Swallowed Up in Victory
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.
I have heard some people really being offended by Psalm 116: 15. After all, how callous can God be to suggest the death of his faithful servants is “precious?” It doesn’t feel precious when our family members die.
I have heard others insist that “God must have needed ____ more than I did on earth.” I personally hate this reasoning.
Or, people will say after a beloved family member dies, “Now, I have an angel watching over me in heaven.”
I intend to cause no pain to those who have lost loved ones. I do intend to cause us to think about death and specifically our own death in biblical ways.
All three of those ideas mentioned above are absolutely not biblical or godly: God is not callous in calling the death of his servants precious; God doesn’t take a loved one away from us because he needs them more than we do; and, people don’t turn into angels when they die.
For Servants of God, it is a joy to die and precious to God
I’ve had several family members and friends die recently who were not faithful followers of God. They either didn’t claim to be followers of Jesus or their lives did not in any way resemble the characteristics of the fruit of the spirit, the love of Christ, or the repentance of sin. It is a sad, difficult time to process the death of these friends and family members for those of us left behind. Their lives of selfishness have left behind a trail of pain, sadness, and deep grief for their loved ones who must now learn ways to heal from the legacy of the consequences of sin.
God is good and just and I trust he will be faithful to his word in fulfilling his good purposes for each person. So, it is not my place to discuss a person’s eternal position before God.
I’ve also had several family members and friends die who were faithful followers of God. They were not perfect, but their lives did show fruits of the Spirit, the love of Christ, and repentance of sin. While saying goodbye to them was still sad and hard, processing their death was also a joy. Their life filled me with gratitude and thankfulness for their example and a life well-lived in service to God and others. Their lives of selflessness have left behind a trail of acts of service, hope, and peace for their loved ones who must now learn ways to follow their example and legacy of faith.
The death of the faithful renews our commitment to Christ, our belief in eternal life, and our hope that Christ is worthy of any sacrifices in life we make for him and the advancement of his Kingdom.
Isaiah 25
6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
When followers of God die, we can rejoice together in the salvation of God. We can have faith that God is pleased with the death of his servants and that because of their faith in Him, death has no power or victory. God will swallow up death forever through the resurrection of the dead by the power of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Because we believe Christ was raised from the dead, we also believe we will be raised from the dead. There is no victory in death and no sting of sadness for those who belong to Christ. After death, we know we will be given new bodies and have eternal life with God. We know our faith in Christ and our service to Christ is worth any suffering or pain, any trial or frustration, any hard work or persecution. Our death will not be in vain if we have lived a life in service to Christ.
God is sovereign, but he doesn’t cause death of a loved one
God is sovereign. His purposes are his own and he answers to no one. He always does what is right and cannot lie. He will work out all things according to his plans and will use all things (good and evil) to fulfill his will.
Romans 8:28 tells us “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
As bystanders to his plans and purposes, we have no right to speak for God on whether he “intended/planned” the death of a loved one. We do know with certainty that whether the death was intended by God or not, God can use it for good to fulfill his plan.
God does not take people to heaven because he “needs” them more than they are needed on earth.
Humans don’t turn into angels
Humans don’t turn into angels. Humans aren’t waiting to get their angel wings and graduate to a heavenly realm of harp playing. In fact, angels are God’s agents/messengers to help humans (Hebrews 1:14). And, it is humans who God created and designed humans to be saved and inherit eternal salvation.
I want to live in heaven with God and be in his presence. But, I don’t want to turn into an angel. I am a human. Saved by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus. My relationship to God is one of thankfulness for making me human and giving me life and giving my eternal life.
A more biblical approach might be to consider the term “saint.” Those God calls to be holy out of the world and who are saved by the blood of Christ are repeatedly referred to as “saints” throughout the Scriptures. We ought not to be put-off by the modern use of the word, but instead appreciate the true gift we have been given to be saved by the grace of God.
Final Thoughts
I am looking forward to the heavenly country! I am looking forward to eternity and I live in eagerness and anticipation for my continuing relationship with God in eternity. I live life on earth as an alien and a stranger. I know my life here is but a mist and a breathe. I don’t want to turn into an angel and God didn’t make me an angel. He made me human. God won’t allow me to die because he “needs me” or because He “caused” my death. Yet, I am certain that whenever I die, he will use my death for good! And, I do think my death will be precious in the sight of God if I remain a faithful servant.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this?” John 11: 25-26