When we think of death, we don't often initially think of it as being a gift. Most people do everything to fight death. We seek treatment for illnesses that could take our life. We often pray for God to heal those who are facing death. We do everything in our power to postpone the inevitable thing we will ALL face--death.
So to hear that death is actually a gift seems very strange. However, God has recently revealed this truth to me in a new way in Erwin Lutzer's study, One Minute After You Die. Lutzer points out that after Adam and Eve chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good an Evil (which led to the fall of mankind into sin), God did a very wonderful thing for Adam and Eve. He banished them from the Garden of Eden. Now I always viewed their banishment as a sad consequence of their disobedience. But in reality God gave them the gift of death. In their current circumstance, Adam and Eve had now fallen into a life of sin, out of fellowship with God. Death was now a reality.
As you read in the above verses, God removed them from the Garden of Eden so they would not also eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in a fallen state of sin. God gave man the gift of death that does not bring an end to the road, but a bend in the road. God has offered a wonderful gift of leaving this fallen world thru death to spend eternity with Him in heaven, when we receive Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. What an amazing gift God has given us!
Because God loves us so much, He provided a way for us to leave this world of sickness, hate, and pain and join Him in paradise forever. I don't know about you, but I am ready for the day we can leave behind the sadness of this current world and live where "God will will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4
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