Life and Death

Mark 8:35 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."

After having to rebuke Peter for disagreeing with Jesus and His plan for salvation, Jesus brings together all those around Him and gives them a lesson in discipleship. The one question that we all will have to face one day is "what happens when we die?" Death is the great equalizer of men. It is no respecter of persons or titles. Prince and paupers have to deal with the fact that one day the body will cease to be and we have to go beyond this earthly realm. Throughout the ages men have come up with every conceivable philosophy about life after death, from the complete death of body and soul to the fountain of youth that can make you live forever. Those that are uncertain tremble at the thought of dying and either ignore it altogether or work toward making sure their good outweighs their bad. Some have simply resign to the fact that they can never know what will happen and adapt the attitude of making the most out of the time here on earth by fulfilling every desire of the flesh.
In general there are two types of people when it comes to dealing with death: those that work out their own salvation in one form or another and those that trust God to save them. What does the Bible say about death? The writer of Hebrews points out that "it is appointed for man to die once, but after this the judgement." Paul also tells us that for the believer "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." (2 Cor. 5:8) When the body ceases to function we receive a new body in which we will spend eternity. Our soul is eternal and will never cease to exist. When we are done on this earth with a corruptible body we will take on the incorruptible and go before God for judgement. God, who is a holy and perfect judge, one who cannot tolerate any form of sin in His presence, will then take our lives and examine them for any sin we have committed while on earth. And if there is any to be found, it has to be judged. God cannot by nature leave sin unjudged for that would make Him unfair. What is the penalty for any form of sin? Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death." This death then comes as what is called the spiritual death - eternal separation from God and never-ending torment in hell. Revelation 21:8 talks about this place: "but the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." 
What is the answer for life eternal? To be born again spiritually unto life eternal by accepting Jesus' redemptive work on the cross as out free gift of salvation. By the shedding of His own, innocent blood Jesus has paid for our penalty for our sins and we are free from all condemnation. When we stand before the eternal judge thus cleansed from all unrighteousness we are free to enter into God's presence for all eternity. You see, we can either try to save ourselves through our own righteousness, which leaves to eternal damnation, or we can let God save us through His work, which ensures heavenly bliss for the rest of time. It is not about our efforts, but about God's purposes. In our finite minds we can only see as far as death and do what we can before we get there. God sees death merely as a starting point for those that believe in Him to do abundantly and exceedingly for His kingdom. For the believer death has lost its sting, for he has already died to self and been born again unto servanthood in God's eternal kingdom. Physical death merely becomes a transition from corruptible to incorruptible, a falling asleep and awakening.

Application
I want to rest in the assurance of God's redemptive work and His purposes for my life. I do not need to work out any of my own plans but simply follow His plan. Therefore I will daily surrender my will to Him and ask for His will to be done every day in my life. Today I will surrender my plans to go to Uganda to Him and accept whatever He wants for us in that regard.