On Love

I have another really good repeat post today, that was first posted a couple of years ago. This is a really revealing article that can be identified with by all. God bless.

The Pain Of Death - July 15th, 2011 Written by Lary R. Hale

For six thousand years people have been dying, and not one person who has been left behind has ever escaped the pain and grief of losing a loved one. We all know it, many of us have experienced it, and none of us are glad at the prospect of it. But why is there such pain in losing a loved one to death? It may sound like a ridiculous question on the surface, but the answer may be able to edify our relationship and fellowship with the Lord. Have you ever went to a lot of trouble to make something that meant something to you, and derived great satisfaction from it, just to have something happen that wrecked the whole thing? Maybe a beautiful garden , or some really nice landscaping, or some kind of building project; even a house. Or maybe you've tended to and nurtured a litter of puppies or kittens, or such like; and something happened to them, like a disease or accident. Or maybe you've known the agony of being betrayed by someone that you have invested a lot of love into for a long time. The list could go on, but the point is that you didn't make or nurture whatever it was so that it could be broken to pieces or decimated in some way, and we don't love someone in expectation of betrayal. And when something like that happens, it's really a BAD feeling. It wasn't in the plan, and with good reason. We make and do and nurture whatever or whoever because it is a wonderful source of satisfaction and happiness. And when God created this world with all of it's beauty and splendor, it really made him happy to create man in his image, and put him in dominion over the earth, even as he himself has dominion in heaven and in all things. I mean he was really thrilled with the whole thing, and especially with the one whom he gave the privilege of being made in his own image. What an honor, to be made in the image of GOD! This all meant so very much to God, and how pleased and happy he was to give man [and woman] the capacity to enjoy true fellowship and communion with him, which in fact was the ENTIRE PURPOSE of it all! He already had the heavenly realm and everyone who was there, but he had this glorious idea of creating a replica world with a miniature replica of himself to have dominion over it; and to share in his love, joy, peace, and glory at the same time. Wow! That WAS a good idea; no actually that was a GREAT ideal! "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was VERY GOOD" (Gen. 1:31). God gave Adam and Eve such a glorious existence, that none who have lived since them can even begin to grasp what it was. Can you imagine the joy he had visiting them daily and communing with them in the pureness and beauty of innocence? We know what our most enjoyable fellowship and intimate relationships mean to us.

So can you imagine what it must have felt like to God when these marvelously privileged souls foolishly chose to totally alienate themselves from him through disobedience? He warned them that their disobedience would result in death, but they went their own way anyway, and really blew it all. Yes, they did begin to slowly physically die from that moment on, but the true meaning of death is to be spiritually separated from God. Once they took on a contrary nature of separation and blindness toward God, the communion and fellowship was gone. They weren't pure and innocent like him anymore. They were truly on the other side, and really had lost everything; because in reality there is NOTHING apart from fellowship with God except for death. But the undeserved loss in this saddest of all tragedies belonged to God. He had lost everything that he had made the entire creation for, because he had lost the communion of those whom he had given dominion over it. That was what it was all about; sharing himself, and what he is about, with someone made in his own image; and it was all done for his own pleasure (Rev. 4:11). These people that he had made were truly lost to God. He was graphically and totally separated from them, and could not enjoy their company and fellowship anymore. Sure, he could still see and hear them, and he could still care for them from a distance so to speak; but the real sharing of himself with them, and vice versa, was lost. Friend, there is absolutely no doubt or question whatsoever, but that this greatest of all losses was a source of untold grief and pain to the heart of God, whose depth of feeling is unfathomable. We know by the scriptures that God experiences both grief and pain, and this must have been the greatest pain of all, apart from the suffering and death of his only begotten Son (Gen. 6:6; Isa. 63:9). And if you think about it a little, you can see that the pain we suffer from the death of those we love is more about understanding God, and knowing the fellowship of his pain, than it is about punishment. It's as much about admonishing us in regard to the beauty and value of life, meaning true communion with God, as much as it's about consequence. It is about man being made in the image of God, who incurred great pain with the loss he undeservedly suffered with the loss of man's presence and company those many years ago. The pain we experience is because we lose the company and presence of someone we have loved and enjoyed life with, even as it was for him. And now that God has made the way through Jesus for us to be truly reconciled to that glorious communion with him that was lost, and given us the hope of eternal life, we should be exceedingly diligent so as not to "neglect so great salvation" (Heb. 2:3). Friend, if you have recently lost someone, or haven't been able to get over such a loss, may God comfort and strengthen you by his mighty power and love which alone can heal such a wound. God bless.