| “All through the centuries, men have tried to penetrate the veil of death, have tried to guess at what lies beyond. Not only Christian writers, but secular writers, and members of other religious faiths have tried to set forth what lies beyond death. Even the most pagan have tried to find at least some hope. For the human spirit resists the idea that all we are will be cut off and ended -- annihilated, exterminated -- at death. Somehow it does not make sense. It insults us. And so the human spirit is always ready to grasp at the slightest straw of hope that there is something beyond the grave.” Old Age “Why should meaning be any more at issue in old age than in earlier times of life? The answers abound. Because old age is a "roleless role" that leads to a diminished sense of identity and personal worth. Because social isolation and loneliness frequently plague the elderly and produce the feeling that one's life is superfluous. Because for many, especially minorities and women living alone, economic hardships of old age further erode quality of life. To this list we could add the litany of losses--the death of loved ones, physical and mental decline, marginal productivity, and spiritual malaise stemming from uncertainties about what endures beyond the finitude of the self. Is there no hope? The trumpets blare. In we come, the rescuers, healers offering life review, autobiography workshops, humanities discussion groups, relaxation exercises, counseling (both peer and professional), antidepressants, holistic health regimens, special diets. Legions of spiritual advisors stand ready to offer workshops about how to become an enlightened elder, how to get in touch with your deep psychic Self, how to let go of the past, the future, children, work. Then there are the aging advocates and political activists who repudiate these solutions--too individualistic. To the barricades, they shout. Organize to protect Social Security (standard and supplemental), Medicare and Medicaid, and fight ageism in the workplace or the doctor's office Join support groups, advocacy groups, intergenerational coalitions, computer networks, mutual-aid cyber groups. A vast army of helpers surrounds the aging population, a veritable growth industry. But is it possible that the crisis of meaning reflected in our older population is a mirror of widespread uncertainty shared equally by those of other generations? Redeeming the meaning of aging and later life is a mission in which we all have deeply vested interests. The sooner we own up to our entanglement with the issues, the sooner we increase our usefulness. Though not everyone wears the furrowed brow of the seeker, the crisis of meaning is inescapable. The little reminders of aging--grayness, baldness, a few wrinkles, hair in the ears, "age" spots, joint pain and stiffness, forgetfulness, grandchildren going off to college, a growing nostalgia for one's past--trigger those annoying questions: Is this all there is to life? What have I really accomplished? Who am I for others? Some people object, countering: "I don't worry myself about such questions. I'm a practical person, satisfied with the life that is given to me." Fending off the questions of meaning that tug at the mind and heart calls for well-honed defenses. We are all quite adept. … We may take heart in the belief that our immortality is borne through our progeny or through the good deeds witnessed in those who remember us and preserve our stories….”
(In other words the best we can hope for is that our grandchildren remember our names ten years after we are gone. Even this seems unlikely in this day and age.). “…However, the crisis remains. Ultimately, we are not in control of our lives and will not determine the timing of our final curtain call…” (Ronald J. Manheimer. Is It Practical to Search for Meaning. American Society on Aging)
Death “…Something of that sense of inevitability, of helplessness, of hopelessness grips us all when we confront death, whether it be our own or that of a loved one. I want to share also with you the words of a distraught father who is telling us of his reaction to the death of his son. He says, The rays of a late morning South Carolina sun struck me full on the face as I stepped through the door of the hospital. The squint of my eyes, however, was not occasioned by the rays of the sun; it was the visible display of the anguish and despair that wracked my very life. I had spent several hours with my sobbing wife. Now I was about to keep the appointment that would prove to be the emotional climax of the day my world collapsed. On my way to the appointment I stopped at a diner to have a cup of coffee and to bolster my courage. I was oblivious to everything except the appointment that awaited me. Leaving the diner, I made my way to a large white house, located on a corner in Columbia, South Carolina. I followed the owner into a large room, where he soon left me alone. I slowly made my way across a thick rug on the floor to a table on the far side of the room. Upon that table was a white box. I stood before that white box for endless eternities before I finally summoned enough courage to look over the top and down into the white box, at the lifeless body of my son. At that sight my world collapsed. I would have given up all of my academic and athletic awards. I would have given up the prestigious executive training program that I was engaged in with one of the largest international oil companies. I would have given anything. For the first time in my life, I had come to a hurdle I could not clear. My world collapsed….
“…All through the centuries, men have tried to penetrate the veil of death, have tried to guess at what lies beyond. Not only Christian writers, but secular writers, and members of other religious faiths have tried to set forth what lies beyond death. Even the most pagan has tried to find at least some hope. For the human spirit resists the idea that all we are will be cut off and ended -- annihilated, exterminated -- at death. Somehow it does not make sense. It insults us. And so the human spirit is always ready to grasp at the slightest straw of hope that there is something beyond the grave. Perhaps it is described as a kind of nirvana, as an experience apart from the body, as some mystical, "spiritual" experience. There are many guesses at what lies beyond the grave...” (The Answer to Death. Ray C. Stedman).
