SHALL WE TALK ABOUT DEATH?
What happens when a person dies? You need to have an answer to that question because there will come that moment when you experience what happens at death. And you don’t know when that will be.
Hearing of the death of a man, a friend asked, “Did he die suddenly?”
I said “Yes, everybody dies suddenly. One second you are alive, and the next second you are dead.”
Society today is doing a lot to try to redirect what the Bible teaches about death and eternal life. Culture today is trying to suggest that there are ways in which you can live meaningfully after death outside of the Christian faith.
Cremations are leading to a lot of economic suggestions. Cremations are cheaper than burials. Today, cremations account for 56% of U.S. deaths, according to the Cremation Association of North America. This is expected to rise to 73% by 2030.
One company is suggesting that when you die, your ashes can be made into a vinyl record. Your ashes can become a part of somebody’s record collection.
There are some new options suggested for storing your ashes. Parting Stone will turn your ashes into stones. One person’s ashes can yield up to 40-60 smooth stones that vary in texture, shape, and color. Probably somebody is going to see if they can skip you across a calm lake!
Eterneva will turn your ashes into a diamond that you can wear. That way, you can always stay close to a loved one. Prices start at about $3k.
You can have your body cremated and then turned into soil. This has been advertised as a cost-friendly and more sustainable solution than traditional funerals.
A Los Angeles-based artist, C.C. Boyce, makes “Planturns” that hold both the ashes of the deceased and a live plant. You can go this route for about $300-$600.
When you die, it doesn’t really matter whether you are cremated or buried in a cemetery. You are not really there. What happens to your ashes doesn’t affect your eternity. God offers two alternatives when we die–to spend eternity in Heaven with Him or to spend eternity in Hell away from Him. Those are the only two alternatives. What happens to your body doesn’t really matter.
Paul makes it clear that this scripture will come true – “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?…God gives the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:54-57)
That’s the only victory that matters. In Alabama, athletic victories are extremely important. Much money is spent to try and get those victories. Only Jesus makes possible the most important victory, and money doesn’t figure into it. Death leads to defeat or victory.
If you want to spend time with your Christian loved ones for eternity, be sure that both you and they have accepted and followed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Christians never see each other for the last time!!
