We are Christians, that is, Christ like. The human body of Jesus, the Son of Man, passed (or would pass) through five stages :- (1) Birth, (2) Death (3) Resurrection (4) Ascension and (5) Second coming.
See Matthew 16 : 21 – 28, From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Never, Lord ! he said. This shall never happen to you ! Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan ! You are a stumbling block to me ; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul ? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul ? For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
Note verses 27 and 28 and verse 21. Now, verse 22, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Never, Lord ! he said. This shall never happen to you ! How did Peter react to this news of Christ’s coming death, He rebuked Jesus.
Are you generally pleased when someone you love is going to die or when he is dead ? We can say NO.
Christian, that is, Christ like. Jesus said, in Matthew 16 : 21, that His suffering and death would be Necessary. Luke 24 : verses 26 and 46, Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory ? He told them, This is what is written : The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Both of these verses say that it was necessary for Christ to suffer. (Some of us will suffer before our death)
It was so NECESSARY for the Christ to suffer and die that Jesus scolded Peter sharply when he opposed the idea. To the point, Jesus identified Peter with Satan at that moment. See Matthew 16 : 23, Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan ! You are a stumbling block to me ; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Note that God knows the best for someone’s end.
Matthew 26 : 53 – 54 says, Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way ?
When Jesus was arrested, He could have asked His Father to send His Angels to set Him free. Even in Matthew 27 : 39 – 43, Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself ! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God ! In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. He saved others, they said, but He can’t save Himself ! He’s the King of Israel ! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He said I am the Son of God. When the people tempted Jesus by suggesting that He should save Himself from death on the cross, He could have done it but He surrendered to the will of God.
And Jesus did not ask for the help of the angels and He did not come down from the cross because it was Necessary that He dies.
DEATH is the greatest problem mankind faces. This is true for many reasons because all men die, because it brings much sadness and because (apart from God’s word) nothing is known about what happens on the other side of death. But what must happen to everyone who is born into the world. They must die.
In order to discover the reason for this necessity, we must go back once again into the Old Testament. Genesis 2 : 16 – 17, And the Lord God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden ; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. The penalty for disobeying the command of God means Man would surely die.
Because all men have sinned, it is NECESSARY that all men experience death. That is why it was also NECESSARY that Christ, the Son of Man experience death, even though He did NOT sin, as the son of man, He identified Himself with our flesh and blood and with the fact that we must all die.
It is true that all men must die physically. However, what kind of death do we NOT have to experience because Christ bore our sins on the cross is eternal death. Read Matthew 16 : 24 – 26, Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul ? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul ? And finally read 1st Corinthians 15 : 20 – 23, But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn : Christ, the firstfruits ; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.
According to these verses, « those who belong to him » will all be made Alive, that is, just as « in Adam all die » So also in Christ everyone who believes will be Raised from the Dead.
So then, death is not the end for the Christian ! We shall be raised again from the dead to live eternally with our Lord.
We should note those who are left behind after the death of a loved one also have difficult adjustments to make.
Acceptance of death in a personal sense takes time. Even if we accept the idea of death and our own mortality. We must accept it as a reality. Then we can give attention and energy to experiencing life again fully.
May God assist in all understandings.
See Matthew 16 : 21 – 28, From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Never, Lord ! he said. This shall never happen to you ! Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan ! You are a stumbling block to me ; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul ? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul ? For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
Note verses 27 and 28 and verse 21. Now, verse 22, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Never, Lord ! he said. This shall never happen to you ! How did Peter react to this news of Christ’s coming death, He rebuked Jesus.
Are you generally pleased when someone you love is going to die or when he is dead ? We can say NO.
Christian, that is, Christ like. Jesus said, in Matthew 16 : 21, that His suffering and death would be Necessary. Luke 24 : verses 26 and 46, Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory ? He told them, This is what is written : The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Both of these verses say that it was necessary for Christ to suffer. (Some of us will suffer before our death)
It was so NECESSARY for the Christ to suffer and die that Jesus scolded Peter sharply when he opposed the idea. To the point, Jesus identified Peter with Satan at that moment. See Matthew 16 : 23, Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan ! You are a stumbling block to me ; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Note that God knows the best for someone’s end.
Matthew 26 : 53 – 54 says, Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way ?
When Jesus was arrested, He could have asked His Father to send His Angels to set Him free. Even in Matthew 27 : 39 – 43, Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself ! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God ! In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. He saved others, they said, but He can’t save Himself ! He’s the King of Israel ! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He said I am the Son of God. When the people tempted Jesus by suggesting that He should save Himself from death on the cross, He could have done it but He surrendered to the will of God.
And Jesus did not ask for the help of the angels and He did not come down from the cross because it was Necessary that He dies.
DEATH is the greatest problem mankind faces. This is true for many reasons because all men die, because it brings much sadness and because (apart from God’s word) nothing is known about what happens on the other side of death. But what must happen to everyone who is born into the world. They must die.
In order to discover the reason for this necessity, we must go back once again into the Old Testament. Genesis 2 : 16 – 17, And the Lord God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden ; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. The penalty for disobeying the command of God means Man would surely die.
Because all men have sinned, it is NECESSARY that all men experience death. That is why it was also NECESSARY that Christ, the Son of Man experience death, even though He did NOT sin, as the son of man, He identified Himself with our flesh and blood and with the fact that we must all die.
It is true that all men must die physically. However, what kind of death do we NOT have to experience because Christ bore our sins on the cross is eternal death. Read Matthew 16 : 24 – 26, Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul ? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul ? And finally read 1st Corinthians 15 : 20 – 23, But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn : Christ, the firstfruits ; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.
According to these verses, « those who belong to him » will all be made Alive, that is, just as « in Adam all die » So also in Christ everyone who believes will be Raised from the Dead.
So then, death is not the end for the Christian ! We shall be raised again from the dead to live eternally with our Lord.
We should note those who are left behind after the death of a loved one also have difficult adjustments to make.
Acceptance of death in a personal sense takes time. Even if we accept the idea of death and our own mortality. We must accept it as a reality. Then we can give attention and energy to experiencing life again fully.
May God assist in all understandings.