The Death of Kim Jong Il

It is reported that Kim Jong Il, dictator in North Korea, died Saturday on a train due to a heart attack (source).

Kim Jong Il's death is worth mourning because he, as a human being who was created in the image of God, was worth loving. God himself does not desire the perishing of wicked men because he is love and has concern for all his creation and thus reaches out to them so that they may seek communion with him (Ezekiel 18:23, 33:11). I pray that Kim Jong Il rests in peace and that God has mercy upon him, a sinner. I pray that Christians would set the example of loving the enemy even in that enemy's death. I pray that the absent are safe within the body of Christ on earth. May we know nothing but Christ crucified (which is love in it's greatest form) so that we may love others to point of dying ourselves rather than seeing them take the fall. May we not scoff at the tragic consequences of Adam's sin in any person's life, for ours is the same story.

All are wicked. All need grace. All need God. All must love.

We must remember that we have all sinned. If we have hated and kept anger we have murdered. We have oppressed. We all have been aligned with the world, darkness, Satan. We were saved by the grace of an all loving God and reconciled to him through his son.

Kim Jong Il, Muammar Gaddafi, Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, you, the neighbor, and me were meant to be servants who love others. If other's on the list are not doing that then the need for us to do so grows and does not decrease. Government authorities, by God's design and command deserve our honor. Let us be God-honoring in being authority honoring. Let us not speak unloving words of the dead, of the leader, of the wicked. Speak truth but only in love, only with the fruit of the Spirit.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor (1Peter 2:13-17).

These words were written during a time of great persecution and unjust rule. It must then apply even now.

There may be justice in Kim Jong Il's death, God knows well enough, but there must be love in our hearts, words, and deeds concerning the dictator. Celebrate that less wickedness may now occur (supposing that's true) and mourn the death of a sinner, praying for the mercy of God, for we've lost a human brother whom we have been told to love. Let us not dance on graves but plant flowers there.