Dear Friends,
Death is not a very pleasant topic to discuss. And I am not offering any apologies. Involved as we are in counselling, we are all familiar with this reality of life. But how we perceive it matters. Here, I wish to reflect with you on what death meant and means in the life of Jesus Christ – the Saviour of God come to die for you and me.
Jesus started His ministry at 30. He taught how to live, healed the sick, delivered those possessed by the evil spirits and raised the dead. He also trained a few to do the same. He also performed some miracles like walking on the sea of Galilee in a storm, feeding the multitude and turning water into wine and averted some crises. Compare these blessings with what came after Jesus died.
The sacrificial death (perfect sacrifice) of Jesus Christ (and his resurrection) gave us free access to God the Father – no more sacrifices, no more earthly priests and no more rituals to receive God’s mercy. His death (as a peace offering) brought us forgiveness of sins by faith in Him. His sinless death enabled God to impute the righteousness of Jesus to us. His death made possible for us to not only enjoy abundant life but also eternal life. We have an inheritance in heaven. We can become people of love instead of hate; givers than grabbers and all because of the grace that is ours because of His death.
What would you rather have? The blessings of here and now or the blessings of hereafter? A smart child would say both. The wise Teacher would say, “My child the road to the blessings of hereafter is via death. I died. But now it is your turn to put to death in you what is not mine. Begin your ‘Christian Discipleship 101’ by carrying your own cross and follow me.” You will be surprised that any hardship here is nothing compared with the joy that is set before us in heaven (Luke 9:23-25; Hebrews 12:1,2). When by His grace, we have learnt to put to death our carnal nature, we have nothing to fear, even death itself.
Yours in Christ,
Dr. Samson Gandhi
