Cancer Blog #84
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #84– Death Has Been Abolished
May 13, 2023
[2Ti 1:8-10] 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with [me] in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
Here Paul makes another one of his surprising remarks. For us Protestants, what is most importantly revealed in the gospel is forgiveness of sins. Hands down that is our greatest concern, and deservedly so. But Paul reminds us this needed and wonderful gift should never become our sole conception of what’s pronounced in the good news.
Paul is reminding us that the gospel needs to be broad enough to include not only a message of repentance and faith but also of a different need and gift: the total destruction of death and the start of a life that never ends. I think we tend to get distracted by all the immediate and personal problems and so focus on problem solving. We neglect the linked evils of decay and demise that are of monumental concern not only for us individually, but also for the rest of mankind, and even our planet.
Perhaps to our amazement, the gospel is not just a message to individuals as we so often think. It also is a message to the human race, to all people everywhere, that in Jesus’ death all death has been abolished. Its power has been broken for us and for creation. There is no more need for any person to be afraid of death. We have seen before that the abolition of death, and its concomitant fear, was one of the reasons Jesus became a man (Hebrews 2:14-15). This end of death is indeed a vital part of our good news. It is the announcement of the end of the bad news that every single person, indeed the entire human race for most of its history has heard: you are going to die. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day. There is no bargaining or negotiation. It is fixed and certain, and you must face that momentous fact. Don’t be distracted by all the noise you hear around you every day. Focus – you are going to die. Be ready.
The good news of the gospel includes the fact that Jesus came to deliver us from the certainty that the present end is the final end: from the delusion that it is a natural end. Rather He shows us that it is an eternal death and punishment. But, Jesus also offers hope to escape from eternal death and find the assurance of eternal life, of joyful immortality. If we will only meditate on that message daily, our lives will be much less stressful and, at times when we truly believe, much more hopeful. Our greatest problem and fear has ended. May we regularly thank God for that hope!
NEXT: The Hope of Revelation