“People Die”

        What a horrible title— “People Die!” But wait! Before you throw this paper away, know that THERE IS A GREAT OFFER FOR YOU. Does the thought of death annoy you? Is it often there in the background? Ignoring it won’t solve the problem. Why not face it? Why not attack it head on? Why not wipe it out? What if you could get rid of the annoyance? Is it worth checking out?

        It seems to me that there are only a few ways that this could be done:

(1)   Just keep aging—but we’ve all read stories of 100-year-olds; it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse, and death comes anyway.

(2)   Find a “fountain of youth”—but this is just fantasy. Medical science and genetic research may add ten or twenty years to our lives but death still comes.

(3)   Face death and make it an entrance into something greater. The fear of death is a form of slavery.

        Item (3) is the Christian way. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25.) Paul, speaking to the Athenians, said that God had raised Jesus from the dead. But some sneered! (Acts 17:31.) Why would they sneer? Why not just listen? Maybe Paul and John had something vital to offer.

        There are lots of stories in the Bible about people raised back to life. Lazarus is the prime example—dead four days! But they all returned only to normal life. They had to die again. Jesus is different. He is the leader, the fore-runner, the first human to enter into a new kind of life.

        Death seems to have a vicious claim on us now, but one day every believer will be like Christ—there will be no more death.

        In the final analysis, my great offer is really GOD’S GREAT OFFER: Whoever believes in Jesus will have everlasting life—a beautiful life that goes on forever!