Death is the terminal point of every human being and all living things on earth. It is an end to life here on earth for every human being. It is the mark of separation of the spirit from the body and soul. It is an end to human travails on earth. It is an end to ambition, belief, religion and what have you.
Every man has the opportunity to explore this world within the period he is alive under a free atmosphere. Though for man to do this, he is expected to keep the law of the land wherever he goes. A person in confinement may be limited to express potentials.
As noted in my earlier write up, life exists in-between the period of birth and death. It is posited that many factors are responsible for the lifespan of a man. What is however important is not how long someone lives but how well and how impacting his life is to the immediate society and the world at large.
Death is the end to struggle for whatsoever is under the sun. Death eliminates class structures that exist among living people. A popular saying describes death as a leveller; it places the mighty and lowly, the rich and poor, on the same pedestal.
The important question to ask is whether death is the true end to everything about man. This has of course generated different opinions with some positing that there is no life after death, that once man is dead, he is dead forever and of no consequence. The atheists who are referred to as free thinkers and similar groups who share the same philosophy belong to this school of thought.
In some African traditional societies, there is a belief in reincarnation which says that a dead person can come back to life in the image of another person or reappear in another community to interact with living people again. For example, in the traditional Yoruba clime, some newly born babies after the death of elderly ones in the families are named “Babatunde” – our father has come again, or “Iyabo” – our mother has come again.
However, the Bible’s position on the life of man and on what happens after he dies is very clear. Man is dust and to dust he will return.
“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7.
“After Adam and Eve sinned, God placed a curse on them saying; “In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Genesis 3:19.
Let us note that man is composed of body, spirit and soul. The body is dust and it returns to dust, while the soul and spirit return to God for judgement.
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7.
Every man who lives and dies will face judgement and there is hardly any more opportunity of returning to the earth except raptured believers for the millennial reign of Christ. Then, it is not as mortals but immortals. The story of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man told by Jesus in Luke 16:19-31, is a pointer to the fact that death is the actual end of man on earth.
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment. Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them. No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Luke 16:27-29, NIV.
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