Why Death Feels So Unnatural to the Human Soul

Faith Facts

• A British pastor observed how a 95-year-old parishioner’s faith deepened as her physical body weakened in her final days
• Christian theology teaches that human discomfort with death stems from being created for eternal life, not mortality
• True peace with death comes only through faith in Christ and the hope of eternal life in heaven

Death remains one of humanity’s greatest sources of discomfort and fear, even in a culture that tries to hide it behind sterile medical environments and euphemistic language. But according to Rev. Jamie Sewell, a British pastor who has walked alongside many believers through their final days, there’s a profound theological reason for this universal unease.

Reverend Sewell recently witnessed the passing of a 95-year-old member of his congregation. As her body grew weaker, he observed something remarkable: her faith grew stronger. This paradox illustrates a fundamental Christian truth about the nature of death and why it feels so foreign to the human experience.

“We find death so hard because we were made for eternity,”

Sewell explains, pointing to the biblical understanding that humanity was originally created for immortal communion with God.

The discomfort we feel when confronting death isn’t simply fear of the unknown or grief over loss. It’s a deep spiritual recognition that death is an intruder—something fundamentally contrary to our divine design. From a Christian perspective, death entered the world through sin, disrupting God’s original plan for His creation.

This theological framework helps explain why even societies that try to sanitize or rationalize death never fully succeed in making people comfortable with it. No amount of medical advancement or philosophical reasoning can remove the sting of mortality because the problem is spiritual, not merely physical or intellectual.

According to Sewell’s observations, believers who have cultivated a living relationship with Christ throughout their lives often experience a transformation as death approaches. Rather than succumbing to despair, their faith intensifies. They begin to see beyond the failing body to the eternal reality that awaits.

“We only make peace with it when we find the hope of heaven,”

Sewell notes, emphasizing that this hope isn’t wishful thinking but a confident expectation rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Bible presents death as a defeated enemy. Through Christ’s victory over the grave, death has lost its ultimate power over those who trust in Him. This doesn’t eliminate the grief and loss that accompany death in this world, but it fundamentally changes the nature of our relationship with mortality.

For the elderly parishioner Sewell accompanied, her weakening body became a vessel for strengthening faith. As the physical reality of this world faded, the spiritual reality of the next became clearer. This pattern repeats in countless deathbed scenes across history, where believers have testified to experiencing profound peace and even joy as they approach eternity.

The Christian perspective stands in stark contrast to secular approaches to death, which often oscillate between denial and despair. Without the hope of resurrection and eternal life, death remains an absurdity—the ultimate negation of meaning and purpose. But with Christ, death becomes a doorway rather than a dead end.

This hope transforms not only how we die but how we live. Recognizing that we were made for eternity gives purpose and direction to our earthly existence. It reminds us that our current struggles are temporary and that our true citizenship is in heaven.

The apostle Paul captured this tension when he wrote about death being swallowed up in victory. He acknowledged the reality of death’s presence while proclaiming its ultimate defeat. This biblical realism doesn’t minimize grief but places it within a larger framework of hope.

Sewell’s ministry experience confirms what Scripture teaches: death feels unnatural because it is unnatural. We were created for life, not death. The discomfort we feel is actually a signpost pointing us toward our true home—a restored creation where death will be no more.

As America continues to grapple with an aging population and questions about end-of-life care, the Christian perspective offers something medical science cannot: hope beyond the grave. While compassionate care for the dying remains essential, the ultimate comfort comes from knowing that physical death is not the final word.

For families watching loved ones decline, Sewell’s testimony offers encouragement. The weakening of the body doesn’t have to mean the weakening of faith. In fact, for many believers, the approach of death clarifies what truly matters and draws them closer to the Savior who conquered death on their behalf.

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