SEVERED FROM THE LIFE CURRENT.
By William Covert
Death is defined as “that state of being, animal or vegetable, but more particularly of an animal, in which there is total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions; when the organs have not only ceased to act, but have lost the susceptibility of renewed action.” Transgression disorders the vital actions, and death dissolves the body into its original elements. The effect is to separate the organism from the fountain of life. Concerning death’s working, the prophet says, “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God.” Isa. 59:2. As man is disconnected from the source of life he must die. In sin he is like the tree which is cut off from its living rootlets,—it has no life support and, therefore, must perish. The vine of humanity was severed from the source of its life when Adam and Eve connected with sin. “In Adam all die” is an irrevocable fact. Endless life can not come to even one soul through the Adamic vine. One man, the head of all, by one transgression, turned the whole human train into the way of death, and every section is rushing onward at a rapid rate. Crash upon crash, and pile upon pile, they are tumbling headlong into the dark abyss. “God is love,” and His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Mercy and love fill heaven and earth. These attributes encircle every son and daughter of Adam. For a time humanity is permitted to retain a hold upon forfeited life, that all may have an opportunity to choose between righteousness and sin, life and death. While they stand as in the jaws of death, they are solicited to come into harmony with their Maker’s purpose in creation, and are shown how. Of man’s transitory passage through the present state, it has been said, “He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” In the rosy springtime of life he makes great promise of longevity. So also do the flowers, which in the morning bloom, but only to wither in the evening of the same day. The life of every plant retains a deposit of life when it is severed from the stock on which it grew; and often under favorable conditions, it blossoms full and bright, as if wholly unconscious that it is cut off from its source of life. So it is with persons who should be able to reason. Many of them seem to think as little about their relation to life as the severed bud or the cut flower which blooms in the vase. They sparkle and shine with the beauty of youth. They look upon the present life as if eternity were already theirs. Daily they seek after forbidden pleasure. Careless, heedless, and gay, they consume moments of golden probation. The pleasure they think to find is never made sure. Even before they are aware of how swiftly time is flying, their days of probation have been fulfilled, and their opportunities frittered away; so they pass from view to await the judgment. Many questions concerning the dead are asked, and many speculative theories are held to be their solution. Could human wisdom, by searching, discover the secret, a revelation from God would not be needed. God’s Word says of the deceased father, “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” It is presumed that every parent will find out, if possible, the state of his children. Only his inability will prevent his having a full knowledge of their condition while he lives. But if the parent himself be dead, this knowledge is not possible, for the “dead know not anything.” And it is well that they do not know, for there would be sorrow poured into their cup of knowledge more often than joy. Truly the righteous should thank the Lord that, as death must come, it comes as a sleep. And they should be glad for the privilege of remaining unconscious until, in the great economy of God’s plan, they shall be called into a life of ceaseless joy. As far as the truths concerning man’s nature are positively known in the realms of science, there is perfect agreement between what is written in the Bible and the conclusions of the most capable authors upon the subject of physiology and human anatomy. It is well understood that man gains knowledge only through his physical senses, and that this knowledge can be exercised only when his faculties are in a state of wakefulness. In perfect sleep thought is suspended, and knowledge is not at all exercised. But death is a state in which all physical action has ceased, and the organs have lost their possibility of renewed action. The psalmist, speaking of the inability of deceased persons to exercise thought, says, “In death there is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?” Ps. 6: 5. Of man in death he says, “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146: 4. However dreadful the thought of death may be, there are yet these glad considerations associated with its condition: The dead can not suffer, they have no trouble, they see no sorrow, they feel no pain. The life which endowed man in creation was the same as that which energized all lower animals. It is written of the creatures destroyed by the flood, that “all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man; all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” Gen. 7: 21, 22. Regarding the death of man, Job writes, “If He gather unto Himself his [man’s] spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” Job 34: 14, 15. The result of death is given by Solomon in these words, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Eccl. 12: 7. Death simply unmakes man. That of which he is composed returns to the source whence it came. The elements, which life had organized into an active form called man, return to their original condition. His body came from dust; it must go to dust again. In death life is yielded up to God, who gave it. These declarations are true of all persons, without distinctions as to character. God is the Author of all life, and holds it in His power while it is in exercise and when it is withheld. In death the life of both good and bad returns to God, who gave it. In this condition man simply ceases to be a medium for manifesting life. This animating principle is not intelligence, but simply the vital power called life, with which the Creator endows all living creatures.