The Mystery of Death

“From the time I placed my chill of death over Abel's body,¹ you humans have feared me. You have good reason to. My name is Death—and to most of you I remain a terrible mystery. You know you have to die, but in most cases, you don't know when.² And even many with terminal diseases fear my approaching footsteps. 

"But I will admit a few things to you if you have a mind to listen. You think the enemy of your great God is my ruler. Even though Satan—God's adversary—knows better. He knows our time to operate is so brief in comparison to eternity.³ And I, Death, know that when the devil meets his final end, I go with him.⁴  That's not a pleasant thought!

"Right now, though, I'm very busy. As the great God of life says, 'It is appointed unto men once to die, after this the judgment.'⁵ You humans make all kinds of appointments you can break. But the appointment you have with me—Death—can't be broken.⁶

"So I'll admit something else. I often feel like I'm in a tug of war. The father of lies uses me for his purposes.⁷ And the great God of truth uses me to do His will. It's like this—Satan succeeds in using me to torment people who don't know God.⁸ He teases them with that age old questions Job once asked, 'If a man die, will he live again?' ⁹ And the devil answers, "Of course not! When you're dead, you're dead. Food for worms.' He even gets away with telling you humans another lie that you repeat to anyone who tries to tell you that there is life after death.¹⁰ You know, the old line that 'No one ever came back from the dead to tell us different.'

"Of course, someone did come back from the dead. You know who—the one I tohught I owned for three days until that resurrection morning when the Son of God rendered Satan impotent and me helpless.¹¹ We in the spirit world say it all because He actually used us to destroy us.¹² Talk about triumph! Every evil principality and power knew their authority wouldn't last. And Satan, Sin, and I, Death, were used like pawns in the hand of the all-wise God. How could we know that He would use the devil's hate to demonstrate His own redemptive love for you humans?¹³ Or that He would take Sin by the throat by taking on Himself the sins of every man¹⁴ that we had condemned as lost and worthy of hell? Or that He would espose me—Death—as only a temporary power that the great God would use for His own purposes?¹⁵

"I mean, to most of you humans, I, Death, am ugly. Fearful. Final. You see the physical evidence after I strike. There's nothing beautiful about a corpse—man, animal, or whatever, is there? Like James said, "...the body without the spirit is dead.'¹⁶ That's why the adversary tries to make humans concentrate on the word 'body' but not on that other word, 'spirit.' That way we can keep your mind on only the physical evidence—just corpses that die, decay, and disappear. And as long as Satan can keep me—Death—a mystery, we can keep you tormented through fear of your future appointment with me!¹⁷

"But we—Satan, Sin, and I—have a problem. A big one! Once our conquerer, Jesus, opens your eyes¹⁸ to the light of his resurrection and power, the mystery part of me is finished. That's when the believer in Jesus begins to discover that Satan's power is only delegated and limited by the sovereign Creator.¹⁹ And when the one who holds all power in heaven and earth²⁰ is invited to come into your lives as the Savior, those who love Jesus lose their fear of me.²¹ Some even welcome me. Me! Death! They see me as the only door that leads to their Father's house.²² And they know that in the great God's sight, their death is even precious²³ because He gets to lavish His love on them forever.

"That's why the one who has been given delgated power to use me in his 'steal, kill and destory'²⁴ rage is so desperate to keep you in his darkness. The mystery of me—Death—will no longer hold your attention. How can it when the one who calls Himself the light of the world²⁵ captures your focus on the greatest mystery that the Creator ever revealed to you humans—Christ in your, the hope of glory.²⁶ When that happens, you Christians see me, Death, as only the beginning of the beginning.²⁷ But for us—Satan, Sin, and I—there is no new beginning. There is only a terrible end!"²⁸

¹ Gen. 4:8-11

² James 4:4

³ Rev. 12:12

⁴ Rev. 20:14

⁵ Hebrews 9:27

⁶ Ecc. 8:8

⁷ Romans 5:12

⁸ Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 4:18

⁹ Job 14:14

¹⁰ John 11:25-26

¹¹ Luke 24:5-6

¹² Hebrews 2:14

¹³ John 10:10

¹⁴ 2 Cor. 5:21

¹⁵ Rev. 12:12

¹⁶ James 2:26

¹⁷ Hebrews 2:15

¹⁸ Eph. 1:18

¹⁹ James 4:7

²⁰ Matt. 28:18

²¹ 2 Tim. 1:7

²² 2 Cor. 5:8

²³ Psalm 116:15

²⁴ John 10:10

²⁵ John 8:12

²⁶ Col. 1:26-27

²⁷ 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:21

²⁸ Rev. 20:14

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Cecilia Contreras