The inevitability of death
Imagine that you are walking along a high cliff, looking out over the sea. Suddenly, a strong wind blows you over the edge. As you fall you grab a small tree that is growing from the side of the cliff. You are left hanging from the tree. You cannot climb up. If you let go of the tree you will fall down the cliff and be killed on the rocks below. All you can do is shout for help. That is what you do: “Help! Help!”
Someone is walking along the cliff, and hears your shouts. He runs and calls the police to rescue you. The police come, and let down a rope and pull you back up the cliff. You are saved! You are so thankful to the person who went to get help.
Think about this story for a moment. Isn’t everyone hanging over a cliff waiting to fall? Every one of us will die. Some will die of old age. Some will die of disease. Some will die in an accident. However, all of us will die some day. We cannot stop it happening – it will come. We are all hanging over a cliff waiting to fall.
You would have felt the death of someone near you. You may have lost a grandparent; an uncle or aunt; your mother or father; a good friend. It can be very sad when someone we care for dies. We cannot talk to them. We cannot be with them.
What is it like to die?
What is it like to die? Well, we cannot ask someone! God’s special book, the Bible, tells us about it. Look at Ecclesiastes 9:5-6. We have written it down so that you may study it:
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. And they have no further reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hate and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun." NKJV
Here are some more verses telling us about death – please read these when you have time:
Isaiah 38:18, Psalm 6:5
Now all this talk about death is very sad. When we die, it is like being asleep. When we are asleep, we are not aware of what is around us. When we go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, we are surprised to find that we have been asleep for many hours – but we thought it was only a few minutes. God is teaching us that being dead is like being asleep. We are unconscious. We do not know anything when we are dead, just the same as when we are asleep. So we have nothing to be afraid of when we die.
The plan to let us live again
However, God made us, and he does not want us to stay dead. He wants us to live again. He has a plan to save the people who will do what He says. Look at John 3:16.
In a previous lesson, we learnt how God made the first man and woman – Adam and Eve. They disobeyed God, and God told them that they would die, and so would all their children, including you and me.
But God promised that He would send a special person who would obey God all his life. This person was Jesus, who was born about 2000 years ago. Jesus was special because he was the son of God as well as being human like you and me.
While Jesus lived, he did the right thing – he always obeyed God. After evil men killed him, God made Jesus alive again, so that he will never die.
One of the great followers of Jesus was a man named Peter. In Acts 2 Peter talks about who Jesus was and what he did. Look at Acts 2:22-24.
Jesus did the right thing – he obeyed God. If we obey Jesus, then God will forgive us for the bad things we have done. Then, God will give us life forever. Even if we have died, He has the power to make us alive again!
If we follow Jesus, we don’t have to worry about what will happen. God will send Jesus back to the earth soon, and Jesus will give life to all his followers – those who are dead, and those who are alive.
This is God’s great plan to save you and me. As we look closer at the Bible, we will find more about God’s plan.
Summary
• Every one will die some day.
• The Bible says that when we are dead, we are unconscious. We don’t know anything.
• God loves us, and sent His Son Jesus to show us the right way to live.
• Jesus now lives forever, and if we obey him, God will make us alive again to live forever.