The Sting of Death

Brandon Byler

Yesterday my morning was interrupted by the news that one of the missionaries that we love and support unexpectedly passed away. What I respected about him the most was his courageous boldness. He ministered in the very dangerous places of Egypt and Iraq. The circumstances surrounding his death have not yet been released, and yet I will tell you it is a blow to our church. When we would announce he was coming to speak, our people were excited. The excitement was partly because of his location of ministry and the danger it involved that our people wanted to understand. They were thrilled to partner with him. It was also due to his charisma and joy that he coupled so well with his knowledge of Scripture. This news has hit so many hard, but none harder than his churches in Egypt and plants in Iraq.

As Christians, we tend to avoid discussions about death. In his excellent book “Grieving,” James White writes, “Our culture has done everything in its power to rid itself of having to think of death and its consequences. As a result, we don’t talk about it, think about it, or do a very good job preparing ourselves for its certain arrival” (pg. 22). White hits the nail on the head with that last phrase.

Ignore death all you want—it will invade your life. You can shut off the thoughts of the reality of death, but with each new day we are one day closer to death, either our own or a loved one’s. Ignoring death is no way of dealing with it. Therefore, I offer five biblical helps to assist you in preparing for death.

1. Death comes to all men

Being a pastor, I will sometimes get the question—usually by one of the children in our church—why do people die? I open the Bible to Genesis 2:17, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” I will ask them why eating of that tree is wrong to help them see that the fruit of the tree and the tree itself is called very good by God in Genesis 1:31. I want them to see the sin is not in the fruit or the tree; the sin is in the disobedience to the command of God.

It is hard to understand this: Adam and Eve did not truly understand the concept of death. Nothing around them had died, and they had been alive for a short time. Death is a mystery to them. However, it becomes a reality upon their disobedience of God’s command. At this point, man became a sinner, and the penalty of sin is death, therefore, all men die.

This is the doctrine of original sin in a nutshell. Because Adam sinned and sin corrupted all of creation—especially himself—his offspring is also corrupted and is by nature sinful. Because all offspring is by nature sinful, all men die. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us of this saying, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment.” Death will come one day. The problem is that because death hasn’t come, we pretend that it will not come.

2. Death is not expected

It’s amazing that we can know the truth that death comes to all men, and yet we are shocked when it hits us. Even when a loved one is terminal, we are still shocked by the emptiness of their passing.

No one expects today to be their last day; even if death is at the door, we expect one more day. No one expects today to be their last day, especially if they’re healthy. And yet people die every day, many of them unexpectedly like our missionary friend. Even though we know we will die, we don’t expect to die or to watch our loved ones die.

As a pastor, I have had to do funerals for those who have died apart from Christ. These are the hardest funerals to do, because no matter how hard I try, I cannot truly comfort the family. Their loved one is gone, and they are under God’s wrath. I did a funeral once for a man who, when I met with him, knew he was dying of cancer. When I told him I came to address him about the state of his soul, he kicked me out of his hospital room. He would not even allow me to offer a prayer for him. His wife asked me to do his funeral the next week. That was a tough day. He put off the reality of death even as cancer consumed his body. Some, even while dying, don’t expect the result of death to be eternal judgment.

3. Death is not the end, but it still hurts

Paul writes as a herald for a victorious king in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57. “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He writes this after exegeting the truth of the risen King, Jesus Christ.

Think about verse 55: “O death, where is your sting?” When we experience the loss of a loved one or friend or ministry partner, we want to raise our hand and shout, “I have found the sting of death, Paul! It’s here with me!” Death hurts. I hate death. It stands as a threat to everyone on earth, and one day it will cease to be a threat and become a reality. My family and friends will one day be left with the sting of my death.

Yet, Paul writes as if death’s sting is gone. Why would he do that if its bite remains? He writes this because death is no longer a conquering enemy for the one who dies. For the Christian, death is a friend who delivers us to the presence of God. It may be hard for you to think of your loved one’s death as a friend, but if they are with Jesus, all is right in their world. It is us who hurt, but the sting of death is gone for the ones in heaven. They have triumphed because Jesus has already triumphed on their behalf.

4. Christ has conquered death so that we will live

When you recognize the work of Jesus that earned our salvation, He has done everything for us. He lived the perfect life God requires. He kept the whole law on our behalf. He fulfilled the law and the prophets so that salvation is secure. He gave the clearest revelation of God that we can believe on Him, repent of our sin, and be saved. He went to the cross and died for us, sinners. He died, paying the penalty of sin. On the cross, He bore the full weight of God’s wrath for us and cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He was buried, showing His death was real. He was raised to life for us, showing that God has truly accepted His sacrifice, and He alone offers salvation through faith in Him because He alone has earned salvation. One day, after we have died, because He was raised, we, too, shall be raised!

Jesus conquered death so that we will live a holy life. The command of “Be holy as I am holy” in 1 Peter 1:16 is not a suggestion. It’s a requirement that can be accomplished because God has given us His Spirit to empower us to be holy and live a righteous life. We will not live a perfect life. God knows we are but dust (Psalm 103:14); however, He does command us to be holy, set apart from sin.

The life we live we are to live for the Lord, with joy, that when we die, we leave an example to those around us of how to live, but also that when we enter into glory we will hear those precious words, “Well done” (Matthew 25:23)!

5. Meditate upon the brevity of life to motivate a holy and blessed life.

Life is a vapor; we are not guaranteed another day. Many people die with a calendar full of plans, plans that will not be enjoyed. What I am calling us to do is to take time to remind ourselves of how short life truly is. It is rare to meet a man or woman alive at 100, and when you think about it, 100 is not all that old compared to the timeline of history. We have limited time to make an influence on this world, to serve Jesus on earth.

Take time today and think about your life. I encourage you to think about your life in light of your death. “If I died in one month, what have I done for eternity? What examples of character have I set? What truths have I preached?” It is not too late to make changes.

Dear Christian, wrestle with death. Don’t avoid it like the plague, for one day a plague may find you or a family member, and then you will be forced to wrestle with it then. Preparing yourself for death makes it no easier, but it does allow you to live a better life, a holy life. I pray your meditation is fruitful and brings you to the point of being able to help those who grieve (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).