Morte
A morte é a realidade que todos enfrentam, mas para o cristão ela não é o fim. A Bíblia ensina que Cristo venceu a morte e nos dá a esperança da ressurreição e da vida eterna.
Cristo venceu a morte
Onde está, ó morte, o teu aguilhão? Cristo destruiu o poder da morte e nos deu a vitória pela ressurreição.
55 »Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?«56 Now sin is the sting of death, and sin derives its power from the Law;57 but God be thanked who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
26 The last enemy that is to be overthrown is Death;
21 For seeing that death came through man, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For just as through Adam all die, so also through Christ all will be made alive again.
11 Faithful is the saying: »If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the First Resurrection. The Second Death has no power over them, but they shall be priests to God and to Christ, and shall be kings with Christ for the thousand years.
A esperança da vida eterna
Jesus disse: 'Eu sou a ressurreição e a vida.' Quem crê nele não está morto, mas apenas adormecido — e um dia despertará para a glória.
25 »I am the Resurrection and the Life,« said Jesus; »he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live;26 and every one who is living and is a believer in me shall never, never die. Do you believe this?«
25 »I am the Resurrection and the Life,« said Jesus; »he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live;26 and every one who is living and is a believer in me shall never, never die. Do you believe this?«
27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.28 I give them the Life of the Ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall any one wrest them from my hand.
16 For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages.
13 Now, concerning those who from time to time pass away, we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, lest you should mourn as others do who have no hope.14 For if we believe that Jesus has died and risen again, we also believe that, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who shall have passed away.
16 For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud word of command, and with an archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Afterwards we who are alive and are still on earth will be caught up in their company amid clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
Não temas a morte
Não temas os que matam o corpo. Para o cristão, viver é Cristo e morrer é lucro. O vale da sombra da morte não assusta quem caminha com o Pastor.
28 »And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.«
25 For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.
21 For, with me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
23 I am in a dilemma, my earnest desire being to depart and be with Christ, for that is far, far better.24 But for your sakes it is more important that I should still remain in the body.
20 We, however, are free citizens of Heaven, and we are waiting with longing expectation for the coming from Heaven of a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,21 who, in the exercise of the power which He has even to subject all things to Himself, will transform this body of our humiliation until it resembles His own glorious body.
8 If we live, we live to the Lord: if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
A eternidade nos aguarda
Deus enxugará toda lágrima. A morte será o último inimigo destruído. Para os salvos, a morte é a porta de entrada na presença eterna de Deus.
3 And I heard a loud voice, which came from the throne, say, »God's dwelling place is among men and He will dwell among them and they shall be His peoples. Yes, God Himself will be among them.4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more; nor sorrow, nor wail of woe, nor pain; for the first things have passed away.«
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more; nor sorrow, nor wail of woe, nor pain; for the first things have passed away.«
27 And since it is reserved for all mankind once to die, and afterwards to be judged;
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the lower ranks of evil angels nor the higher, neither things present nor things future, nor the forces of nature,39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which rests upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
7 Why, it is scarcely conceivable that any one would die for a simply just man, although for a good and lovable man perhaps some one, here and there, will have the courage even to lay down his life.8 But God gives proof of His love to us in Christ's dying for us while we were still sinners.
17 For if, through the transgression of the one individual, Death made use of the one individual to seize the sovereignty, all the more shall those who receive God's overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in Life through the one individual, Jesus Christ.
23 For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A morte na perspectiva bíblica
Há tempo de nascer e tempo de morrer. A morte é realidade humana, mas Deus é Senhor tanto dos vivos quanto dos mortos.
46 and Jesus cried out in a loud voice, and said, »Father, to Thy hands I entrust my spirit.« And after uttering these words He yielded up His spirit.
23 And in Hades, being in torment, he looked and saw Abraham in the far distance, and Lazarus resting in his arms.24 So he cried aloud, and said, »Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
15 Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin; and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death.