Living Hope

When Jesus asked, "Do you believe this?" He immediately divided all mankind into two categories: those who believe and those who don't. Those who have hope of life after death, and those who have no true hope for life after death. The Apostle Peter said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively [living] hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith" (I Peter 1:3-5). Our hope of eternal life, according to Peter, is more than hope. It is a living hope verified by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

At this point, you may logically argue, "If His words were true, why are there so many crosses on tombstones? What about all of the millions through the centuries that believed in Jesus and are now dead?" It is necessary to point out that the Biblical definition of death is distinctly different from the dictionary definition. Medical science considers a man clinically dead when his brain ceases to function. When a person lapses into a coma, life support systems are hooked up, along with EEG probes that allow doctors to observe brain wave activity. When the line on the monitor goes flat, that person is considered dead. Doctors often leave life support systems on for another twenty four hours. If the line remains flat, they remove the life support, and watch the monitor carefully for some flutter that would indicate the brain is calling for oxygen. If the line stays flat, they notify the family that their loved one is dead. The mind, or consciousness, has departed from the body, so the person is considered dead. Death by this definition is the separation of the consciousness from the body.

From a scriptural perspective, death is the separation of man's consciousness from God. If you are not conscious of God the Bible declares that you are dead.

Paul the Apostle said that people living only for pleasure were dead while they were still alive (I Timothy 5:6). God warned Adam in the Garden that the day Adam ate the forbidden fruit he would surely die (Genesis 2:17). When Adam ate the fruit he died spiritually.

Up to that time, God had fellowship with man in the Garden. But after Adam ate the forbidden fruit, this fellowship with God was severed. Adam hid himself and God called to him, "Adam, where are you?" Adam, through sin, separated himself from God. He was spiritually dead, and that would eventually lead to physical death. By believing in Jesus Christ we experience a spiritual birth. When Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus, he said, "And you hath he quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus said, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36).

What Jesus was saying to Martha when He said, "If you live and believe in Me, you will never die," was that believers will never be consciously separated from God. I am so thankful that He did not mean that our conscious states would never leave our bodies. I cannot imagine a more horrible condition than remaining conscious long after my body could not adequately function. Wouldn't it be awful to be totally helpless; to be fed and bathed by someone you could not communicate with at all? To me that would be a fate worse than death.