Why Do Christians Die?

I wrote another name in the back of my Bible recently.

I do that each time I preach a person’s funeral service. I’m not sure how many names I’ve written down. It’s several pages of names with two columns of names per page. It’s a lot. Among the names are both my parents’ names, as well as my two grandmothers, and my mother-in-law. It has the names of both young and old. Those expecting to die and those whose death came as a shock.

I couldn’t tell you how many weddings in my ministry I’ve performed, but I’ve recorded these funerals. It’s a stark reminder of our mortality in this life.

Most of these names were individuals who confessed faith in Christ. They were believers, Christ followers, Christians. Yet, they died. Yes, they died in faith (see Hebrews 11), but still they died. Why?

Maybe you’ve never considered that question. It’s just understood that death is immanent for us all in this life. We’re all going to die, right.

But why do Christians die?

We know Scripture teaches us that death entered this world because of sin (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Paul stated clearly the wages of our sin results in death. But the gospel of Jesus boldly proclaims that Christ has paid our sin debt. He has ransomed us from the bondage of our sin. By faith, believers, have been given the free gift of God, eternal life in Jesus Christ their Lord (Romans 6:23b).

That’s gloriously good news! So why then, with our sin debt being paid, the penalty of our sin being removed (Romans 8:1), and Christ having defeated death and the grave (Revelation 1:18), do Christians still die?

While Christ has fully conquered sin and death, we still await the full consummation of our salvation. Our souls have been redeemed, but our bodies still know the effect of the fall. We groan, Paul says, as we await the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). Christians die, not because there is something lacking in Christ’s work, but because the fullness of our salvation has not yet finally come (see Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:5; Romans 13:11; Hebrews 9:28).

However, the gospel, as with all things, transforms death for the Christian. Near the tomb of his friend Lazarus, who died, Jesus spoke with his sister Martha and proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).

Through the gospel God has transformed death—from a curse for sinners into a servant of His redemptive purposes for believers. Here are five purposes God accomplishes through a believer’s death.  

1.        To conform us to Christ.

We have a Savior who knows what it is like to face death and die. In our death as Christians we follow in the pattern of our Savior. Paul writes about this in Philippians 3:11-12, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…”. Facing death as a believer allows us to follow in the pattern of Christ in this unique perspective of suffering.

However, Paul also writes this means we will know him in the power of his resurrection! How glorious is this! For believers throughout most of redemptive history, resurrection glory follows physical death. We rightly celebrate Easter, the triumphant resurrection of Christ, but Easter Sunday comes only after Good Friday. The cross precedes the empty tomb.

So too for the believer. Like our Savior, we pass through death before entering resurrection glory. The path to Easter Sunday still leads through Good Friday. We only know the power of resurrection by first facing the presence of death.

2.        To reveal His grace and faithfulness.

Psalm 23 has long been a cherished passage for believers facing death. This shepherd psalm speaks of the Lord as a faithful companion even as we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” It’s in the experience of dying and death that believers come to know a unique grace and faithfulness of the Lord. In this last trial of life, believers discover God’s grace and faithfulness in ways they have never known before. But as Christians face death, we truly discover that God’s grace is in fact sufficient for this ultimate trial, and his faithfulness never ends.

3.        To end our struggle with sin.  

Death, as God’s ordained means, marks the end for the child of God in their lifelong struggle against indwelling sin. The Bible is clear that our days have been numbered (Psalm 90) and it is appointed that man die (Hebrews 9:27). For the believer though, this divinely ordained day is the occasion God has chosen to bring an end to our fight with sin.

When the last breath is drawn the race is complete, the battle won! Thinking on his impending death Paul wrote to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). For the believer death brings us to a place of rest and completion in our spiritual pilgrimage.

4.        To bring us into Christ’s presence.  

Death is a doorway into heaven and the presence of the Lord for those who die in faith. Biblically speaking, physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. In that occasion, the body physically dies, but the soul departs for its eternal dwelling. For the believer that means by their faith in Christ, they are welcomed into the presence of the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 5:8). When our eyes close in death in this life, we are ushered into the fullness of joy and the presence of the Lord (Psalm 16:11). Though still awaiting the future bodily resurrection, their souls have been made perfect in holiness and received into the presence of King Jesus. Through the gospel, death becomes the gateway whereby we are hastened into the presence of our God and King.

5.        To magnify Christ.

Paul wrote that for the believer “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). These gracious purposes help us understand why Paul could say that. As believers part from this world and enter the fullness of God’s presence it is “far better” (v. 23). God gives the occasion of a believer’s passing as a final opportunity to make much of Christ. It’s the believers’ last witness to the glory of God in all things, even their death. John Piper said, “Death reveals where our true treasure lies.” As believers die in faith, they are proclaiming that what awaits—being with the Lord—is far better than anything they’ve had in this present life. Approaching death in this fashion, as one who has trusted in Christ, is a final testimony to all watching that Christ is the believer’s supreme treasure.

Yes, Christians will face death. In one sense death is still an enemy to this life. The pain and loss it brings is real. However, through the power of the gospel death for the believer has been transformed. Though death remains our last enemy, for the believer its sting has been removed (1 Corinthians 15:55). Christ holds the key to death and turns it in the life of a Christian for greater purposes.

Ultimately, death will be destroyed. Christ will deal the death blow to death itself upon his return when the dead are raised to life (1 Corinthians 15:26). One day death will be no more (Revelation 21:4). Until then, I’ll continue to write names in the back of my Bible and recall that, though death remains an enemy, Christ has made it the servant of His redeeming grace. Therefore, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).