Who has power over life and death?

Only God has absolute power over life and death. Not the richest businessman, nor the president of the United States. God and only God alone.

What then, is death's purpose?

The Holy Bible teaches death (physical death) occurred as a consequence of sin. God warned our first parents, Adam and Eve, that if they ate of the "forbidden fruit", they shall surely die. This death is both a physical death, and more importantly, a spiritual death.

When they did eat the fruit, they didn't immediately die but "spiritual death" occurred - a separation from God. From this, any person who commits sin against God dies a "spiritual death".

One may surmise that had Adam and Eve immediately repented and asked God for forgiveness, He would have forgiven them, especially that being their first sin (though a major one indeed). Of course, they didn't. When God asked them why they ate it, they resorted to "finger pointing".

Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent (a creature who was Satan himself disguised). The test of God was a test of obedience and gratefulness. They couldn't repent simply because of pride. They were too proud and chose to blame others, instead of themselves.

Isn't it the same nowadays? It takes a lot of humility to say "I'm sorry, it's my fault." It is so much easier to lay the blame on other people (or the government!). That is why pride is the root of all evil. All other sins are inevitably linked to pride/vanity as the primary cause (cause and effect).

One can wonder what would have been, if Adam and Eve didn't eat the fruit. Remember that God talked to them freely in the Garden of Eden. There may not be any need for death, where Heaven and earth was joined together, earth being an "extension" of Heaven. Possibly, we could have been able to travel back and forth between Heaven and earth. Ah, such joys!

So, first of all, physical death is a punishment for sin. An effect of "spiritual death" or sin (the cause). Again this is cause and effect.

One must not forget that each and every person born on Earth has sins. It starts with inheriting the first sin from our first parents, Adam and Eve. This sin is called "original sin".

As we grow older, we accumulate sins, of our own accord and free will.

So nobody can implicate that those who die in tragic ways (like the Asian tsunami), are sinful, because everyone of us has sinned and has sins. This is very important to note. Let us not judge others, for only God has the right to do that.

It is not the way a person died that matters, but how he/she lived. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself died a tragic, excruciating death on the cross. St. Peter, leader of the apostles, died horribly too crucified upside down on a cross many years later. And who can forget the many Christians persecuted, fed to the lions, defending Jesus and the faith to the end?

Imagine Mother Mary, Jesus' mother, as she witnessed the brutality done to her son, innocent as He was. From the scourging, to the crowning with thorns, the beatings and public humiliation, insults, carrying the heavy cross with blood pouring out like water, and finally...... the slow, painful death by crucifixion.

Can we even realize how that feels? Her son dying in front of her?

For every tear we shed, God cries with us. We are never alone.

Death reminds us of our mortality, of how short our life is. In this way, death creates an urgency for us to repent from sins committed - a reminder that every life has a definite deadline.