About God, Brittany Maynard and Suicide with Medical Assistance
In several heartbreaking videos (here, here and here), Brittany Maynard, 29, spoke of her intention to commit suicide, perhaps tomorrow, through medically assisted suicide in Oregon, due to her deadly, inoperable, fast-growing brain tumor.
- Joni Eareckson Tada.
- Who suffered more intensely and for longer than most of us.
- Responded to Brittany’s sad plan with empathy and biblical conviction.
- All of Joni’s considerations deserve serious consideration.
- The one I want to discuss is the following consideration: She said: “I understand that the pain Britain is feeling is great and that its treatment options are limited and have their own devastating side effects.
- But I think Brittany fails.
- Consider a crucial factor in your decision to die: God?.
- Others have written with open calls in Brittany.
- I write mainly for those who plan to re-think about this subject in light of the history of Brittany.
I hate cancer. He often works as an accomplice to our “last enemy”, death (1 Corinthians 15:26). Death was not part of the paradise that God created in the beginning. And death will not be part of the new land that will exist in This sense, death is opposed to the supreme goodness that God has designed for this creation. She’s an enemy.
But in the resurrection, will there be no more death?(Revelation 21:4). Death was born from the devil’s incitement to sin, but the devil himself was stripped of his power to condemn when Christ died for sinners. Does your Son assume human nature, so that with his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil?(Hebrews 2:14).
Therefore, death is temporary. She roared with terrifying anger, but those in Christ have had their fangs removed.
“Trapped was death for victory. Oh, dead, where’s your victory?Oh, dead, where’s your sting?”
Answer: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. Thank God you give us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ?(1 Corinthians 15: 56-57). In other words, Christ carried the curse of the law for us (Galatians 3:13). Therefore, the law cannot condemn us for our sins (Colossses 2:14-15). They’re covered. The stinger? The fangs?It’s been eliminated.
Therefore, in Christ we will die physically, but not spiritually. Our souls return home (2 Corinthians 5:8); Are you going to be with Christ?(Philippians 1:23). Then, when we return to earth, our bodies will be resurrected and glorified (1 Thessaloniki 4:15-16).
But although Satan initially incited sin and death came from sin (Romans 5:12), God Himself was the judge who applied the death penalty to the human race. The horror of death is God’s response to the horror of sin. Death is conceived by God to be the physical mirror of the moral indignation of human rebellion against God.
Therefore, God tells us that in response to sin, “creation is subject to vanity, not voluntarily, but by the one who subdued it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). Only God could do that. Neither Adam nor Satan in view of the hope of the world to come. It was God’s work, God determined death for the human race. He did this to defeat and be permanently removed from death. But he did.
TheRefore, the Bible goes on to say, “In the hope that creation itself will be redeemed from the bondage of corruption, by the freedom of the glory of God’s children?”(Romans 8:21). For now, there is captivity of the corruption of death, but the day of freedom is approaching. These are the times set by God.
So far we’re dead. And we live with Christ, this death and this life are conceived by God. Satan incited sin. Adam and Eve have sinned and God decreed the consequence of sin, that is, death.
And eliminate that consequence in part. At the first coming of Christ, the immeasurable sorrow for sin was paid (Colossars 2:14). At the Second Coming, the wretched effects of sin will be completely suppressed. The last enemy to destroy is death? (1 Corinthians 15:26) Death will no longer exist.
But until then, maximum control over death and life belongs to God, He brought death and will suppress it. And as long as death exists, he claims exclusive rights over it. Look now that I AM, only me, and no god except me; Mato and alive; I feel pain and I heal; And there’s no one who can free someone from my hand?(Deuteronomy 32:39; see also 1 Samuel 2:6).
Therefore, Job’s respectful response when he lamented the death of his ten children was profoundly and painfully correct: the Lord gave it and the Lord took it; Bless the name of the Lord!(Job 1:21)
So how should we think about our rights in relation to death, should life be under our control?Do we have the power to create or delete?
The Apostle Paul did not leave us unans helpless in this area. Who do we belong to, who does this body belong to?He says, “Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, that it is in you, that you have God, and that you are not yourself?Because you were bought by price. Now, then, glorify God. in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
These words were said to guide us in our sexuality, but the principle is the same for death, the more serious the consequences for the body and soul, the firmer this principle becomes, and death has the greatest consequences for the body and soul. it is the moment that defines the final destiny of the two (Luke 16:26; Hebrews 9:27). Therefore, the principle is confirmed in death: we are not ours.
