The Believer’s Predicament of Death
The Certainty of Death
Death. It’s a word that many people avoid. Many simply do not want to talk about it. Yet, death is guaranteed. Everyone I have ever met has died or will die someday. The world is simply terrified of death. And rightly so.
It should be terrifying. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after death comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). All men will die because all men have sinned. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).
For centuries people have been attempting to downplay death. They do this by creating religion. By striving to be a good person. By denying the existence of God. It is all an attempt to escape the terror of the judgement that is to come.
Some comfort themselves with thoughts like: If I’m religious enough. If my good deeds outweigh my bad. If I deny God exists or cares about our lives. Then there is no judgment for me.
However, Scripture affirms the opposite.
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
This truth terrifies the unbelieving world. As it should. The day is fixed. The world will be judged. NOT by worldly standards but by God’s. Absolute perfection. As demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ, the “Man” who will judge the world. The evidence (or proof) is that He has been raised from the dead. Christ is seated “at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet” (Hebrews 10:12b-13).
The Comfort of Salvation From Sin & Death
At this point the believer sighs in relief. Thinking of the second half of Romans 6:23, “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This awesome truth should cause us to pause.
I am often surprised at the callousness of my own heart. Eternal life is a free gift to us. But it was not free. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). It was very costly. Jesus the Son of God purchased us with His precious blood.
Let’s look at the rest of Romans 6:23,
“For the wages of sin is death, But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We must not forget that if we get what we’ve earned, our wages, it is death. This is the wage we all deserve because all have sinned.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
We have sinned. And our reward is death. That’s what we deserve. God tells us through the prophet Ezekiel that the soul that sins shall die.
“If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things, who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to idols, commits abomination, lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.” (Ezekiel 18:10-13)
A Great Burden
Jesus increases the weight of our guilt and abominations in Matthew 5.
Speaking of anger:
“I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell fire.” (Matthew 5:22)
Speaking of lust:
“I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)
According to Scripture, we should have died! The moment we first sinned, God would have been just in ending our lives and condemning us to eternal punishment.
Yet, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
A Greater Savior
Christ Died. Our iniquities, our lawless living, our sin and transgression was laid upon the brow of Christ (Isaiah 53:6). And the LORD crushed Him (Isaiah 53:10).
The believer who truly understands this, feels the weight of the predicament. On one hand, it gladdens our hearts to know this is true, “Christ died for us.” On the other hand, this same truth rips us apart inside because “Christ died for us.”
The just for the unjust. The sinless for the sinful. The beloved Son of God for rebellious sinners.
How terrible that our abominations, that we should surely die for, would be laid upon Christ. The precious and beloved Christ. There is a beauty about Him that should never have been touched by sin.
There is a part of me that wishes Christ would never have died. That He would never have taken my filth upon Himself. But the greater part of me is incredibly gladdened that He did.
I take great comfort in the assurance of Scripture. Knowing that because of what He did, in His humility, He:
“emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8)
As a result of His humble sacrifice,
“God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)
To know that Christ has been Highly Exalted because of what He has done for me, for us, for His church… it brings me much strength and motivation. This glorious fact creates in me a great desire to behold the glory of God in the face of His Highly-Exalted Son, Jesus who is both Lord and Savior.
(If you would like to hear more about this article you can listen to the podcast episode: The Believers Predicament of Death)
