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If Christian Atsu’s sudden death among 45000 others by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria somehow slashed your faith in God who saves, then your faith is not well-grounded in the scriptures. The same is true for believers who buy into the assertion that people live up to 60, 70, 80 or 90 years only by chance—without any celestial intervention.
First, it is worth noting that even Christ Himself willingly offered Himself to suffer death at age 33. He took his life back on the 3rd day.
Indeed, in 2 Samuel 20, the bible says God extended the life of Hezekiah by 15 years and allowed death to take him away after those extra years. Also, in John 11:38-44, the bible tells us that Jesus raised Lazarus from death. How else would you want to know that God saves life? Otherwise what is about death that our God can’t save mankind from?
But God’s purpose for humanity is not to necessarily keep them away from death until they hit 90+. Have you not read that except for John, none of the 12 Apostles (including Matthias who replaced Judas) died a natural death? If God allowed his closest lieutenants, those who walked and dined with Jesus to suffer gruesome death when he could have saved them, then it tells us that God’s plan for his people surpasses death.
Have you not also read in Matthew 24:4 where Jesus prophesied that there comes a time when “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” and that “there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place.”? Naturally, human beings will die. So in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, many Christian soldiers at the war front either by profession or by encryption are dying defending their countries. These folks are not dying because we civilians are better Christians than them. And does that mean that God does not and cannot save man from the icy hand of death if he chooses to? The answer is no because He chooses to save when He wants to, to fit His overall scheme of plan.
St. Matthew’s gospel clearly paints the picture of the purpose of God for mankind in this world, which is manifested in the first coming of Jesus. It is to bring the kingdom of heaven into people’s hearts to keep them away from the old sinful ways of life toward a life of righteousness and to inherit the kingdom of God. So, even though the death of a loved one is emotionally painful, a true believer does not allow death to separate him or her from God. For Apostle Paul sums it up in his letter to the Romans, 14: 8. He says “if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
Otherwise, everything else is vanity. Eclclesiasti. 1:1-11
Mr. Solomon Atta
Canada.
Source:locotvgh.com