I recently watched a documentary that followed a grief counselor as he gave advice and counsel to people and families facing death. I found it very thought provoking because his basic philosophy was that people shouldn’t fear death but instead should see it merely as a part of life.

The setting for this documentary and the location of the grief counselor was in rural western Canada and he drew his beliefs on death and dying from what he identified as indigenous tribes. Throughout the documentary the grief counselor can be seen referencing an array of belief systems from Indian practices to Far Eastern beliefs to the mention of accounts within the Gospels.

It was obvious that he advocated for people to approach death and dying as any other activity of our lives but I was left thinking one cannot hold to a proper attitude toward death without a belief in the Bible. Death is not a friend. 1 Corinthians 15:26 clearly states that “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (NIV).

If one takes a biblical view of death to heart, there will be a sense of fear toward dying because it is not God’s original intention for us. Death entered the human experience when Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan in disobedience to God (Genesis 2:17). While Satan’s intention is “to kill, and to destroy” God’s intention for us is that we “have life, and…have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Death then is the result of sin, as it’s put in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So death is by no means a good thing but a necessary result of Satan’s rule until Jesus returns and restores all things to new.

Facing death with a measure of expectancy is not really a bad thing, because it is a reality on this side of Heaven. We know it’s our lot, we know we are heading right to it, so the best we can do is plan ahead for it. There is a verse in the Bible that says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15 NIV).

The verse doesn’t mean the Lord delights in death, in fact He abhors it, but He delights in seeing a believer come to the end of their mortal journey and begin the transition to their immortal life with Him.

Perhaps the solution to facing death is to welcome the afterlife with anticipation of the resurrection to eternal life in an earth made new where “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

What follows death for the survivors is the burden of grief. Someone has said that grief is the price we pay for the love we had. In fact, death and grief are the sides of the same coin. I think our attitude toward death affects how well we learn to cope with grieving because grief becomes a companion as we miss our loved one’s presence.

There is a verse in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 where the Apostle Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (NIV). I point this verse out because we want to grieve with hope. Hope of eternity and hope of seeing our loved one again.

Death is not our friend and that is precisely why the anguish of grief plaques the survivors. When death steals a loved one, please know that it cannot hold them forever. One day the Lord Jesus will return, the resurrection will occur, and we’ll be reunited with those that have died before us throughout all eternity. 

Then, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, it will be exclaimed on that day, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (NIV).