Our bodies, your life, your death, belong to Christ, He bought them. They are not ours to do what we want; belong to him and exist for his will and glory.
Paul expresses himself not only when he speaks of sexuality, but also when he speaks of death.
For none of us live for ourselves, and none die for himself; for if we live, for the Lord we live; if we die, for the Lord we die; for us to live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died for this, and he was resurrected, and returned to be Lord, both of the dead and of the living?(Romans 14: 7-9)
The three points of 1 Corinthians 6 are present here, not in reference to sex, but explicitly in reference to death. Christ paid the price of his life for being the rightful Lord of the living and the dead. Therefore, we do not belong; we belong to the Lord. In other words, life and death are not our particular problems. Those aren’t the options we have. He bought us, we belonged to him. Do we live and die for him, depending on him, according to his will and for his glory.
So you’re not going to kill? (Exodus 20:13) is placed on a whole new foundation. Do our lives belong to God not only because we were created in His image, but now we also belong to Him?In life and death, because of the purchase of Christ. We don’t belong doubly. Our life and our death belong to God, he gives and takes. And he put a double seal on this exclusively divine right: You belong to me, of birth and blood, you do not live, and you do not die on your own terms.
What are God’s terms? We can risk our lives to save others (Acts 20:24; Philippians 2:30). And in suffering, can we seek to relieve pain? Ours and others’s (1 Timothy 5:23; Luke 10:37). has put this privilege in our hands. This is part of the partial elimination of the curse of the fall, but the right to end our lives has not been entrusted to us.
The fact that suffering increases almost inevitably as death approaches is an often frightening prospect. Even those who are not afraid of death shudder at the time of death. I saw a lot of suffering at the time of death. At a young mother’s funeral. ” I said, “The great triumph was that she never cursed God. “Besides, it was terrible.
But this tragic fact, which the suffering Apostle knew better than any of us, the truth has not changed: giving and taking away life belongs to God, not to us, and the suffering of our last days is meaningless.
That’s why we didn’t faint; but even if our outside man is corrupt, the one inside is renewed from day to day. For our slight momentary tribulation produces for us an excellent and eternal weight of glory; Without paying attention to what is seen, but to what is not seen; Because those who see each other are temporary and those who do not see the other are eternal?(2 Corinthians 4: 16-18)
Before anyone mocks the words “light and momentary,” know that Paul was talking about a life of suffering. Reading the details is almost unbearable (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). Does it contrast with the weight of glory? Momentary?Did Paul know we were more irritated than we could bear, so even in life we despaired?(2 Corinthians 1: 8). This suffering was not mild. It was not momentary, only in relation to the duration and glory of heaven.
But the central point of this text is that our final sufferings are meaningless, do they give us an eternal weight of glory?(2 Corinthians 4:17). ? Produce?operation, execution, and deployment.
And spouses, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters not only look sadly, they serve, care, and love. Yes, suicide can save you the pain of seeing them suffer, but it also deprives them of the privilege of serving. When we care for the people we love and are about to die, there are moments of sacrificial love so intense that they cannot be replaced by death.
Brittany Maynard spent her final days traveling to Alaskan glaciers, Kenai Fjords National Park and the Grand Canyon. In a sense, that’s quite understandable. We were created for beauty, but in another sense, it’s enigmatic. If there is one thing you do not want to stand in front of the Grand Canyon is to increase your sense of self-reliance, as it makes you feel small and vulnerable in the presence of greatness and majesty.
That’s good, because we’re small and fragile. We’re not self-sufficient, we weren’t created to be. All right, yes, joy, yes. Greatness, isn’t it outside of us, filling us with adoration and fascination. We were created for God.
In one of her videos, Brittany wisely said, “Make sure you don’t miss anything. Enjoy the day, what do you care?Get this and forget about the rest. “
I completely agree. What matters is that they bought you by price, we don’t belong. We live, die, and suffer for the glory of Christ our Lord. And we never forget the truth that makes everything worthwhile: “Why do I assume that the afflictions of this present time cannot be compared to the glory that will be revealed?in us?” (Romans 8:18).