PART 2: IS THERE PEACE IN DEATH?
In
the name of God, Master of the universe, Ruler of the earth.
We bear witness to the Truth of the
one and only God, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Oyankopon, Mawu, Olodumre, Chineke.
To those that worship in the ways of the
first that came upon the earth, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Gentiles and all the
people of the world that believe in the Supreme Power of God.
Salaam Aleikum, Peace and Paradise,
Shalom:
Is there peace in
Death? We thank God for the on-going spirit of African Traditional religions and
the essence of Peace. As man first came upon the earth he looked to the sky and
saw the great wonders. The power of God and what He had Created
was all around him. Man realized the necessity of being in harmony with nature.
He also realized that we should honor our ancestors. Thus, thorough man's
harmony with nature there is found Peace.
Those that follow the Torah and the
Jewish faith find Peace in prayer.
"The Holy one, blessed is He,
found no better vessel to hold Israel's blessings than Peace, for it is
written: "the Lord will give strength to His people, the Lord will bless
His people with Peace."
The Jewish faith further reveals
Peace in the following prayer:
"O God, You have called us to
peace, for You are Peace itself. May we have the
vision to see that each of us, in some measure, can help to realize these aims:
Where there are ignorance and
superstition, Let there be enlightenment and knowledge.
Where there are prejudice and hatred,
Let there be acceptance and love.
Where there are fear and suspicion,
Let there be confidence and trust.
Where there are tyranny and
oppression, Let there be freedom and justice.
Where there are poverty and disease,
Let there be prosperity and health.
Where there are strife and discord,
Let there be harmony and peace.
Islam also proclaims peace. Muslims
are taught that all human beings were created by the one and only God. Thus,
there is one single family under God. Islam further reveals a revolutionary
concept of mankind and Unity.
Quran 3: 103. "Cling firmly
together by means of God's rope, and do not be divided. Remember God's favor's
towards you when you were enemies; He united your hearts so that you became
brothers because of His favor."
The code of life revealed in Islam
will allow man to have Peace it will also maintain the straightway.
Quran 3: 84: 2: 136. "Say, (O
Muhammad): We believe in God and in the Revelation given to us, and to Abraham,
Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes. We believe in the Revelation that was
sent to Moses, Jesus and all other Prophets from their Lord. We make no
distinction between them, and to Him we surrender."
Quran 3: 3-4. "He has revealed
to you (O Muhammad) the scripture with truth, confirming that which was
revealed before it even as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel before as a
guide to mankind and has revealed the Criterion (for judging between right and
wrong).
Khurshid Ahmad reveals to the world
that Islam is the religion of truth. "All of them called humanity to the
way of the Lord, the way of submission to God. All of them gave the same
message, and all of them stood for the same cause: Islam."
The ways of the world will cause you
distress, anguish and on-going sorrow when you meet Death. Reject the ways of
the world and find Peace. The Prophet Muhammad (May Peace be forever upon him)
reveals in Hadith 31. “A man came to the Prophet (may
the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said O Messenger of Allah,
direct me to an act which, if I do it, (will cause) Allah to love me and people
to love me. He said: Renounce the world and Allah will love you, and renounce
what people posses and people will love you."
As man turns away from the world and
accepts the will of God the Creator of all things we see the spiritual side of
Death. As we look at the Old Testament, we see Job proclaiming that the
believers will rise again. Job was one of the first Prophets to talk about the
resurrection of the body.
Job 19: 25-26. "For I know that
my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the later day upon the earth.
The Prophet Isaiah also speaks of
life after death. Isaiah 26: 19.
"Thy dead men shall live
together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in
dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."
Daniel is one of the greatest
examples in Old Testament scriptures and the Bible, of faith and trust in God.
Faith and trust in God will render Death in a different perspective. As Daniel makes
prophetic statements toward the last days, we see a different perspective on
Death.
Daniel 12: 2, 3. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt."
"But go thou thy way till the
end be: For thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at
the end of the days."
In the scriptures of the New
Testament we see revelations that note that through Jesus Christ we shall have
eternal life. In the book of Revelation in the last two chapters we see the
scriptures that reflect the prophecies of the ending world.
Revelation 20: 5,
6. "But the
rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years was finished. This is
the first resurrection."
Those that stand for the Truth of God
will defeat Satan and the enemies of Truth. This is the first resurrection.
Verse 6. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
The second death is the punishment in
the lake of fire. But those that are part of the first resurrection will never
die again.
John 11: 25, 26. "Jesus said
unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live:
"And whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
In I Corinthians 15: 54-55 we see a
clear indication of the defeat of Death by the believers.
Verse 54. "So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immorality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory."
Verse 55. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory?"
Death is defeated with the belief in
Christ the Creator of all things. Who that believes in Him has a spiritual life
that death cannot diminish or touch. Thus, there is Peace in Death for the
believers. Will we learn to respect all that believe in the Supreme Power of
God? Your religious beliefs are your personal choice. The people of God must
believe that all that believe in God and Peace and Paradise have something in
common. This commonality is a vehicle to Unity.
carl@freedomjournalpress.comcastbiz.net