Because so many of my customers believe in church funerals, especially Mormons and Catholics, I am finding it appropriate to begin adding Web pages to address the spiritual issues relating to death and its meaning. I will be following up with others that relate ideas from various faiths.

THE PURPOSE OF DEATH

By Russell M. Nelson

“DEATH BEGAN WITH THE FALL OF ADAM; it ended with the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Definition of something as obvious as physical death hardly seems necessary. Then ‘the spirits of all…are taken home to that God who gave them life.’ (Alma 40:11.)

President Joseph Fielding Smith explained that death ‘is a state of total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions, and it is followed by the dissolution of the body, which returns to the various elements of which it is composed.’ (Doctrines of Salvation, vol.2)

His reference to the fate of elements that once comprised the body paraphrases one of God’s earliest instructions to man: ‘In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ (Genesis 3:19.) Each of us may still remember the first startling experience of viewing the mortal remains of a loved one. I remember when my Grandfather Anderson (my mother’s father) passed away. Silently I thought to myself, ‘This is not Grandfather!’ And I was correct. It was not grandfather. The man I loved was not there. I think that was the first time I realized that it was his spirit I knew and loved, not his body. His body only allowed his spirit to function and to love me. Then I understood what an Old Testament prophet expressed so clearly: ‘Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.’ (Ecclesiastes 12:7.)

Death can thus be defined as a separation—a separation of the body and the spirit.

Traumatic as such a viewing is to a young person, it serves as an opportunity to teach one of the most important lessons of life, namely that each human soul is comprised of the body AND the spirit—two separate and distinct entities. This fact is simply stated in holy writ: ‘The spirit and the body are the soul of man.’ (D&C 88:15.)

With that understanding, we can then comprehend the need to exercise spiritual control over the appetites of the body. Spiritual dominion also demands that the divinely created body receive the care it deserves. Self-mastery means spiritual control over the body. Addiction, however, is just the opposite. If one is addicted to a substance, the unrelenting demands of the physical body control the spirit.

‘The elements [of the body] are the tabernacle of God; year, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.’ (D&C 93:35.) On one of many occasions when Jesus was taunted by his adversaries, he referred to his own body as a temple (See Mark 14:58; John 2:19.)

Thus far, we have considered only physical death—the death of the body. Prophets have described another kind of death, sometimes termed the second death, or spiritual death. Perhaps we should try to understand the spiritual as well as the physical death.

SPIRITUAL DEATH

President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: ‘Spiritual death is defined as a state of spiritual alienation from God—the eternal separation from the Supreme Being; condemnation to everlasting punishment is also called the second death.’ (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, p. 217.)

With that definition in mind, it logically follows that one can be spiritually dead, yet very much alive—physically. It is the exact opposite of what I felt when viewing the mortal remains of my grandfather. His physical body was dead; spiritually he was very much alive.

We can all think of people we know who seem to exhibit no spark of spiritual awareness. They appear to be totally concerned with ONLY physical and material matters. The apostle Paul warned us of this danger. He said, ‘If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.’ (Romans 8:13.)

A Book of Mormon prophet taught a similar lesson: ‘Whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.

‘Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death.’ (Helaman 14:18-19.)

Therefore, spiritual (or the second) death becomes a matter of great importance to us while we sojourn here in mortality. Even the Savior cannot save individuals in their sins. He will redeem them from their sins, but then only through repentance. Only rarely may we be responsible may we be responsible for physical death, but we are solely responsible for spiritual death.

Whether spiritual death be numbered as the second or the first death is incidental. The real objective is avoid it. The Master so declared: ‘Wherefore, I, the Lord God, caused that [Satan] should be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say: Depart, ye cursed. ‘But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son.

‘And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe; and they that believe not unto eternal damnation; for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, because they repent not; for they love darkness rather than light, and their deeds are evil, and they receive their wages of whom they list to obey.’ (D&C 29:41-45.)

The concept of rescue from spiritual death helps us to understand how we may be ‘born again’ through baptism and reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost. It helps us to see how we can obtain a ‘new heart’ in a spiritual sense. When our hearts change, we think and behave differently. When our hearts truly change, we can walk with confidence and in harmony with God.

Like birth, baptism is also an important initiatory gateway. ‘For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

‘And then are ye in this straight and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

‘And now…after ye have gotten into this straight and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

‘Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, ye must press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life…This is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God.’ (2 Nephi 31:17-21.) Scriptures describe some of the detailed changes that may be observed in one who has truly been converted to the Lord and saved from spiritual death. One of the most eloquent is this verse from the Book of Mormon.

‘For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.’ (Mosiah 3:19.)

In teaching a converted individual determined to repent and seek a righteous life, the Lord gave this encouragement through his prophet Ezekiel: ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.’ (Ezekiel 36:26-27.) (As one who practiced cardiovascular surgery for many years, I cannot resist the opportunity to note that these verses from Ezekiel alluded to a heart transplantation—even centuries before our present era of sophisticated open-heart surgery. Ezekiel’s imagery may have been figurative and used only as a metaphor, but the description of the replacement of a ‘stony heart’ with a ‘heart of flesh’ is equally apropos to the current clinical operation).

The gospel of Jesus Christ provides indemnification against spiritual death. Faith, repentance, baptism, and regular renewal of baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament worthily are spiritual life insurance.

PHYSICAL DEATH

Returning now to the topic of physical death, let us contemplate its sacred purpose. Ironic as it may seem, death is a part of God’s great plan of happiness. Scriptures so declare: ‘Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporary death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.’ (Alma 42:8.)

‘Death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Greater.’ (2 Nephi 9:6.)

‘Behold…it was appointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to judgment, even that same judgment of which we have spoken, which is the end.’ (Alma 12:27.)

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die.’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2.)

Those scriptures help us to comprehend that physical death is an essential part of God’s plan for us. His divine perception of our lives includes all three acts of the drama—not just act two. Even our own logic would cause us to understand the ensuing problems if people only entered and exited the stage on which act two of life’s drama is being played. What would this world be like without death? It would become mighty congested. Perhaps a time of mourning is not the best time for analytical thought, but it is a time to be reminded of the necessity of passing on.

Estimates suggest that some seventy billion people have lived on planet earth. If they were all still here—if there were no death—we could probably own nothing. Groceries would be scarce and housing would be overcrowded, to say the least. We could hardly make any choices, and accountability would be inopportune. The whole reason for our existence would thus be frustrated.

Not only that, but our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness would be destroyed. After all, he wants us to return to his presence. His highest hopes are for our immortality and eternal life.

What loving father or mother does not yearn for the day when a distant daughter or son will return? The longing of the lonesome heart does not ease with the passage of time. It becomes more intense. Few experiences provide the joy that homecoming brings. The embrace of awaiting parents when their arms envelop a beloved son or daughter is truly sublime. If one has experienced that kind of happiness, either as a parent or as a child, then and only then can one understand these scriptures: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.’ (Psalm 116:15.)

‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord…that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.’ (Revelation 14:13.)

Reunion, reason, and rounding out of divine intent all reassure us that physical death must be. Jonathan Swift appropriately concluded: ‘It is impossible that anything so natural, so necessary, and so universal as death should ever have been designed as an evil to mankind.’

Death is a part of life. It is an essential element of God’s plan of progression and happiness for his beloved sons and daughters. Death is the gateway to immortality and eternal life.”

Russell M. Nelson, The Gateway We Call Death, 1995

(Russell M. Nelson was a prominent heart surgeon and is current an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)