The American Society On Aging further points out “…Our religious convictions may give solace and hope that a better life awaits us on the other side or that the transition to death is simply part of a recurring cycle...”
However the Bible is very clear about what happens after we ‘die’. There are two accounts of Jesus brining someone back from the dead.. One was Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. The other was a child of the ruler of the synagogue. “…Surely that was something of the feeling, which possessed the hearts, and minds of Mary and Martha when they were facing the death of their brother Lazarus. John tells us in the eleventh chapter of his Gospel that they sent for Jesus at that moment, but that he, in some strange way, did not hurry to their rescue but waited for two days, until he was sure that Lazarus was dead. When he came, he saw them weeping and mourning, and he caught the sense of anguish and heartbreak in their lives. John tells us that as Jesus watched them, he wept with them. Twice in the account John says that he was greatly moved as he felt the hopelessness and the anguish that death causes. But it was there that he said to Martha those words which have been quoted at a million gravesides ever since: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" {John 11:25-26 RSV} And Martha, unable to rise to the full revelation that he had given, said, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world," {John 11:27 RSV}. That is as far as her faith could go. But those words of his have stood as a lighthouse in the midst of the darkness of death for all the centuries that have followed. Many have clung to them as they themselves have come to the hour of their death. "I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." … (Emphasis added). “.. He {Jesus} himself is the total master of death in all its forms. "I am the resurrection and the life," he said. Death, in the presence of Jesus, is no longer death. As Paul would later say, it loses its sting; the grave loses its victory. Death, in the hands of Jesus, is robbed of all its terror. And though it may take an outward form, it is no longer death as we think of it. For in the presence of life, death can no longer be death. Jesus, you remember, most often called it merely "sleep." When Jairus' daughter lay dead, and Jesus came, he looked at her and said, "She's asleep," {cf, Mark 5:39, Luke 8:52}. They laughed at him. But he called her back to life. And when word reached him that Lazarus was dead, he said to his disciples, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep," {John 11:11a RSV}. They said that was good, for then he would recover. Jesus said plainly, "No, Lazarus is dead," {John 11:14b}. But just as we do not fear sleep, those who trust him do not need to fear death. And within moments, Lazarus himself, dead four days and already stinking, as Martha bluntly put it, was restored to them and was walking, talking, and living among them again. Jesus, the master of death, says, "I am the resurrection." What he points out is that the answer to death is not the resurrection, but Jesus. Jesus Himself is the answer. It is not merely the fact or the hope of a resurrection. "I am the resurrection and the life." What he means is that no one can hope to escape death unless he is related to the conqueror of death, Jesus of Nazareth...”
The entire Christian faith is centered around the resurrection of Christ.. As The Bible says “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain”. (See Section on The Resurrection) In the ancient land of Israel one of the festivals decreed by God was the Feast of First Fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14). When the standing ripe harvest of barley and wheat was ready to be reaped. The celebrant would take one sheaf from the standing harvest and bring it to the priest. The lone sheaf was called "the sheaf of the first fruits." The priest then took this sheaf and waved it before the Lord in the Temple the day after the Sabbath. Prescribed offerings were also to be presented along with the sheaf… The nation of Israel was familiar with the concept of first fruits or the firstborn. The first fruits were always the choicest, the foremost, the first, the best, the preeminent of all that was to follow. They were holy to the Lord. [Also See The Feasts of Israel] Jesus the Christ was the firstfruits of those that ‘sleep’.. Who, like Him, do not die but will be raised to eternal life. In the words of Scripture.. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”. (1Corinthians 15:20). “..Our bodies will one day be raised! Christianity does not teach the immortality of the soul--the belief that our bodies are like prisons, and thus death is a great blessing to liberate us from these prisons so that we can continue living forever as disembodied spirits. Rather, Christianity teaches the resurrection of the body. As the apostle's creed says, "We believe in the resurrection of the body." Our bodies are not prisons, but are part of who we are. Of course our souls will live forever. But they will live forever in our bodies, not apart from them”. (The Great Christian Hope of Glorification. Read Article)
Ray Stedman goes on to say “I have always regretted that the world at large oftentimes seems to see and hear the gospel as though it is a message of hope only in the hour of death….It is not something merely for the hour of death. Nevertheless, I do not want to minimize the great truth that when you come to death, as all of us must -- the inevitable occurrence which awaits us, every one without exception, when, alone, you have to face that hour -- then the only place of hope is in these marvelous words of Jesus: "I am the resurrection and the life." There is no hope apart from that”.
There is no need to feel fear, helplessness, or hopelessness in the face of death. Christ has conquered death and offered the gift of eternal life to those who would take it.. Will you? (See The Heart of The Matter) |
Index To Section One.. 
