Death an Act of Love?
By Mark Stalnaker
have been reading a lot about everyone going through a death and dying to self. I know how much it hurts at times, been there too. But I must say going through a death was very hard on me until the Lord gave me an understanding of it. That's what I like to share here.
First I like to cover the definition of death. A lot of people think that death means to not exist, to stop being. When God told Adam he would surely die the day he ate from the tree of knowledge. He meant it. The Devil said, "Did God say you would die?" (Paraphrase) Well Adam ate the apple, but he didn't die did he? Or did he? He was still there, as was Eve. But I tell you he did die. Death does not mean to stop being. Death means to separate from. When you die you do not stop to exist, you are separated from your body. Adam died because he was separated from God. If you are dead to something, you are separated from it.
Jesus died on the cross; He was separated from God. He took our separation; he took our death. Whatever is joined to you is alive in you; it functions in you. What does Paul say, "alive to Christ, but dead to sin". Joined to Christ, separated from sin. That is what the Spirit of God is doing; he is separating you from things that are joined to you, things that are alive. These alive things are functioning, but they need to be dead, to be separate, to be nonfunctioning.
So what is going through a "death"? It's going through a separation. A separation from things that will kill, things that will separate you from God's best and perfect will. So who is doing the separation? The Lord is, we just need to accept it. It is God who sanctifies (sets apart, separates us from everything that is not of Him.) not us, we are to choose whether to accept it. God separated the Israelites from Egypt, but we see later that not all of them accepted this separation. They wanted their Egypt back, so they missed out on the promise land. So we must accept it when the Lord separates us from something to see his promise.
When I finally understood what Jesus was doing, I wanted to die already. I looked forward to it; I wanted those things I did, that I did not want to do, GONE. I wanted to be separated from them. When I accepted the separation, the death was over, I entered the promise, I resurrected. He made me alive again; he joined me to his promise.
So when you go through a death, remember it is just a separation from something you don't want. Accept it and move on. If you are having trouble accepting, remember separation only hurts if it is separation from something you love. So go to the Lord and bask in His love and it will overshadow that thing that was so important to you. Always remember a "death" is not condemnation, it is separation. It is a Loving God completing his promise, the renewing of our minds, the redemption of our souls.
So may the Lord separate you and keep you to himself, and fill you with His joy.
