On Monday, March 16 at 9:57 pm, I received an unexpected and heartbreaking phone call.
Have you ever wondered how you would respond in certain situations? For instance, have you ever placed yourself in the position of getting robbed, and then seen yourself bust into a karate stance in order to defend yourself. Maybe you imagined escaping from a burning building or saving yourself and other passengers from a car that is sinking in a river that moments early drove off a bridge. I know I’ve thought through many bizarre scenarios, but I’m not sure I thought through this one.
As I sat at the kitchen table, I glanced down to look at my phone and the visible number on the glowing digital screen, and noticed it was a call from home, a call coming form my parents who live in gorgeous Colorado Springs, Colorado. Since I hadn’t spoken with them recently, I eagerly reached for the phone with anticipation.
I answered with an excited, “Hey!”
There was some stuttering on the other line and then the voice of my stepmother came through clearly.
She said, “Hello, Stephen, um, how are you?”
I thought it strange she didn’t respond with the same enthusiasm, but I thought, ‘no big deal.’
I replied back, “Great! How are you doing?”
There was a pause, another stutter, and then she answered, “Well, I’m calling everyone to let them know that Grandpa Koch just passed away this evening.”
She went on to briefly explain some other details, but those simply turned into a muffle. I sat there in my kitchen trying to comprehend those simple words of communication. I tried to wrap my mind around the thought that my grandfather had died. My mind immediately went to my own father, and I wondered how he was taking things.
So I asked, “How’s Dad doing?”
My stepmother explained, and as I listen I couldn’t help but continue my attempts to comprehend and process all that she was saying.
The conversation ended and we said goodbye. She hung up to make more phone calls. As the phone went silent, my mind was still trying to grasp and gather everything. Once placed the phone down, I realized the haunting silence around me. Void of everything except the incomprehensible thoughts that were just spoken to me, which now seemed to be screaming at me through the stillness of the room. I sat there somewhat shocked and bewildered.
I stood up from my seat and began to walk around the room. As I paced over the cold tile floor beneath me, I wasn’t sure how to feel and I didn’t know what to do.
I had processed many other scenarios through my mind, but never this one. I never pictured myself physically or emotionally maneuvering through this circumstance, the death of a very special man, my grandfather.
And then it hit me…I began to weep.
That evening many thoughts pierced through my heart and raced around my mind.
I thought of memories we shared, the jokes he told, the times flying in his plane, I visualized sitting in his den watching an amazing Jazz drummer practice his flawless technique, I pondered conversations we had and would never have, stories I would never hear, weddings and grandchildren he would never see, and a heaven he may not know. You see, I’m not sure if my grandfather had ever trusted Christ
Grandpa Koch (middle row; third from the left)
I began to consider other thoughts about death and life. I pondered my own day that I will leave this massive, floating rock we call Earth, and many thoughts came to mind…here are a few:
Relationships are taken for granted…people really matter.
There is an old Yiddish saying which states, “It’s astonishing how important a man becomes when he dies.” As my mind processed thought after thought last night, I couldn’t help but realize how amazing of a man my grandfather was. He was an unbelievable musician, a talented pilot, an hysterical joke teller, a great leader, and an all-around wonderful man. There is no doubt he was saturated with awe inspiring stories from his life. Yeah, I’m sure I had heard some of them, but I know I never even scratched the surface. He was a man full of experience and wisdom, and I never even got much of a chance to learn any of it. It’s not as if he had all of a sudden become this great man, it’s just that all of a sudden I took the time to notice. I missed out due to my lack of attention. We must consistently value each and every relationship, because you never know when they’ll be over. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)
Death is predictable…everyone will die.
Someone once said, “The greatest king must at last go to bed with a shovel.” Someday everyone will say goodbye to this world, the people, its things, and its places. Death and the grave are no respecter of persons. They will take anyone and everyone. Doesn’t matter how much you have or how much you don’t, death will find you and leave your possession here. Doesn’t matter who you know or who you don’t, death will find and take you individually. Hebrews 9:27 says, “…it is appointed unto men once to die…” The sun will someday set on all our lives.
