So wrote the poet Thomas Gray in his "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard." After a life of great things he saw death. The conqueror death is always there! There is no escaping it. And of course, he was correct: death is sure. Death is "the inevi­table hour."

The Bible sees death as no respecter of persons. The high and the low, the wicked and the good, the young and the old are threatened by and conquered by death. Starving millions, those whose tables overflow with food, some who take to the crowded, modern highways, innocent bystanders in war, soldiers on the front lines, our neighbors, our loved ones, even we ourselves are met by death. "It is ap­pointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27). No matter how we try, we cannot escape it. With every tick of the clock death conquers another living being.

We try to stop it, but we cannot. Medical science conquers in one area and another way of death is un­covered.

Not being able to stop it we try to cover it and shield ourselves and our children from it. But death's ugliness still remains.

Just what is this death which is a very real part of our experience?

A. A. Hodge defined death as, The suspension of the personal union between the body and the soul, followed by the resolu­tion of the body into its chemical elements, and the introduction of the soul into that separate state of existence which may be assigned to it by its Creator and Judge.Outlines of Theology, 548

Yet, no matter how carefully we define it, it still re­mains a mystery.

Oh, we know it's here. Death is not something built into creation like gravity — a natural law, as some call it. Death is the result of our sin. "In the day that thou eatest thereof (of the forbidden tree) thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17), said God to Adam. Adam sinned and "sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men..."  (Romans 6:23). Death is part of the curse of sin: "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19).

The death that comes because of sin is total death: spiritual, physical and eternal. As Dr. A. A. Hoekema writes:

Man is a totality, with a spiritual side to his being as well as a physical. Since accord­ing to Scripture the deepest meaning of life is fel­lowship with God, the deepest meaning of death must be separation from God.The Bible and the Future, 82

Indeed, Adam's sin brought devastat­ing separation from God. Because of sin we are with­out fellowship with God. Unless God works salva­tion in our hearts by His grace we will know eternal death — eternal condemnation in hell. The gateway from the first experience of death (to the eternal ex­perience of death) we call death — physical death.

Contrary to what some think, that moment of physical death is not the end of existence. It is only a severing of this earthly life's relationships.

There are two ways we can face death. We either face it as believers or unbelievers. For the unbelievers it is a terrifying moment. Eternal hell has opened its door. For the believer it must be entirely different. And we know this because we have God's precious revelation to show us this difference. Of course,

It is thoroughly human to dread death. Only a fool will jest about death as if there were nothing horrible about it.

Even the Christian instinctively dreads death, though he is assured that his Savior will lead him by the hand through the dark valley of death into the regions of light. J. J. Knap, Life Beyond the Grave, 11

Nevertheless, this dread does not become an expec­tation of danger. It is there because death is an un­desired guest — it is unnatural. It changes all our plans; it brings an end to what we know; it severs ties with our loved ones; it brings us to the gate of the unknown.

However, because Jesus really, physically died, a believer's death takes on new meaning. The Heidel­berg Catechism asks (q. 42):

Since, then, Christ died for us, why must we also die?

Our death is not a satisfaction for our sins, but only a dying to sins and entering into eter­nal life.

What do We Believe?⤒🔗

We believe that our death does not pay for our sins. This payment has already been accomplished for us through Christ's atoning work. Instead, for us death has become "a dying to sins." In this life we do not yet experience in full the perfection which is ours in Christ. We still struggle with sin. Because of it we know distress.

In this present life sin is the heaviest burden we have to bear. The older we get, the more it grieves us that we keep on falling short of doing the will of God.A. A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, 85

Physical death means the end of this. In fact, death for the believer means perfection in glory (Hebrews 12:22, 23). Instead of dying in my sins, because of Jesus' death, I die to my sins.

