Death and Other Things

It seems to me that for the past few years, I have lost some good friends and family to the reality of physical death.  Of course some of that may be because of the fact that my friends and I are getting older and bodies do wear out.  But even young people die. 

The cause is from original sin.  It sure changed everything.  God warned Adam about sin ... but he didn't listen did he.  So God did what He had to do ... He ordained and pronounced the sentence of physical death upon man.  This death sentence was so traumatic and so destructive that all living things upon God's green earth also had to suffer the consequence of man's sin.  Everything goes from order to disorder, from life to death.

How many people over the history of man have asked the very same question ... why?  Some have asked ... "Why did my infant baby die?"  Or ... "Why did the drunk driver live, but my wife or husband didn't?"  Or a hundred other similar questions.  
   
The only sure answer is ... "as in Adam, all die."   (1st Corinthians 15:22)

Death isn't a fun subject to talk about ... but it's a reality ... and because God ordained it, it must be a good thing.  Now that thought sounds strange doesn't it?  No really, think what one particular death has already accomplished. 

Who first thought of death?  Who first brought it up?  Doesn't the Word of God say that Jesus, as the Lamb ... "was slain from the foundation of the world."  (Revelation 13:8)  

Before creation, God had already purposed in His heart and mind to bring redemption to man through the death of Jesus.  1st Peter 1:18-20 speaks to this ...

"You were not redeemed with corruptible things ... But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world ..."

So death was planned and ordained by God.  So I say it is good ... even though we don't like it.  The fact is, I'm tired of death.  I hate it.  I've seen too much of it.  Death leaves us hurting, death leaves us sorrowing.  Not the one who dies, only we who are left behind.  I don't ask why any more.  I just accept the fact and have started to believe that God has a purpose in which even death plays a part. 

For us, death goes back to God's sentence on original sin ... "it has been appointed for men to die." (Hebrews 9:27)  And as Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15:50 & 53 ... "Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God" ... so we must leave the things of earth behind, (like our physical bodies) which is why he follows with ... "this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

This now leads me to ask, who makes sure mortals die and put on immortality?  God does of course.  This brings me to Ephesians 1:11, in which Paul states in the first half of this verse "... we have obtained an inheritance ..." which speaks of eternity with Christ.  But what I really want to comment on is one phrase in the last half of this scripture.

"... according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will …" 

Notice ... "who worketh all things" …  meaning, in the working of all things, His will and purpose is not confined to just one thing … such as salvation; but that every object and event is under His control and is in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose.  The affirmation here is that ... "God does everything."

God's hand is seen in everything, everywhere.  Every leaf, flower or blade of grass, every sunrise and sunset, every flash of lightning all declare His glory and the power of God.  There is not one object that we see that does not speak of the control of a God who has purpose in what He does.

It would be impossible to affirm any more positively that God’s rule is universal and over all things, than Paul does with the statement … "who worketh all things."  Paul does not attempt to prove it.  It is one of those points on which he does not deem it necessary to pause and reason, or to further explain why God does what He does.  He merely affirms that fact which may be regarded as a conceded point of God's providence.

He works all things everywhere. But He does it in accordance with the laws of nature that He has already given.  The general doctrine is … "that God works in all things and controls all things" according to … "the counsel of his own will."

The phrase "counsel of his own will" is designed to show that it is not by consulting man's opinion and will, or conforming to their views, but by His own views of what is proper and right.  And that includes the sentence of death that Adam's original sin brought to man.

We are incapable of perceiving the reasons for what God does, and He is not required to make them known to others.  His purpose for what He does is determined by what He alone views to be right.  In every instance, we are to believe that there is a good reason for what He does, and may I add ... that we ought to have such a confidence in Him as to believe that He will do all things that is best for us whether we understand or not.

What man is there who has never had to face trouble, disappointment, sickness, sorrow or the death of someone near and dear to him?  You may say that God isn't the cause of these things.  You may be exactly right, and if you are ... what am I supposed to do with the following scripture?

Amos 3:6 ... "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" 

Is the Apostle Paul agreeing with Amos, and would he say the above evil was done ... "according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will ..." ?

Because God doesn't stop "things" from happening ... both good and bad, can we therefore say with any degree of certainty that God ordains them?  I'm just asking.

We have to face reality.  All kinds of stuff happens ... including death ... too soon and too often for me.

Deuteronomy 29:29 … "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us."

His will for most things, are revealed in the book.  But some things are not ... and these are usually the things that cause us the most grief.

It's almost as if God wants us to trust Him in death and other things.



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