The best way I've heard death described is as the completion of baptism. We are immersed in the promises of God, and when we are joined with Christ in his death and resurrection, we have to go through death to obtain the resurrection. There's no way around that -- it's like asking to win the lottery without every buying a ticket. There's a necessary door to go through to enter eternal life, and although we know that Christ is the door, coming to us in grace and mercy, we still have to pass through it, and that isn't easy.
My great uncle completed his baptism after 91 years of faithfulness, and has been received into the new heavens, into the new earth, into the joy, into the gladness. The promises of God are reliable, for God is faithful and true, and we lean into them as we mourn. There is an empty tomb in Jerusalem that testifies to the truth of all of this. I heard Tim Keller quote someone that the Gospel has transformed death from an executioner into a gardener. We are planted and then grow into something remarkable, far more glorious than the humble seed that goes into the ground. One day I, too, will rejoice and be glad, for there will be no more sounds of weeping and cries of distress.
What a glorious hope we have in Jesus Christ.
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