Jun Malazo
SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Just about this time last year, I needed to have a series of medical tests. I had some serious concerns with my health at that point. To spare you all the details, I felt some pain in my chest area. I have had this kind of pain all throughout my life intermittently, but this time the pain was more intense and happening more often.
First I thought that maybe it was just the stress of being the pastor of a church, but the pain seemed to be more than just from emotional strain and stress. This caused my wife and me a great deal of concern. I was very hesitant, but I had to take a break from our busy ministry in Sagada.
This was a difficult decision because my passion is ministering to the people of Sagada and helping our church grow spiritually. The church was young, however it was vibrant and growing. Though I hated to go away, I knew that if I were to be as effective as I could be in ministering to others, I must take care of my health first.
There were a million and a half thoughts happening in my head while we made the long journey to the lowlands for an appointment with a specialist. I needed to face the possibility that there may be something physically wrong with my heart that would require serious medical intervention.
Ultimately, I was thinking about death. Please understand that I am not afraid to die (I’ll explain this further later), but my concern was for my family’s future—without me. Many more thoughts flooded my mind that day. If I were to attempt to write them in this article, time and space would not permit it.
While I contemplated these things, I was tempted many times to stop the car, make a u-turn, head straight back to Sagada, and make my wife cancel that ill-fated appointment. My thoughts were even beginning to become illogical and nonsensical.
I said to myself, “Maybe it’s better I don’t go…maybe it’s better that I don’t know the truth.” Then I had to quickly make myself come back to reality. Cancelling the appointment would not help anyone—especially me. I needed to just trust the Lord, knowing that He is control of my life.
We went to the appointment, and I’m glad to say I lived to tell the story. After a series of lab tests and scans, the doctor concluded that whatever was ailing me could be avoided by regular exercise and proper diet and, of course, regular appointments with the doctor.
You may ask, “What was the point of that long saga?”
Life doesn’t always happen the way we plan it. On the road of life, there are many detours, delays, and disappointments. We can try to plan ahead and make sure that everything works according to schedule. But there are always the variables—and plenty of them. We can try to pick and choose appointments that we like and cancel the ones we do not want, but there is an appointment that none of us can ever escape or delay. It is the inescapable appointment of death.
Death is a subject that most people usually do not like to talk about. Our human nature is to fear the unknown or things that we do not fully understand. But death is something that we do think about occasionally. We hear of people dying every day through the many media outlets available today. Whether it’s natural or unnatural death (ie. murder, vehicular accidents, etc.), we do hear about it, and it sometimes causes us to think about when “our time” to depart from this world will be. Having someone close to us die also makes us think about death and the afterlife.
There are many philosophical perspectives out there about death and the afterlife. Depending on many things, including a person’s cultural upbringing, people each tend to have their own unique perspective about this subject. There are even many different schools of thought that religious groups teach about death. One thought is that death is the end of everything. This is called annihilation. This belief is that once a person dies they simply cease to exist. Just as a candle that is consumed completely with the wax and the wick fully burned, a person no longer exists.
Others teach the idea that when a person dies, he is put in a place where he could, through time and the prayers of the living, eventually be allowed to enter heaven. This is the idea of purgatory.
There are many more philosophies out there. People have written books on this subject and documentaries have even been produced in which people offer their own perspectives of life after death. However, all of these perspectives are mostly mere philosophical presumptions. There is no concrete basis for each of these claims. Therefore, without solid answers, people still live in uncertainty and fear of death just hoping for the best someday when it is their turn. I have good news! There is hope!
The Bible also gives us a perspective on this subject. First, it tells us that death is the result of one man’s sin.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)
According to the verse above, death has been passed to all men because of one man’s sin. The Bible tells us that the man responsible for this is none other than Adam. His sin in the Garden of Eden is what gave man the death sentence. Adam and Eve once enjoyed perfect fellowship with God. However, when they blatantly disobeyed God’s direct command, that fellowship was severed. Man is now doomed to eternal damnation in a place called Hell because of the sin nature that we have inherited from Adam.
But God has a plan. If you read further in the same chapter, Romans chapter 5, you’ll find in verse 19 that God provided the plan for redemption from our sins.
"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)
Jesus paid for our sin debt by the blood that He shed on the cross.
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" (Ephesians 1:7)
Secondly, the Bible speaks about two different types of death. The word death in the Bible speaks of separation. The first type of death is the physical separation of body and spirit.
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8)
The second type of death is what the Bible refers to as the “second death.” This is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire—hell.
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14-15)
Lastly, contrary to some popular beliefs, death is not the end. The Bible clearly tells us that after a physical death there is a certain judgement coming.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Hebrews 9:27)
Every person that dies in their sin will have to give an account of their lives before God. Paul said in Romans 14:12, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Two men died in Luke 16. They were men from different walks of life. One was rich and lived comfortably, and the other was a poor beggar named Lazarus. In summary, they ended up in different eternal destinations because one died in his sin and other trusted God for eternal life.
Death is inevitable. It is a fact of life. Everyone will have a turn some day, and only God knows the appointed time. I mentioned earlier that death is not something that I fear. Please understand that I am not making a careless statement nor am I making light of this subject.
My confidence is in the promises of God. God promised that If I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I would become His child. Becoming a child of God meant that I admitted my own sinfulness before God. It also meant that I accepted that I have to pay for my sin—this payment is death. Thankfully, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ meant that He died for my sins. Therefore, I do not have to pay for my sin because Jesus Christ paid for it on the cross.
Christ’s death on the cross is significant, but more importantly, His resurrection sealed the deal for our redemption. Death could not hold Him because Jesus is God. Romans 5:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." You can have confidence today and accept God’s promise of eternal life.
Furthermore, whatever your perspective and personal belief of death is, it doesn’t change the fact that it does happen, and it will happen to you someday. Life is so fragile and uncertain. Will you be ready? I choose, like many others, to place my faith in the God of the Bible that never changes. I want to leave you with this promise from the Bible:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. " (John 10:28-29)