Death is an issue that most people dislike to talk about, Christians included. This is because it represents grief, sadness, bereavement, a sense of loss. Christians and non-Christians alike agree to the reality and unavoidability of death; that our bodies suffer the process of decay and return to the ground. This topic is a gloomy one and the thought of it creates fear especially to non-Christians (at least for those who do not know what will happen to them in the afterlife) due to a general perception that death is a tragic end to the one life that they know of. Christians of course do not believe that this mortal life is the only one, but rather death is a separation of body and soul. Erickson says, “Believers, although still subject to physical death, do not experience its fearsome power, its curse.” The perishing of the immortal, corruptible life marks the beginning of eternal life.
The problem is many Christians see their days on earth as more important than the life hereafter. When physical existence is more real than heavenly destination, death is unwelcome. Carl F.H. Henry summarizes beautifully how Christians should respond:
“Heaven is the beatific(pure, virtuous, excellent) vision, ever deeper communion with God, the perfection of God’s image, the fulfillment of spiritual nature, the maturing of higher capacities, the perfection in holiness, ‘serving God day and night.’…. If, in this life only, we have hope, death is a terrible tragedy, unrelieved pessimism, the dark night of the soul. If Christ is our hope, death has already lost its dominion; it is the threshold of life; life is ‘present with the Lord’ and reunion with the blessed dead, in communion with whom the beatific vision will be shared.”
Sources referred to: Christian Theology by Millard Erickson, Basic Christian Doctrines-Contemporary Christian Thought by Carl F.H. Henry
