Editorial August 14, 1943 Issue

Christ Jesus Hath Abolished Death!

John Randall Dunn

Has the cruel, ruthless hand of the so-called "last enemy" knocked at the door of your home? Does sense testimony relentlessly argue that the light has gone from your life, and that the future holds for you only the picture of drab, joyless existence? To such a stricken heart should come like refreshing rain to parched earth this strong, cheering promise from the book of Isaiah: "The Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; .... joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." What a lovely word is "comfort"! The Latin root conveys the thought of strength; hence one glimpses the fact that the true comforter should bring to a sufferer not only consolation and peace, but strengthening aid.

The world has known many comforters. The holy men of old, like Isaiah, who with childlike trust turned men from matter to Spirit for comforting and sustaining, have blessed multitudes throughout the centuries. David's songs of faith and cheer have uplifted thought in countless instances. But who could compare with the great Teacher, Christ Jesus, who not only comforted sorrowing hearts but actually healed the sick and raised the dead? In one of his letters to Timothy, the Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus as the one who "abolished death." Strong words, these! Do we believe them? This is an important question for the Christian to put to himself. The argument may persist, But how could the Master have abolished death when we still see it, and seem to experience it?

Let us for a moment consider the generally accepted concept of death. It can be summed up in one phrase—the termination of existence. Now if there is one clear-cut teaching of Christ Jesus which can be demonstrated beyond all cavil, that teaching is that there is no such thing as death, if by that we mean the annihilation or extinction of man. In the cases of the daughter of Jairus, the young man of Nain, and Lazarus, Jesus' recognition of endless, indestructible Being restored them to consciousness and normal activity. Could these individuals have been raised had life been exterminated? The crowning proof offered by the great Exemplar was his own victory over death and the tomb.

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