Life is unpredictable…any moment, anything can happen.
The phone call I received was completely unexpected. I had not time to plan or prepare, and neither did he. King Solomon, wisest king to ever live, once said, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” The ancient Proverb communicates a wonderful thought. We have not idea what each day will hold. Life is unpredictable. We should not boast of our personal plans or our selfishly contrived agendas. A man named James once said, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” Considering the fact that death could and oftentimes does come so suddenly, we must “awake to righteousness and sin not,” while always endeavoring to redeem the time because at any moment our time may run out. “As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.” (Job 7:9) Your cloud will one day vanish, never to return, so live each day knowing you’ve done all to fulfill the Lord’s will.
Death is not the end…it’s simply a transition.
There is more to come after your created body is consumed by the grave. Sir Thomas Brown made a great statement when he said, “The created world is but a small parenthesis in eternity.” Eternity is forever, and every soul of man is eternal, therefore every soul of man will live forever. Death is simply an individual discarding his human flesh while passing the end of time and entering into his beginning of eternity. Eternity is a destination, not simply a void of unconsciousness; it either leads to heaven or hell. Gore Vidal made the statement, “You need a religion if you are terrified of death.” I disagree, because religion, a simple practicing of rules or guidelines, which are ordained and defined by your chosen religious sect, will not guarantee a piece of mind concerning the “afterlife.” A mere religious association doesn’t cause me obtain absolute confidence that I’m going to heaven. Even if I assume my religious practices gives me a better chance, it still doesn’t do me a whole lot of good, because in order for me to make it to heaven I have to be perfect. And there is nobody that meets that requirement. Everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23). The only way you can get into heaven is to be sinless or perfect, and if you not then once you pass into eternity you are not allowed to be with God or be in His presence, because He is perfect and holy, and you are not. So, you are removed from His presence and placed in the only other alternative place to you can go, that place is called hell. For some death is a transition to this place. But it does not have to be. Sin is what causes man to be removed from God and placed in hell, but if sin is removed entirely from me, then I don’t need to be removed from His presence. So, if sin is removed I remain with God in heaven, where he ultimately wants me to be. God loves me, he wants me to be there with Him in heaven. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
What is so unbelievable amazing is that the sin has already been dealt with! He as already died and paid for you sin. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
Jesus Christ has already died for your sin and for the sins of the whole world. Jesus died and took away our sins so that we have to pay for them anymore. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Jesus literally took our sins away so that we can be sinless, and if we are sinless then we don’t have to be removed from God’s presences when we die. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). All the sins of the world are already paid for, all we must do is believe that this is the case, and if so, we can be saved from the destination of hell. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) This is not a fairytale, nor is this some religious nonsense. This is the truth! Jesus is not some religious guy that came along with a great philosophy. Jesus is God, and he died for our sins, and rose from the dead! The grave could not keep Him. He rose from the dead! He overcame death and the grave. He has proved death is not the end only a transition to meet Him and be with him.
Gore Vidal, you need not religion if you are terrified of death, you need the Lord Jesus Christ if you are terrified of death, because He has made death of none effect! When I believe that Jesus dead on the cross for my sin, and that he rose from the dead, and that my sins are forgiven and gone, then I can be absolutely confident that when I die, I will be transitioning into heaven. All because of the Lord Jesus Christ
“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
As for my grandfather, he was a good man, a devout Catholic man, but no religious association, no attribute or characteristic could ever remove his sin. Though I loved and do love him dearly, if he had never trust Christ and believed solely in what Christ had done for him, then his death and eternal transition was not a pleasant one. This possibility breaks my heart.
If he had trusted Christ there would be joy in knowing that He was with our Saviour, and that I would see him again. But the lack of the knowledge brings great sadness, for he may have been removed from the Lord’s presence, and I will never see him again.
The thought of my grandfather going to hell is what causes me to weep. Even now I am still broken over this understanding.
Death is a transition…I pray it is a joyous one for you and all mankind, but it is only joyous through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
2 Corithians 5:10-11
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
