Thinking of Death
I bet that title threw you a little, didn’t it? For some reason I have been thinking of death . . . okay, the fact that I have been thinking of my dad, who died back in 2010, might have something to do with it, but I have always had a rather sober view of death. You see, I have often referred to our bodies, the “physical beings,” as our “Earth Suits.” Just like in space, astronauts need “space suits” to survive and in order for us to live in this three-dimensional world of ours, we need to wear these “Earth Suits.”
These mortal bodies of ours are nothing more than shells that house our “real” self, our spirit — once the spirit leaves, the physical body is no longer needed. Remember I said many times before that we are tri-une beings, just like out Father. Just like him, we are a spirit, but the difference is that we live in physical bodies and possess a soul. This “Earth Suit” is not for us to keep, it is simply a temporary container that enshrouds an ever-growing, ever-maturing life. The body is a shell that acts as a transient guardian of the life inside. The shell is synthetic when you compare it to the eternal life it clothes.
Every true believer has been infused with eternal life — the Life and Nature of our Father. The Greek word is Zoe, which is the very life and nature of God Himself. His Holy Spirit has been given to fill and move with our individual spirit. It was planted as a seed in our mortal bodies and is constantly maturing. It is within us as an ever-growing, ever-expanding process of development — and it must eventually break out of the shell to become a new form of life. This glorious life of God in us exerts pressure on the shell, and at the very moment resurrection life is mature, the shell breaks. The artificial bounds are broken and, like a newborn baby chick, the soul is freed from its prison. Praise the Lord!
Oh, I admit that I may be simplifying this, and the whole process is much more complicated. But I truly believe that death is nothing more than the breaking of the fragile shell. At the precise moment our Lord decides our shell has fulfilled its function, God’s people must be wiling to abandon their old, corrupt bodies back to the dust from which it came.
Maybe you feel I am getting too morbid or something. But that is not the case. As I explained, I began thinking of this when I was remembering my dad suffering from the effects of cancer, but then finally being released from the pain and discomfort, to a new life. This morning, as I prepared a fried egg, I saw the shell being cracked and these thoughts came to me, and yes, normal every-day things will often trigger a spiritual insight — they are supposed to do that.
After I cracked that egg shell, I never once thought of picking up the fragmented pieces and forcing a newborn chick back into its original state. So if you have lost someone recently, despite the pain of your loss, would you think of asking your departed loved one to give up their new, glorified body — made in Christ’s own image — and return to the decaying shell they broke free of?
Paul said that “To die is gain!” (Philippians 1:21). I realize that kind of talk is absolutely foreign to our modern, spiritual vocabularies. We seem to worship life and have very little desire or even longing to depart to be with the Lord.
Paul said, “I find it hard to choose between the two. I would like to leave this life and be with Christ. That’s by far the better choice . . .” (Philippians 1:23). Yet, for the sake of edifying the converts, he thought it would be best to “stay in the shell.” Or, as he put it, “remain in the body.”
Was Paul being morbid? Did he have an unhealthy fixation on death? Did Paul show a lack of respect for the life God had blessed him with? Absolutely not! Paul lived life to the fullest. To him, life was a gift, and he had used it well to fight a good fight. He had overcome the fear of the “sting of death” and could now say, “It’s better to die and be with the Lord than to stay in the flesh.”
Nickolas
These mortal bodies of ours are nothing more than shells that house our “real” self, our spirit — once the spirit leaves, the physical body is no longer needed. Remember I said many times before that we are tri-une beings, just like out Father. Just like him, we are a spirit, but the difference is that we live in physical bodies and possess a soul. This “Earth Suit” is not for us to keep, it is simply a temporary container that enshrouds an ever-growing, ever-maturing life. The body is a shell that acts as a transient guardian of the life inside. The shell is synthetic when you compare it to the eternal life it clothes.
Every true believer has been infused with eternal life — the Life and Nature of our Father. The Greek word is Zoe, which is the very life and nature of God Himself. His Holy Spirit has been given to fill and move with our individual spirit. It was planted as a seed in our mortal bodies and is constantly maturing. It is within us as an ever-growing, ever-expanding process of development — and it must eventually break out of the shell to become a new form of life. This glorious life of God in us exerts pressure on the shell, and at the very moment resurrection life is mature, the shell breaks. The artificial bounds are broken and, like a newborn baby chick, the soul is freed from its prison. Praise the Lord!
Oh, I admit that I may be simplifying this, and the whole process is much more complicated. But I truly believe that death is nothing more than the breaking of the fragile shell. At the precise moment our Lord decides our shell has fulfilled its function, God’s people must be wiling to abandon their old, corrupt bodies back to the dust from which it came.
Maybe you feel I am getting too morbid or something. But that is not the case. As I explained, I began thinking of this when I was remembering my dad suffering from the effects of cancer, but then finally being released from the pain and discomfort, to a new life. This morning, as I prepared a fried egg, I saw the shell being cracked and these thoughts came to me, and yes, normal every-day things will often trigger a spiritual insight — they are supposed to do that.
After I cracked that egg shell, I never once thought of picking up the fragmented pieces and forcing a newborn chick back into its original state. So if you have lost someone recently, despite the pain of your loss, would you think of asking your departed loved one to give up their new, glorified body — made in Christ’s own image — and return to the decaying shell they broke free of?
Paul said that “To die is gain!” (Philippians 1:21). I realize that kind of talk is absolutely foreign to our modern, spiritual vocabularies. We seem to worship life and have very little desire or even longing to depart to be with the Lord.
Paul said, “I find it hard to choose between the two. I would like to leave this life and be with Christ. That’s by far the better choice . . .” (Philippians 1:23). Yet, for the sake of edifying the converts, he thought it would be best to “stay in the shell.” Or, as he put it, “remain in the body.”
Was Paul being morbid? Did he have an unhealthy fixation on death? Did Paul show a lack of respect for the life God had blessed him with? Absolutely not! Paul lived life to the fullest. To him, life was a gift, and he had used it well to fight a good fight. He had overcome the fear of the “sting of death” and could now say, “It’s better to die and be with the Lord than to stay in the flesh.”
Nickolas
(I send out messages like this each morning in emails, and if you are interested in receiving them, send me your email address and I will add you to the list)
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