Nephew Asking About Death

If your sister deferred her son's question to you, I presume your nephew's father is out of the picture as far as addressing your nephew's question; ideally the boy's father would be the first choice. Or perhaps the boy's emotional appeal might stimulate parental efforts at discovering the Bible's message.

At six-and-a-half years of age, your nephew is evidently beginning to understand abstract concepts. His emotions sound like fear and grief, as normally when faced with death. While there are various possible avenues and responses, the gospel of Jesus would surely be at the heart, the cure for what ails your nephew. How lasting the felt trauma may be another question--if he can be distracted with play.

One would of course not wish to deceive a nephew--to give false hope, that is. Nor would stirring fear and horror necessarily effect the regeneration (new birth) which comes from the work of the Holy Spirit on some who hear the gospel message. But the gospel promises that give hope are conditional. If your nephew believes the gospel, if he becomes a disciple of Jesus, he can hope, not for this world to go on forever, but for an eternal new heavens and a new earth, for a place among the disciples of Jesus before the Lamb, for happiness. But only if the conditions of the gospel are met.

God is the source of all good. God is good. But He must be trusted even when scary things happen.

In one sense, the message of the gospel is simple. But it assumes certain concepts which, if not understood, may lead to confusion or misapplication. Who is the God we are talking about? Well, for one thing, He is the Creator who orders our lives. What is the problem we are addressing? To your nephew, it may be fear and grief at facing death, but is that central to God's concerns in the gospel?

So we move from creation to Adam's fall and to your nephew's sins. What are sins? Does your nephew feel he has offended a holy God? I doubt it. But at least this can be gently explained. The Ten Commandments. The golden rule. Love others as you love yourself. Love God most of all (why?).

If your nephew is still listening--and maybe the conversation will take place in broken fragments over a period of time--that is if he begins to see he has a problem which Jesus as Savior can address (oh, and who is Jesus?), you may move on to Jesus the Good Shepherd dying for the sins of those whom He loves, His sheep. And rising from the dead. And disciples of Jesus identifying with Jesus in His death and resurrection, having a hope of glory, a hope of a renewed Eden.

Conceptually, the above is a string of thought. In practice with your nephew, you may want to build stories from the Bible with him. (I don't know what the Action Bible is, but if it is a Bible, and he likes reading it with you, you may want to use selections from the Gospels and perhaps Acts--and of course Old Testament stories. Narratives there (stories) may have a deeper meaning, but they also often have appeal that a six year old can share in, especially if you are there to answer his questions as best you can, perhaps with a Study Bible to help you.) As your nephew gets older, his understanding of abstract things such as in the epistles will grow--not that reading the epistles now is a bad thing.

Conversion to Jesus may be a point in time, but being a disciple of Jesus is a process. It would be great if your nephew's Mom and Dad could join in. And if y'all could attend a sound gospel preaching church. But one day at a time.

P.S. You may find some assistance in The God Who Is There series by D.A. Carson. It builds the Bible's story line, if you will. Try "Googling" the title/author.