No one wants to die. This reticence is a natural human reaction to the suffering usually associated with dying more than the actual death itself. Believers and unbelievers are similar in this regard except for one difference – for believers, death is the end and for non-believers, death is the beginning. Let me explain.

When Christians die, their death represents the end of sin since in death there is no consciousness, no remembrance, and no desire for sin. While alive, believers are painfully aware of their failings and are comforted only by the grace of God in Christ which makes the experience of sinfulness tolerable. In death, however, sin is finally vanquished never to be dealt with again.

We know that Jesus Himself had to die even though His separation from God while on the cross was the actual price He paid for our sins (Galatians 3:13). However, it was in His death that the sins He bore for us were buried forever.

The Apostle, Paul, tells us that we are resurrected from the grave as new creatures (2 Corinthians 3:18) with transformed bodies, powerful like angels without time or space constraints and spiritual in nature. For believers, heaven will be an ongoing experience of joy because our deepest yearning, which is to know God, that Satan polluted with lies and temptations here on earth, will be completely satisfied. Our friendship and knowledge of the Creator, that began so promisingly in the Garden with Adam, will be eternally renewed through Christ once we are in heaven.

Not so for unbelievers and the unfaithful. Their deaths mark the end of sinful lives and the beginning of a judgement for sin which will never be forgotten nor appeased. This is an eternal prospect the consequences of which are too painful even to imagine!

Death must come to all, but for some it will be a final liberation from sin, for others the beginning of a painful reminder of its cost. Therefore, remember the promises of Jesus’ words, 

“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;” and “He who is faithful to the end will be saved.” Mark 16:16a; Matthew 24:13.