Of Death and the Christian

Okezi Meshack
Nov 6 · 6 min read

Psalm 116:15: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, so he watches over them.

2019 has been a beautiful year. We started with the watchnight service. Yes, we all go to church with goals and hopes and renewed commitments to live the good life. We had different mantras all pointing towards hope and faith. Multiplied grace to do more, order, exploits, etc. Call it ritual or new year culture, we don’t mind, we did it in the past, we will still do it again.

The year starts and for some reason, it seems like there is a score card of testimonies on the credit side of the profit and loss table and bad news on the debit side. If at the end of the year there is more credit than debit, we feel it was a great year and where it is the otherwise, with balance debt carried forward, our demeanour is different at the ritual watch night service. Our petitions are louder, and our trust intensified. Where we have more years of higher debit, it’s as though we get bankrupt, we say to Daddy, You are not true to your word and promise and we apply for bankruptcy proceedings. Our enemy the devil is happy. It’s not his last try he will do it again.

Interestingly, bad news and good news happen every day. The only difference is sometimes it doesn’t come close to us, so for this reason, we think the world is a better place. It hits differently when it is our P&L account that is not balancing. Sometimes you get news of death of loved ones and you are forced to ask questions. These are like debit justifications. We try to make sense of why we are getting such painful news. Why is the pain so close to us, why will we not see that family member, or friend or colleague again? More painful is not even the manner or news of death, than the fact that the individual ceases to exist in our daily or yearly experiences. If there are always happenings on the earth, then it will happen again.

But let’s stop for a bit to ask questions. Why do Christians die? Wait, didn’t God say He will give His angels charge over us lest we dash our foot against a stone? Don’t we have a ‘covenant of protection’ with our God? Didn’t we all say AMEN at those prayers in church at our weekly services? Didn’t the deceased pray the day or night before the death? Couldn’t it have been evaded? Some one could have been more sensitive in the spirit to hear about the death and warn him or her? We have unending questions now and again.

Let’s attempt to answer all of these at once. In Nigeria, we have a name we call God. I find it funny because I have thought over and again over that name. It is from the Yoruba culture of who and how the office of the king was respected. The King is accorded the title Kabiyesi which means the unquestionable one. We call God that too. But there is a different perspective the Christian must hold. While the Yoruba emphasis is on the unaccountability of the king whenever he did bad (mostly). The Christian must be reminded that the name suggests supremacy; not being answerable to a higher authority. Our God is not a bad God. He doesn’t do good and bad. He is supreme and knows all that happens on the earth – that’s the supremacy He exists in. James says that He is a good father, the father of lights in whom there is no variableness. So, He cannot do bad, at least not in our human definition of what bad is. We know all the good things he thinks, says and hopes for us.

But who is the us God speaks about in the pages of the scripture? The one He made in his image; the one He predestined to be called sons; the one He died for and if he believes is bestowed with the gift of eternal life? The believer is made up 100 percent of Soul. So, when the body gives up in whatever manner, it passes through a suffering of separation of the good soul and the bad body. It is never easy: sickness, accidents, not waking up, whatever way, it is a painful experience for the body. But the soul in its liberated form is happy (if the Soul knew Christ).

It is simple why bad things happens to the Soul that has found Christ and I explain with this analogy. An American that is in Nigeria, will have the same experiences of the Nigerian. This is regardless of the protection his Passport may afford him. He may get some things free different from a local Nigerian. Some things may be easier. But he will enjoy the same public holidays, suffer the same epidemics that break out in Nigeria, follow the traffic, and if there was a riot on his street, have to fight for his life. If America was “With and In Christ” (the Soul that has found Christ’s citizenship) and Nigeria (the earth, no pun or metaphor intended) then we can adapt what I am trying to say. Bad things are not “permitted” by our Father. No. He knows, yes! Bad things happen because we are in a fallen world and the order is different from where we are from.

Let us examine something Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [as in fact He did], even so God [in this same way—by raising them from the dead] will bring with Him those [believers] who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For we say this to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are still alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede [into His presence] those [believers] who have fallen asleep [in death]. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the Only Michael is identified as an archangel (Dan 10:13; Jude 9) and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died]

We can therefore grieve, because of the sheer cruelty of the power of death on a loved one. But we must grieve with hope. With the hope of resurrection that our loved ones, no matter how young or old. We are comforted by the fact that this 100 percent soul now has the liberty to live in it’s true nature (with Christ, seated far above). We may grieve that the young person had a lot of ambitions, hopes and dreams, but we are comforted. Comforted that indeed, young as he was, he knew Christ and made him known and lived in purpose. Christ conquered death and gave to us the victory, the us he gave, is our 100 percent soul nature and that is whom is referred to in David’s Psalm above quoted: the saints (100 percent soul in Christ) can never die. God preserves us, He keeps us, guards us, and rejoices over us. That soul that departs from this temporary body.

This is the hope we grieve in.

Segun my friend has his soul preserved and predestined as a son! As painful as the news of his passing was to me, I know he is at peace. We did business together. One day, he sent me a message after he was interviewed by Punch asking if I was interested, he was selfless. We exchanged jokes every Sunday I caught him after service of how this work will not kill him (it didn’t, smiles), he was dedicated. We commented on our pictures in and out of groups, he was sociable. Segun did a bible commentary once at the associates meeting at YDI and I was spurred to take my 1-minute prayer life more seriously, lol, he knew the Word. Yeah, he was my back up guy on some groups when we did contextual scripture gists. I love you Segun, and will miss your bodily presence till we meet again at the bosom of our father. At least I am sure you saw Him first. That High Five, you get to give Him first, but it’s okay. I love you like that. Sleep well bro!

    Okezi Meshack

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