Rush Limbaugh has shared with us that he is under a death sentence due to his cancer. I'd like to take this moment to remind each of us that we are ALL under a death sentence. We have been since we were conceived. Yet, too many of us ignore it or imagine we can avoid it.

Those who are wise accept and reflect on mortality, not so they can simply embrace death without fear, but so they can live a life of meaning and true purpose. David once said, "O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!"

David understood that it is only when we humbly understand who WE ARE in this life that we grasp how to live. So what does it mean to die? Is death naturally part of life or is it something else—something unnatural? I believe it is something else. It is not just "part of life"

Death is the enemy of life. It is contrary to how we were originally made as God's eternal image-bearers. We were made to be HOLY. Death is judgment for sin we chose. It is the doorway either to resurrection of life in Christ or to condemnation and eternal separation from God.

Our life here is fleeting. Death should cause each of us to consider how we are living it—for we were not given life to be whatever we want, to choose evil over good, our ways over our Creator's. We were made to live righteous and loving lives—something we've all failed to do.

Our only hope then is faith in Christ, who gives us a new life—a life of faith following His ways. When we truly believe in Him and experience the life-changing effects of His Spirit, we have no fear of death and our lives are changed forever. Without Him—there is only death.

Unbelievers often pride themselves in saying they have no fear of death, but they are either liars or fools. To have no fear of death is to fail to understand life—that we were never meant to die, that we are eternal creatures made to live, not exist for a mere moment.

To have no fear of death is to fail to understand sin and judgment—that death is punishment for not being the creatures of HOLY LOVE we were made to be. And without forgiveness, death is our ultimate destiny—forever ALONE without love. For such people, death IS the victor.

But Christ has done something wonderful for us. He died so we could live. He vanquished the power of death and took punishment onto himself, so that we could be free of judgment and have eternal life in a loving relationship with our Creator. In Adam, all have sinned. But—

In Christ, we shall have life. And not only will we have eternal life, but we will live now in peace, love, and joy with Him. While we still struggle with sin in this fleeting world, we have overcome its power over us so we can love others as God has loved us—now and forever.

"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed...."

"For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ..."

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Cor. 15

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Christianity is LIFE—it is our hope and our joy, not only now but always. In Christ, death is not the end—it is the beginning.

The hope of every believer is that our last breath in this world of shadow will lead us into a world of light where we will know a LOVE that we've longed for but tasted only briefly. That feeling of wholeness that we felt only for a moment in love's embrace will be ours forever.