Funeral Message for Sarah Elise Atkins Ramey Delivered on December 24, 2007 by Dr. William D. Ramey With bitter-sweet emotions, I say, Good morning. My family and I desire to convey to you our deepest appreciation for your participation in Sarah Elise Atkins Ramey s funeral today, both a beloved wife and faithful mother to her children. It is at a time like this that the monumental difference between life and death surfaces. It is at a time like this that the most basic question confronts us, is there life after death? Is there a destiny beyond the grave? If so, how is it possible? It is a great delusion first introduced in the Garden of Eden by the Serpent and perpetuated even to the present day that man is endowed at birth with a natural, indestructible, immortal soul in a body with the capacity never to die. On the contrary, the Scriptures teach that man is a living soul which is destined for death not in part, but the whole. Death does not mean that our soul separates from our body and continues to live in another place apart from our body; but that man who is a living soul (Genesis 2:7) dies. The Scriptures also instruct us that the only hope from death is through resurrection. Resurrection means coming back from death, not in part, but in whole. The resurrection will occur at the visible Advent of Jesus, the Messiah, when His kingdom is inaugurated on earth. With these few preliminary remarks, I would like to encourage us in the time that follows with scriptural passages that instructs us what causes death, what to expect at death, and the hope of life beyond the grave. What Causes Death From the very beginning, God told man with absolute resolve that if he disobeys Him that man will die. In Genesis 2:16-17 we read: The LORD God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Page 1 of 6
Contrary to God s declaration, the bold philosophy that man would not die was soon introduced in the Garden by the serpent, who is called the serpent of old, the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:8). We read in Genesis 3:1-7: Now the serpent was craftier than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? The woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die. The serpent said to the woman, You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Consequently, because of man s disobedience to God, death ensued. In His judgment against the man, God said, By the sweat of your face you will eat food, till you return to the ground; because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19). We are told subsequently in Genesis 5:5 that the first man lived for nine hundred and thirty years, and then he died. What did God mean when He said, You shall surely die? For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. What causes death? Disobedience to God is the reason for death. Death was not the temporal destiny for only the first man, but for all who sinned. As the Apostle Paul states in Romans 5:12, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. The prophet Ezekiel says The soul who sins will die (Ezekiel 18:4). With brevity I have expressed the scriptural evidence what ultimately causes death. Death is caused because of disobedience to God. But what happens at the time of death? King Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 that at death the life force which animates the body in which the soul dwells returns to God. Page 2 of 6
Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed... then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. James attests to this fact in the New Testament when he says, For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26). In fact, Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 that this is the situation for both man and the animals when the breath of life or the spirit is removed. For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath... All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. It may surprise you to learn that in the Hebrew Scriptures of Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30; 2:19, the animals are also stated as being living souls. And like man, they too die and return to dust without the spirit of life which animates their bodies. However, there is one quantitative and important difference between the animals and man: animals were not created in the image of God; therefore ruling out the possibility of immortality which I will speak about in a few minutes. What to Expect at Death I now turn our attention to what awaits for those who experience death. In passage after passage in the Scriptures, death is likened to an unbroken, dreamless sleep. These passages warn us against thinking that the dead are conscious or active. Ecclesiastes 9:5 states, The living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything... The writer continues in verse 10: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. In Psalm 146:4, the psalmist says His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Page 3 of 6
In Psalm 6:4-5, David implores God to save him from death: Return, O LORD and rescue my soul; save me because of your lovingkindness. For there is no mention of You in death; in Sheol who will give You thanks? The same concept not to be able to praise the LORD when we are dead is also found in Psalm 115:17: The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. On the one hand, the dead have no feeling and no desire. They are not suffering any pain or feel the consequences of disease. On the other hand, the dead are unconscious, do no more work, take no account of anything, possess neither knowledge nor wisdom. In Scripture, death is likened to sleep no less than seventy times. David speaks of death as the sleep of death in Psalm 13:3. In Daniel 12:2, the angel Gabriel says to Daniel, Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace... Job also states the condition of death as sleep: For there is hope for a tree when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the dry soil, at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant. But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he? As water evaporates from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dried up, so man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep (Job 14:7-12). And the all important question that he asks for all of us in verse 14, If a man dies, will he live again? He does not ponder, If a man dies, will he continue to live? But he says, Will he live again? The hope of life beyond the grave To view death as a total cessation of life clears the air for a powerful view of the resurrection that Scripture teaches concerning hope of life after the grave. Page 4 of 6
Listen to the words of Jesus as He dealt with death with His disciples. Notice His no nonsense vocabulary that He uses. After Jesus was told of the sickness of Lazarus, He told his disciples: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep. The disciples then said to Him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead (John 11:11-14). Lazarus was in his tomb for four days before Jesus arrived. There is no possible mistake about his condition. In fact, there was a stench coming from his tomb because he had been dead for four days. After praying, Jesus cried out to the dead corpus, Lazarus, come out (John 11:43). And the corpus, living again, emerged from the tomb still wrapped with his burial cloths around his face, hands, and feet. What a staggering simple procedure it was for Jesus. He spoke only three words, Lazarus, come out. Yet, what a stupendous display of power exerted to bring a corpus back to life! To put it bluntly, Jesus brought back to life a corpus that was totally dead, stone cold both body and soul. It is only from the revelation of Scripture what our condition is when we die that we can begin to grasp the necessity and awesome power of resurrection from death to life again. Please notice that no where in this account is Lazarus called back from heaven. Not once in the Scriptures is it stated that heaven is the destination when we die or at the resurrection. The whole Lazarus, both body and soul were restored to life from the jaws of death. The breath of life from God reanimated him. Lazarus had not gone anywhere during his four days in the tomb. In fact, as when we sleep at night, he had been completely unaware of the passage of time as we all shall be when we die and sleep the sleep of death. When will those be awaken from this sleep of death? The Scripture is clear: it will be when Jesus comes to inaugurate His kingdom. For example, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, the apostle Paul says, But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own Page 5 of 6
order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ s at His coming. Paul makes it patently clear that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:50). He further states that this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality... when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:53-55). Jesus and His apostles proclaimed over and over again that it is only through Jesus, the same Jesus that died for our sins, and was raised on the third day because of our justification, that we may gain immortality. He alone is able to put us beyond the reach of death forever. The ability to raise the dead to give life after death is not found in Mohammad, or Gandhi, or Buddha, or Confucius. As great as these men were, they have turned to dust long ago. They cannot even help themselves, and most certainly not us. It is only Jesus, Jesus the Messiah of the Scriptures, Who was raised on the third day as a life-giving spirit, Who alone is able to give life to those whom He wishes when He comes again at the inauguration of His Kingdom on earth. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance that we consider the claim and question that Jesus puts forth before Martha, the sister of Lazarus, before Jesus awaken him out of his sleep. Jesus said, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believe in Me will live even if he dies... Do you believe this? (John 11:23-26). Page 6 of 6