Shaun Stotyn - Trumpet Kid

<< Back

A Matter of Life and Death

I died nearly two weeks ago. I have died nearly every day since then. It isn't a physical death. It's dying of a different sort. I think we all view death as being somewhat final, but that is not right. Death doesn't end anything, its just a different, darker, unnatural living.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He created all the plants, animals, sun, moon, stars, sky, water, land, and man (the all inclusive man). There was no death, only Life. Life unlike what we have ever experienced, yet I believe we are remember it somewhere deep inside us. Echoing faintly from our souls. God looked at all the Life he created and it was good, man was very good. God spoke to man and woman, his crowning achievements, the epitome of Life, and he said "This is all yours, rule it, name it, own it, you have dominion over all, but you cannot eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". Ok, I paraphrased that a bit, but in essence that is what He said. Then we did the worst thing we could do. We, Man, ate of the Tree forbidden us. That day we Died. It wasn't a physical death, it was dying of a different sort. It was separation. It was not what God intended, it wasn't natural. Adam and Eve and we, their children, continued to live, but we no longer had Life.

When I say I died nearly two weeks ago, I mean I have been separated from the closest thing to Life one can experience on this earth. Until I am reunited with Christ, I cannot imagine anything else on this earth closer to that Life Christ promises me. I had love and love had me. Now it is gone, but I don't believe it is dead. I suppose that means I'm not really dead either, wounded perhaps, but not dead, not really. Hope is keeping me alive.

Now hope is an interesting elixir. Where love brings us the closest we could ever come to Life, hope only keeps us barely alive. If Love is a river, constantly renewing itself, then Hope is a trickle, sustaining but not satisfied. Hope is a bitter elixir; though it keeps you alive, it can make your heart sick. However, I will not stop drinking in Hope, for life in any sort is better than true death.

No, I am not dead. I am merely sick. Love has not seen the last of me.

So for those in the same condition as I, drink in hope until you can again swim in love. And when you are swimming in love, swim in love until you drown in it.

-Art

Song:

Comments

Very Good post TrumpetKid! I love the title. I thought it was interesting how this particular post came on my 25th Bday! I need to be reminded of Biblical death. I agree for the most part, but I have a different take on death. When I think of death, I think of what Paul said in Galatians 2:20- I am CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. And in Romans 6 - Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. When I think of "death" in the Biblical sense for a believer, I think of how we are to "die" daily to our self and our sin. I think of how we are to mortify the deeds of the flesh like Paul says. I think of how we are truly crucified with Christ and must crucify our flesh daily. That's what I think when I think of the necessity to die daily. Simply this: Self-denial and killing our flesh and our sin. We must take joy in killing ourselves daily, taking hope in that we then live in Christ and thus rejoice in the life that lies only in Him! So Amen TrumpetKid. Just wanted to share my thoughts on "death" for a believer. Here's another interesting thought God has given me recently. In John 3:3 it says -Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So I realized that in order to be "reborn", you must first die, right? How can you be born while you are "alive". In order to experience the rebirth or be regenerated, you must first die. So death, then rebirth. So before a believer is born again of the spirit, he must die in his flesh and be crucified, buried, and then resurrected with Christ. Interesting though huh?
Posted By: "Dave" on 2006-11-17 09:25:14