The Deathliness of Death

About 30 some years ago I attended a Merle Haggard concert in Winnipeg.  A little known, but rising star by the name of Reba McEntire open for this country music icon. Unfortunately due to excessive inebriation, Haggard could barely spit out a couple songs.   That doesn't matter, for Country Music connoisseurs, he was a great musician and entertainer.  Today, Country Music radio stations are filled with his songs in memory of his amazing career.


On April 6th of this year Merle Haggard died. Reading some Facebook tributes I read this statement: "This legend has passed . . .."   Now I'm not picking on the author of that update.  I hear this a lot lately. "So and so passed last night," etc.   What does that mean?  Objectively does that mean that they were facing an examination and rather than fail, they passed?  Or is there something missing from the sentence.  "So and so passed by the window!"  Of course I know what they mean.  He died.  But to say that "he passed" takes the edge off a very hard event.


To say that someone "passed" is ambiguous.  The sentence alone speaks of uncertainty.  It is an incomplete sentence.  Isn't that the point?  Many today don't understand death.  There are all kinds of theories about death.  So to be socially correct it's just easier to say, "He passed."   It takes the deathliness out of death.


But death is deadly. 


According to the Bible death occurs when the spirit vacates the body.  There is very little dignity in death.  I suspect that very few people get to simply fall asleep in death.  For most of us death will be a gradual, painful, expiration of life.  It is deathly.  Death is the result of sin.  We all die because we all have sinned. But death is not the end.  Every human being, at that moment of death, will instantaneously face the Creator of life.   For those that have placed their faith in the forgiving work of His Son, Jesus Christ, their after-death experience will be nothing short of glorious – unspeakable joy.   For those who have rejected the Savior of the world and the righteousness, joy and peace He offers there is unspeakable suffering.





For a person who is not a committed believer in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no such thing as rest-in-peace.  To calm the horror by suggesting that "they are in a better place" is a fantasy of unspeakable proportion.  I have little doubt that every unrepentant person who has died, would rather live with a lifetime of cancer rather than the torment of Hell.  But that reality can be completely reversed through genuine faith in Christ Jesus.



For someone who has realized their sinfulness and accepted the provision of salvation in Jesus, they can indeed say upon their impending death, "sing me back home, before I die."   I have no insight into the spiritual condition of Merle Haggard.  I do know this that he had ample opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel.  I hope he did. 


Haggard was created in the image of God.  His soul is more valuable than all the treasures of a billion universes.  He was gifted.  He was a great entertainer.  God created him that he might glorify God with his life and his talent.  I'm not sure if he "passed" yesterday.  I am sure he died.  I am sure he met God.  We all will.   


““For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT)