever since I knew you. And so have you, said he to Christian. Ah, brother, (said he,) surely if I was right he would now arise to help me; but for my sins he hath brought me into the snare, and hath left me. Then said Hopeful, My brother, you have quite forgot the text where it is said of the wicked, “There are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm; they are not troubled as other men, neither are they plagued like other men.” Psa. 73:4, 5. These troubles and distresses that you go through in these waters, are no sign that God hath forsaken you; but are sent to try you, whether you will call to mind that which heretofore you have received of his goodness, and live upon him in your distresses.
Then I saw in my dream, that Christian was in a muse a while. To whom also Hopeful added these words, Be of good cheer, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. And with that Christian brake out with a loud voice, Oh, I see him again; and he tells me, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.” Isa. 43:2. Then they both took courage, and the enemy was after that as still as a stone, until they were gone over. Christian, therefore, presently found ground to stand upon, and so it followed that the rest of the river was but shallow. Thus they got over.
Some important points for every believer are noted here. First, some believers have an easier passage through death than others. Second, God doesn't leave any of His children to sink or to be lost in darkness. Rather, He sends grace and help to them in their time of need (as Hopeful ministered grace to Christian here). Third, and most importantly, our Savior will lose none of those for whom He shed His blood on the cross. All will infallibly be brought home to Him. Christian was given grace to see Christ and to draw strength from Him to complete his passage into glory.
So while believers may not (and should not) fear death in the same way unbelievers do (and should) it is part of their warfare here to battle against doubts and fears that would rob them of the assurance they may know that death has no sting for them but is in fact a wonderful gift. And God graciously provides them with armor, with counsel and with comfort to be more than conquerors, safely arriving in heaven at last.
We could spend many more meditations thinking about the subject of loss. The survey we have undertaken in the last few posts, though, should convince us that we will always find that the gospel mitigates the pain of loss for the believer in this world and turns that loss into abundant gain in heaven. We will always come away with the understanding that it is utter foolishness to try to replace the good things we enjoyed before the fall but lost in that calamity with inadequate, worldly substitutes, sinking all our hopes for meaning, purpose and fulfillment into them and giving them the place in our lives which should belong to God and to Him alone.
