The Warfare of Life and Death by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 26, 1907

The Warfare of Life and Death

By C. M. S.

SINCE Adam sinned, there has been war on earth between Life and Death; and so far as mortal eyes can see, Death is ever victorious. Every day renews the march of the funeral train to the abode of the dead. Is the victory of Death which we see on every side an everlasting victory? Is the sleep of death an ever-enduring sleep? Is death the portal to immortality?

The Word of God has answers to all these queries. It tells us that the victory of Death is a victory of appearances only; that the sleep of death is only a sleep; and more than that, it tells us that the grave is not the portal to immortality. Let us consider its teachings.

Is Death the Real Victor?

Through John the Revelator come these words of Inspiration, answering that question: “And death and Hades [the grave] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.” Rev. 20: 14. That is the death of Death itself. That ends the career of that scourge of the earth. “He [Christ] must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.” 1 Cor. 15: 25, 26. Setting forth the happy condition of the triumphant righteous, the revelator says: “God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more.” Rev. 21: 3, 4.

To him who loves life, who loves mankind and sorrows in their sorrows, there is nothing more comforting than the assurance that the enemy of Life shall at last be laid low by the Prince of Life. Who has not followed the dead form of some loved one to the tomb, and felt the bitter thoughts that tears could not wash away? Who, in his right mind, has ever made friends with Death? The Word of God calls it an enemy, and we know from experience that such it is; and the only thing that makes the stroke of that enemy tolerable to man is the knowledge of the fact that release from that enemy’s clutches has been purchased and is assured. The victory of Death is but a transient victory, and beyond its final vanquishing lie the joys of the

eternal world, life, endless life, righteousness triumphant, and peace everlasting.

Is the Sleep of Death Eternal?

The hosts now living upon this earth are but a handful in comparison with the numberless multitudes that are sleeping in its dust. The whole world is but a charnel-house, a sepulcher, ever filling and never satisfied, whereas, in the purpose of God it was to be the home of happiness and love, the untroubled abode of joy and peace. Will God suffer his purpose to be thwarted throughout the ages to come? The answer of Inspiration is: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26: 19. In the depths of his trouble Job asks, “If a man die, shall he live again?” and the answer is: “All the days of my warfare would I wait, till my release should come. Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee: thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.” Job 14: 14, 15. Again he says: “And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19: 26, 27. Glorious hope, that takes the sting from death, and spoils the grave of its victory!

But does man triumph by his own righteousness and by his own power? Inspiration holds out no such hope. The prophet Isaiah tells us of one who was to bear the iniquities of God’s people, a “righteous servant” who, by his sacrifice, should “justify many.” He was to be “cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.” His soul was to be made “an offering for sin.” He was to pour out “his soul unto death” and be “numbered with the transgressors,” that he might “bear the sin of many” and make “intercession for the transgressors.” He was to be “bruised for our iniquities;” “the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” See Isaiah 53. This foreshadows the sacrifice of a “righteous servant,” that those to whom the stroke of judgment was due might find justification at the throne of God. It sets forth One, a righteous One, going to his death, that life might be granted to those whose past iniquities had deserved the penalty of death. The psalmist also speaks of this righteous One, and that so definitely that we can not mistake his identity. Of him he says:— “A company of evil-doers have enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. . . . They part my garments among them, and upon my vesture do they cast lots.” Ps. 22: 16-18. Compare Matt. 27: 35; John 19: 24.

Jesus Christ, then, was the “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” the One “bruised for our iniquities.” It “pleased the Lord to bruise him,” not because the Father delighted in the Son’s bruising, but because, through his bruising, we are healed. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3: 16. Jesus Christ went through the tomb in order to make a way of escape out of it for us. When he broke the seal which the Roman government had stamped upon his tomb, our Saviour broke the seal on the tomb of every soul that has gone down in death believing in him. A multitude came forth with him at the time of his resurrection, as first-fruits of his finished work, and as indisputable evidence of his power to bring the rest of the dead to life again.

That our hope of eternal life is in him alone is plainly taught in these words: “And in none other [than Jesus] is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.” Acts 4: 12. “If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom. 8: 11.

Is Death the Portal to Immortal Glory?

Isaiah says, “Thy dead men shall live.” Job says: “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee.” The change for which Job was looking was the change from mortality to immortality, the resurrection “out from among the dead ones.” Concerning this event we read in 1 Cor. 15: 51-55: “We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. . . . Then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?”

This gift of immortality comes, then, not at death, but at the time of the resurrection from the dead. When is that? “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4: 15-17.

That locates the time of the resurrection, and the resurrection locates the time of the bestowal of immortality upon the faithful children of the Lord’s household.

So Death is not always to triumph over man; the eyes that close in death, will, through the sacrifice of Jesus, open again to look on brighter skies and a world more beautiful; and the great gift of all gifts—immortality—will be bestowed in person by him who won it for us when he comes to take us to the mansions he has gone to prepare.

C. M. S.