Neither can they die anymore, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Luke 20:36
I heard a silly story one time about a town where everybody was very healthy. They were so healthy in fact that there was only one death in that town in more than 20 years. The death, according to the tale, was the undertaker, who died of starvation. That’s a funny story, because we know there is little likelihood of undertakers running out of income. Their customers show up more surely than those of the liquor store or the tax department. We must all needs die. A pine box and a pile of dirt await us all, regardless of our status, race, or blood type. How good to have the assurance from the Lord Jesus that we are going to a land where death is not known, and where we rise in status to equality with angels. These are glorious things to us to anticipate!
God has placed within each human breast a burning drive to preserve our own life. To survive is our greatest instinct. That is because death is always no more than a heartbeat away, and for the unsaved, death is but a doorway to eternal loss and separation. But in Heaven, the instinct for survival is not needed. Death will forever have lost its ability to touch us. Pain and tears will have no place there. Our eternal existence is hard to understand, because we have known sorrow and trouble all our days here. Jesus says we can never die there. Wonderful land!
To be elevated to the same level as angels is also an exciting prospect. We know that angels possess powers that we lack. They can be in places and do things that are outside of our comprehension. We know little about them. But this we know, that our status must surely rise to take on wonderful new abilities when we get to Heaven. The thoughts of what God has prepared for them that love Him must surely cause us to rejoice and thank Him today.
Why are we going to be in a land that knows no death? Why are we going to be elevated to equality with angels? Because we are children of the resurrection. Jesus who died has defeated death, and He will grant to us the same power over death forever. Like angels, we will worship Him in holy perfection. -Jim MacIntosh