mourn

Death, as they say, is just a part of life. 

Recently it seems like Death has become prevalent in my life and the lives of those around me. Yesterday I found out my great-aunt passed away. She was an amazing woman who lived a full life. Today is a year and two months since my dear friend Ashley Cassell died. Last weekend a young woman who I didn't know, but who apparently touched the lives of many of my friends, passed away from cancer. Every day I hear stories of people dying all across this world. 

It breaks my heart. It brings us sadness and pain to know the ones we love are no longer here with us.

But one of the things I find so magnificent and hopeful about Christianity, and the story God is weaving with our lives, is that Death is not the end. Once again, I don't know your views on the afterlife or the supernatural or all this "Jesus" stuff, but for me I can't think of a more extraordinary belief than the great equalizer of Death being destroyed, subverted, conquered, disabled, and "laid in its grave.". Its grip is shattered and its overwhelming power taken away. This overcoming of Death ties in so well with God's redemptive, forgiving, merciful purpose in our world. As C. S. Lewis said, 

"We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He has disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity."

Lewis was summarizing the Christian faith in the above passage, and I love "by dying He has disabled death itself." To me that is such a powerful statement. Paul wrote about death in his first letter to the Corinthians (15:55 NIV NLT MSG CEV), 

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 

"O death, where is your punishment? O grave, where is your sting?" 

"Who got the last word, Death? Death, who's afraid of you now?" 

"Death has lost the battle! Where is its victory? Where is its sting?"

From what I've read, Paul was referring to how sin and Law cause death, and subsequently how Christ's work on the cross disabled that death. It stings us and pains us, but it does not wield the ultimate power over us that it once did.

God's love is now the great equalizer. 

So we mourn and grieve with hope. 

Hope that death does not have the final word. 

Hope that mocks death's power. 

Hope that one day, our joy will be complete. 

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." - Revelation 21:4 NLT