Getting Job-ed
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 CSB
We tend to get so caught up in the day-in-day-out hustle and bustle that we forget that our time on earth is limited and that we are living in eternity. This is important: we need to know we have a time-clock on this life on earth because the way we live this life matters. If it’s one thing COVID should teach us is a good lesson in our mortality: life can be here and then it can be gone, on earth that is.
We were made for eternity
Marshall Shelley was a vice president for Christianity Today in 1995 and has suffered a lot. Shelley had a two-year-old child pass away and then had a baby that lived two minutes and passed away. A classmate recalled events that took place at a class reunion when Shelley was asked to give an address about life:
They just asked him to stand up and tell us a word. And they didn’t know what they were going to get. Carey (the person recalling the event) said it was the most profound moment at a reunion he’s ever been to…What he said was, “Life is hard; God is good.” Life is hard; God is good. Then he told the story of this little two-minute baby. I read the article about three years ago… See, Marshall Shelly didn’t even ask the question of whether God did it. Marshall is just so saturated with the sovereignty of God that he asked the next question: Why would God design a baby to live for two minutes? The answer he gave was: He didn’t; he designed him to live forever. Two minutes is not that much different from 70 years when you consider forever. Now, think on that. Think on that. We don’t believe in eternity most of the time when we’re murmuring about why we lose this or that. Two seconds is not much different. Picture the width of this building as eternity. If this is eternity, a tiny, tiny fraction is 70 years and a tiny, tiny fraction is two seconds. Just think on it. God didn’t create that baby to live for two seconds. (Piper, 1995)
That’s good theology.
We don’t need to fear death
Think of the best experience you’ve ever had in your life: marriage, a baby being born, graduating, the best food you’ve tasted, traveling the world, being with friends, etc. Those are all a taste of the satisfaction that God provides. A taste. We are talking about a God that is infinite in nature, therefore, He is INFINITELY better and more satisfying than any of those could ever be! So when we are with Him, in person someday, that fulfillment of our desires will be infinitely satisfied.
We really should land where Paul lands in Philippians:
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain… But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 1:21, 3:7-8, 4:11-13 CSB
In view of all this, Paul also says (OT quote), “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:55, 57 CSB).
Why do we cling to this life with a white-knuckled grip?
Jesus says in Matthew 6:21 CSB, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Why do we cling to this life with a white-knuckled grip? There’s a treasure that is infinite in value that we will see someday! So all that I do in this life has implications for the next life. Do I store up a bunch of crap in this life that doesn’t matter in the next life? Do I put all of my time and effort into retirement just so I can have a couple of happy, work-free years? No way! I want something better… I want something infinite in value.
Here’s another quote from Jesus in Matthew 13:44 CSB, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.” It was this man’s joy to sell everything to obtain this treasure. In Christianity, our lives should be sold to this Infinite Treasure.
Let’s land the plane. We’re made to live forever and how we live and what we treasure here on earth has eternal implications for us. Life is insane. The culture and society seem to be imploding. Don’t put your faith and security in things that are passing away. Treasure something that is infinite. Something that will truly satisfy; something that was present before the earth existed, exists today and will be with you into eternity. Live eternally now with the only eternal Being.
References
Piper, J. (1995, October 11). The Providence of God. The Providence of God Session 3. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-providence-of-god-session-3.
