Death Is Not “Natural”

Monday my 15-year-old Shih Tzu was put to sleep.  For days prior I wept on and off, knowing the inevitable was near. The other day, while doing dishes and telling myself “I’m not going to cry anymore” I broke into sobs and told the Lord out loud, “I hate death Lord, it sucks!”

Death causes physical, as well as emotional pain.  It also leaves us with a helpless sense of forced separation.  We are either leaving, or we are left behind.  Human reason has embedded in us psychologically that death is as natural as life; like two sides of a coin forever conjoined by the thinnest demarcation.  We are expected to accept it, simply because it is so. 

I disagree.

My argument against accepting death-as-natural-occurrence goes back to the essence of God and his original plan.  As the Author of both physical and spiritual life (Acts 3:15), God is not, however, the author of death. For God, who is One and Light, did not create this two-sided coin.  Looking back to the Garden of Eden I realized that God never intended death.  Had Adam and Eve not disobeyed their one (and only) commandment they would have lived eternally.  So too would the plants and animals that surrounded them.  In our original state there was no disease, no decay, and certainly no death, for his creation was a perfect reflection of who God is: life. Death is a consequence of disobedience through human free will (Romans 5:12), and like any criminal act, it did not simply impact those two humans, but had a ripple effect over all other life forms.  And, as if that were not enough, there entered an even more fearful death – the spiritual.

From a state of perfection Adam and Eve fell from grace and took down with them all the beautiful things created only to live.  God is frequently blamed for death and its accoutrements.  Unjustly accused, the saying always seems to begin with “Why did God…”  Yet, the only thing that associates God with death is that he created us with a free will to act, for or against him, and by choosing to disobey we were separated from a perfect and holy God through the consequence of our actions.  And though the consequence resulted in a penalty of death (physical and spiritual separation from him), he loved us so much that he took it upon himself to rectify our error.  Doing what truly is unthinkable, the Father begot the Word in Jesus Christ for the sole purpose of offering the perfect sacrifice that we might once again live in fellowship with him. Just as Adam voluntarily disobeyed and led us into death, Jesus voluntarily obeyed and led us into life.  Disobedience took away our hope and God renewed it.    

With the exception of a handful of individuals who were translated by God without seeing physical death, (of these I recall Enoch, Elijah, and Mary), the rest of us can be certain that our time is approaching.  King David, the 23rd Psalmist, poignantly refers to it as walking through the “valley of the shadow of death.”  As I mulled over that phrase I saw that death, like a gigantic monolith that obscures the sunlight, casts a shadow over this life.  We made a monolith that blocks out the light which is God.  Our hope, is in Jesus Christ, for he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

At times my grief, and not just for my dog, has led to anger and frustration.  Now, with the simple passing of a Shih Tzu, I understand why I felt so.  The angst of pain and separation that death brings was never meant to be.  Through this reflection over the past few days I have come to only love God more.  Our love for him is but a drop in the ocean of his love for us.  Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ, our conqueror over death and our hope of salvation.

Rest in Peace Mollie “Pretty Girl” Stokes.  Thank you for 15 years of unconditional love and companionship…and for reinforcing once again that life and love are a gift from God.