December 9

before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it. — Eccl 12:7 BSB

Human nature shrinks from death, even apart from what follows death, which makes it such a terror for many. Even where grace reigns and mercy triumphs over judgment, unbelieving and fearful thoughts can cross our minds and trouble our understanding about the separation of body and soul, and the launch of the spirit into an unseen, unknown world. Faith, though it can overcome these troubling thoughts, needs solid ground to build upon and rest. So, if the soul is blessed with a hope or sweet assurance of salvation through the blood and obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, removing the fears of guilt, how much strength and encouragement is there in considering His death—not just as the sacrifice for our sins but as an example of our own!

We all must die, so meditating on the death of Jesus by faith can be a comforting subject, helping to relieve us from these troubling thoughts. Jesus, when He was dying, entrusted His spirit into His Father’s hands. The Father accepted it, as He always heard His Son’s prayers (John 11:42). Thus, His spirit returned to the One who gave it. In that moment, Jesus’ soul and body were fully and actually separated, just as ours will be at death. But by faith, we can follow the soul of Jesus after His death, immediately entering paradise into the joyful presence of God. What nourishment for faith this is! How it strengthens and encourages a believing heart that has been troubled by such thoughts to see Jesus’ soul passing into paradise.

And can we not also, by faith, see the soul of the believing thief, who was crucified alongside Jesus, taking flight to the same paradise where Jesus’ soul had gone? If we have experienced the assaults of unbelief, the arrows of doubt, and the fiery darts of the evil one, and how they are all quenched by the shield of faith, we know that faith must have the Word of God to rest upon—a clear “Thus says the Lord.” Let’s now look at how this connects to the death of our blessed Lord. Strengthened by His holy example, and blessed with faith in His person, blood, and righteousness, the dying believer can entrust their spirit into the hands of Christ, just as the martyr Stephen did, with the same confidence that the Lord Jesus entrusted His spirit into the hands of His heavenly Father.