Nevertheless, being human, there is a certain gloom connected with the tomb when we view it from this life. And, so our catechism reminds us that death for the believer is also an "entering into eternal life." This is just another way of saying with Paul,

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.Philippians 1:21

Think of it: everything that still resisted the full development of the life in Christ is gone in death! Though we in this life know eternal life, it is only a bare beginning (Heidelberg Catechism, q. 58). Death is the gateway to a new and glorious experience of eternal life. It is the gateway to a new beginning. It means that we are "at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Because Jesus died, the sting of death is gone, and so is the fear of death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57, Hebrews 2:14, 15). He went there for us.

It is no wonder that those who die "in the Lord" are said to be "blessed" (Revelation 14:13). Their death is described as being "asleep in Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 15, 1 Corinthians 15:18). That is, they are at rest from their labors (Revelation 14:13).

The Lord Jesus explained the new way of seeing death for the Christian when He said to Martha at Lazarus' tomb: "he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die" (John 11:25, 26).

One day, the Last Day, it will become apparent that death which seems humanly to bring defeat is indeed defeated because Christ is victorious. Thus, this death shall be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26).

How do We Explain what Happens in Death?←⤒🔗

Without attempting to use physician's language, we simply use the definition of Hodge: "The suspen­sion of the personal union between the body and the soul..." This "suspension of the personal union" is a separation — a termination of physical life. According to Ecclesiastes 12, this is always coming. When it finally completes its work, our bodies are placed in the ground. Unto dust they are to return (Genesis 3:19).

The Bible, however, indicates that the soul — that is, the life-principle, or what makes me, me — contin­ues to exist after death (Revelation 6:9, John saw "souls," not persons; Revelation 20:4; Matthew 10:28; James 5:20). For some, it is in bliss (Revelation 20:4). For others, it is in eter­nal destruction (Matthew 10:28).

A common way of describing the soul's existence is with the word "immortal." Often, however, it is not understood that there are two very different ways of understanding immortality. Though the word is used by poet, philosopher and theologian, there are different meanings.

For some, immortality belongs to every soul with­out exception. Every soul, according to philosophy, continues to live endlessly, perhaps in a mere col­orless existence. The "immortal soul" is the imper­ishable soul. And so, when an unbeliever dies, the world being completely unconcerned about a hell, takes comfort in the soul's immortality — its in­destructibility.

The ancient pagan religions believed this. Thus, the Egyptians (who also believed that the soul could not enjoy immortality without the body and therefore carefully preserved the body) provided the corpse (or, mummy) with the treasures which have been found in the tombs in recent years. Simi­larly, the American Indians provided their departed ones with bows and arrows, food or anything else which would be necessary to get to the happy hunt­ing ground. The soul would live on.

However, the Biblical teaching on "immortality" is very different. We find the word used in 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54 and 1 Timothy 6:16. In these pas­sages the word really means "deathlessness." It is also found to be the translation of a word meaning "incorruption" (1 Timothy 1:17, 2:7, 2 Timothy 1:10).

What, precisely, do we learn from these passages?

1. God is spoken of as immortal (1 Timothy 1:17, 6:16). In fact, we are told that He alone is immortal.
    
2. Immor­tality is only for some, not all (Romans 2:7).
    
3. Immor­tality is only experienced through Jesus Christ and His resurrection (2 Timothy 1:10, 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54).

What, then, do we believe concerning immortal­ity? Only God is really immortal. Only He is deathless and incorruptible. Through the Lord Jesus Christ the believers are immortal before God. Jesus dies and as a result for the believer there is the death of death, life and eternal blessedness (John 14:19). For the soul and body there is imperishable salvation. To experience this in full, the soul awaits the resurrection.

Immortality cannot be said to be the experience of unbelievers. For them, eternity is not life or fellow­ship with God, but eternal death and destruction. Although it is a continuous conscious existence for soul and body, eternity is the eternal consciousness of death.

For the believer, on the other hand, immortality cannot be defined as the continued existence of the soul, but rather, the experience of everlasting life in Jesus Christ — a life in fellowship with God — a life which will only be fully experienced when at last the believer's body will be transformed in the Resur­rection.