Does Death Win?
Does Death Win?
Below is the first page of a book I recently read. It appeals to me for two reasons: firstly, it's written so well, and secondly, it did what first pages are meant to do - grabbed my interest.
"In war, life and death hung in tenuous balance. In war, taking a life in battle wasn't murder but victory. And still death won. In war, planning the death and destruction of the enemy was strategy. And still, death won. Violence, like a virus, spread from city to city. A stray spark in Hanoi kindled a fire in Chicago. A fire set in Berlin burst into a blaze in Tokyo. Wild winds of fury carried flames to New York, to Moscow, to Brazil, to Hong Kong. And cities across the globe burned. The human race consumed itself in a conflagration of rich against poor, culture against culture, with some beating the drums of fanaticism, be it religion or politics or the gnawing hate of the other. And so, death won." JD Robb
Is this reality? Are we so set on our own views we're happy to obliterate those who don't agree? Why can't we acknowledge the good in others and the not-so-good in ourselves?
But then, it's been like this since the Garden of Eden. How quickly lying turned to murder in the first family. It's like sin arrived in all it's complete wickedness - no build up!
If we lived in a sci fi reality would we put our differences aside to fight the aliens? (I was going to suggest we would but after a quick questionnaire with the staff in our shared office, it turns out even in a pretend environment - no, that's not necessarily the case.
The bad news is humans (and aliens, should they exist) are never going to win against death. Why? Because it took the sinless, perfect Son of God to fight, and conquer the enemy - the universal enemy - and it took all His strength - physical, mental and spiritual to do so. Why would He do that? Because we are His workmanship, created by Him, to bring Him glory. And in the situation, death did not win!!! Jesus, our Saviour, Lord and King did. He crushed death!
By Jo Warner