An Easter Perspective on Death and Dying

Easter, 4/20/14
Colossians 3:1-4


An Easter Perspective on Death and Dying
I. What is past?
II. What is present?
III. What is future?


Judging from the appearance of new ABC TV series “Resurrection,” there must have been sufficient interest in dying and coming back to life to warrant the time and money being spent to produce it. I’ll confess I haven’t watched any of the episodes on the network, but I did check out a few clips of some episodes online. Some of you may have seen one or more of them. If you haven’t yet but would like to, you better hurry. The latest ratings information I read stated that the show has hit new lows. I have no idea why it’s not more popular, but I can venture one guess: Dying and then coming back to this life to experience it without any changes from the first time isn’t appealing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already lived long enough and have seen enough that I don’t want a do-over on this life. No thanks! I want something better. How about you?

Thanks be to God we don’t have to wish for it or go searching endlessly and fruitlessly for it. God has revealed it to us. In fact, a new life is ours right now as people who trust in Jesus as the Savior from sin.

And it’s all because of Easter. It’s all because Jesus did as he promised to do. He rose triumphant from the dead. Because he lives we too shall live.

That means Christians have a completely different view from our world on death and dying. It’s an Easter perspective. The risen Lord Jesus explains what that perspective is through these words from his Apostle Paul. May the Lord Jesus bless us with that Easter perspective this Easter morning.

Part I.

I realize I’m telling you nothing new when I say that we live and then we die. You talk about the obvious! The columns of births and death in the local newspaper puts names and even faces with those vital statistics.

But did you notice that Paul has things turned around? He doesn’t talk about life and then death. He talks about death and then life. And he’s not suffering from some mental impairment. He knows exactly what he’s talking about. He’s talking about an Easter perspective on death and dying.

As part of that perspective, he encouraged us to set our hearts on things above. And the reason for it? He states, “For you died.” So the way Paul sees it, death is not a future prospect for us. It’s something we’ve already faced. It’s already occurred. It’s in the past. Now what’s he talking about? He’s referring to your baptism. In the previous chapter of this letter Paul tells us, “[You were] buried with [Christ] in baptism.”

Another way of stating that is, “We died. When Jesus was buried, we were buried.” How so? Paul is speaking about our sinful natures. It’s the part of us that wants nothing to do with our God, his laws or his forgiveness. It’s the way we are by nature. But from God’s perspective, that part of us was put to death when we came to faith in Jesus at our baptisms.

And that means our sinful nature no longer controls us. Martin Luther once wrote, “If we have been baptized in Christ’s death, we have also died and been buried. We are already shoveled into the grave! That’s something sweet and lovely to hear, that Christ’s death is my grave in which I have now been buried.”

How’s that for a perspective on death and dying? There’s no need for any nagging uncertainty about your death when it’s already past. There’s no need to shake in our boots about something that has already occurred. That’s an Easter perspective on death and dying.

Part II.

Ok, so that’s what’s past. But what about today? What about right now? How has Easter changed my perspective about the present?

Paul answers that question as well. He states, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Notice that little word “now.” It’s the change that Easter has made in you right now. The blessings Jesus won for us by rising from the dead are not things we have to wait to experience until after we leave this world. His victory over death changes us right now.

How so? The resurrection of Jesus means that you have life—real life, God’s meaning of life. God’s meaning of real life is that you have a life with him. You aren’t separated from him in any way. Your sins don’t separate you from him. His resurrection assures you that your sins are forgiven and that Jesus has paid the price for you to belong to him forever. A simple way of stating it is that Easter means you are a child of God by faith in Jesus. You have new life!

Paul states that life is hidden. To the outsiders, we don’t look any different. It doesn’t look like our faith in the risen Jesus has made any difference. To the outsider it looks like we all end up in the same place.

But that’s not so. Now our hearts are set on things above. We have a new life with Christ and we’re looking forward to the day when we experience that life fully in heaven with him.

That’s a life that doesn’t shake like a leaf in the wind every time trouble blows our way. Instead, it’s a life of confidence. The resurrection of Jesus means we live in the daily forgiveness of sins. Our God has nothing against us. In fact, he’s on our side; he’s for us.

That means we live each day confident of our relationship with our God. He’s not looking for ways he can get a pound of flesh out of us for our miserable failures. He wants nothing more than to bless us as his children with his loving presence and faithful guidance every day.

So, what does Easter mean for you today? It means faith conquers doubt. It means life conquers death. It means confidence in Jesus drives out worry. It means hope prevails over despair. It means joy over gloom. The resurrection of Jesus means everything will turn out for us, even on the day we die. That’s an Easter perspective on death and dying in the present.

Part III.

We’ve used Easter to look at what’s past and what’s present. Would you like to know your future? Would you like to know how it all turns out?

Because of Easter, we know exactly how it turns out. Paul writes, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Jesus once promised he would rise from the dead on the third day. And at the crack of dawn on that very day that’s what he did. Jesus has also promised to return in glory on the Last Day. And that’s what he will do. In one of his most comforting promises Jesus declares, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (Jn. 14:2-3). Death couldn’t stop Jesus. Neither could Satan. Nothing will stop him from returning in glory.

And that’s when he raises our bodies and glorifies them. As we just confessed, “We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” Our resurrection bodies will be glorified like Christ’s resurrection body. No more death or mourning or crying or pain. No more stress or worry or strife or failure. Just glory. Just bliss. Forever.

That’s how it all ends for you by faith in Jesus. That’s your future in Christ.

The longer I serve here, the more often I hear our aged members tell me, “Pastor, I don’t want to live here any longer. I want to go to heaven.” It wasn’t too long ago that one of our members said that very thing to the medical professionals at a local emergency department. They put her on a suicide watch.

That’s not suicidal. That’s a Christian’s desire. That’s our Easter perspective. We died with Christ. We live with Christ. We’ll enter glory with Christ. And it’s all because Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Hallelujah! That’s our Eater perspective! Amen.