Screen capture of video from Brooklyn, outside a hospital where they load bodies into a refrigerated semi truck (video capture blurred by me)
As the President explained yesterday in the Coronavirus Task Force news conference, I too was shocked at the scenes from two different New York hospitals where they are using refrigerated trucks to temporarily hold bodies of those succumbed to the COVID-19 virus. These individuals died as a result of this virus. Just days ago, they were as you and me. Just days ago, they were among the living.
As of this morning, Johns Hopskins reports 3,170 Americans have died (39,014 total world-wide in 179 countries with cases). The White House Coronavirus Task Force this week predicted between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans will possibly die from this virus.
Who are dying? As a statistic, primarily those over 80 years old. But this is much more than a statistic. It is people – some you may know, some you do not. Neighbors. Friends. Fellow Americans. Dads. Moms. Uncles. Aunts. Granddads. Grandmas. Brothers. Sisters. Children. Boys. Girls. Teenagers. Senior Adults.
How do we respond? The economy is shut down. April is cancelled for almost all of us. What do we do now?
How Does Eternity Impact Our Response?
Every person who dies immediately faces eternity. That means, specifically related to the Coronavirus COVID-19, those 100,000 to 200,000 Americans who may die (and thousands and thousands more around the globe) will immediately step into eternity. From the land of the living on earth to the abode of the eternal.
Only 164,719 people in the States have caught it. However, of those – and possibly many you will know – a percentage will succumb to it and die. They will transition from life to eternity.
What faces them in eternity?
The Bible teaches that an individual faces two options upon death. Listen to Jesus describe it in the Gospel of John. He first discusses the opportunity for eternal life:
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:13-17)
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:18-21)
Jesus describes eternal life in heaven with Him versus an eternity of condemnation over not believing. He uses the word perish to describe it. Not annihilation but eternal perishing, punishment, and pain. Three times in Mark 9 Jesus describes hell as the place of fire that will never be quenched and where the worm does not die. Eternal punishment in the confines of the lake of fire.
Why do people go to hell?
Because they are sinners and while on earth are to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior – the perfect Son of God who came to take their punishment for sin. If they believe and humbly ask God to forgive them of their sin, God will save them (Rom 10:9-10). If any person does not believe, then that individual goes to hell.
How does that impact our response to the coronavirus then?
With eternity in mind, we realize that of those who have died and of every one else who will die, those individuals will either go to heaven or hell. Those individuals will leave the earth and life as we know it and immediately transition into eternity. Those individuals will no longer have an opportunity to believe; instead, they will be confined to an eternity based upon the decision made regarding Jesus Christ while they were on the earth.
It all comes down to what they do with Jesus. Good works? Not helpful (Eph 2:8-9). Only Jesus (John 14:6).
Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. They both died. The rich man went to hell. He cried out to God and asked God to send him back to earth to warn his large family. Here is Jesus describing it:
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ” (Luke 16:27-31)
This rich man in torment pleading for his family to know the truth about Jesus Christ and eternity. Jesus responded by describing how many will not believe the Bible and will not turn to Jesus even though he was raised from the grave.
Our Response Based Upon Eternity
Let me suggest two ways we need to respond based upon the sad reality of eternity:
First, we must share the Gospel with as many people as possible. Those we are around need to hear about Jesus Christ. If they do not believe in Jesus Christ then they face an eternity in hell. This is not simply a matter of physical life and death; this is a matter of eternal life in heaven or an eternity of spiritual death in hell. Of friend, this reality should provide great motivation for us.
Second, we must follow the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommendations. Why? Because we do not want people to get sick and suffer, to possibly get sick and die. Every time we social distance, every time we wash our hands, every time we do what we have been asked to do, we demonstrate love for our neighbor in regard to suffering and eternity.
For the sake of others, I strongly urge you to keep eternity in mind as you respond to COVID-19.
Image Credit Screen Capture of video by Corey Teague
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together