The news of Cecil the lion being hunted and killed illegally rocked the social media world. Responses were mostly angry at the hunting process, and the sadness at killing such a magnificent creature. But the lion’s life was limited as is the span of any life here. Death is eventually inevitable.
Note the word we use: “creature”. That term means creation — the same root of the word is used. We don’t call the lion a “naturism”. We sort of know that such a magnificence isn’t just a random event. And since the video of his death has been seen by millions, it brings out the horror of death. Much less have the videos of aborted baby body parts being sold by Planned Parenthood had that impact, except for those already opposed to abortion. Nonetheless, one way or another we are seeing the sadness and loss of death, and we are angered when we see life cut short. I’ll argue the inconsistency of getting more upset over the lion’s death than the deaths of infants later…
For those who can’t consider that this life is only a part of the picture of eternity, and that there is life beyond, how can you handle the fact that your life, and everything you’ve worked for, will one day disappear? Death is a sad thing, unless you see beyond it. It’s still sad, but sad more like having a family member traveling off to another country and out of contact, not the sadness of saying goodbye forever. God created life, and He has full control of its “loss”. And looking at His nature as revealed by Scripture: He is in the business of preserving whatever is good.
God created us. He created Cecil. Perhaps even those animal creatures have an afterlife — we don’t really know. The focus of Scripture is our afterlife. Be motivated to answer the question of eternal life as much as you possibly can! Do you want to just take a chance and hope for the best?