A Rendezvous with Death

Earlier this spring, one of my wife and I’s best friends passed away after a short battle with cancer. We received the awful news in early December, and he took his last breath on the first day of March this year. We had the chance to see him several times right before he died. We shared, laughed, and cried with our dear friend. It was a very hard time for us, as he had been one of our closest friends for the past twenty years. He helped us moved into our home. We went to church together. We shared meals with him dozens of times. Often, he, with other friends as well, would sit on our balcony on Sunday afternoons and talk for hours. We spent a lot of time serving the Lord together (mission trip to Manawan, sports camps, bible studies, etc.). We miss him dearly, and still shed tears when we think and talk about of our dear friend.

Earlier this month, I received word that a previous member of a church I pastored had passed away. He had been battling with severe health issues for several years now, so the news of his passing was one that even his family was well prepared for. While his death as not a huge shock to me, I was deeply saddened by the fact that this godly man I knew for many years was no longer here. He was more than just a fellow church member. He was our neighbor. He taught my children the sport of boxing (homeschool P.E. class). We traveled to Georgia together. He hosted a Wednesday evening prayer meeting for several years at his home. We shared meals together and served in the church together. We sometimes watched football together. He, and his wife, taught me French, and were instrumental in me getting to the point of being bilingual. While I had not seen him that often over the past couple of years, I still miss him, for he was a part of our family’s life.

Why am I writing about this? Whether sooner or later, we all have a rendezvous with death. It is not something that we like to think about or discuss, but our denial of it or attempting to ignore it does not change a very clear and undeniable fact: one day our heart will stop beating and we will breathe our last breath. The only exceptions to that will be those who are alive when Jesus returns. But, if He continues to tarry for another one hundred years, everyone presently reading this blog post will have passed away by then. It’s a sobering thought that brings reality into a clearer perspective.

God’s word emphatically says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). The bible also says, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). So, death is a divine appointment. Sometimes it comes quickly and suddenly. Other times it gives us advance notice. But, either way, it comes.

While many wonder about when they will die, where they will die, and in what way they will die, God makes it clear in His word that us asking ourselves and knowing our standing with Him is the most crucial question we can ask ourselves. In the New Testament, Jesus has several conversations with the religious rulers at the time. These rulers were known for their religious piety, purity, and practices. At the time of Jesus, if one asked who the most righteous people alive were, virtually everyone would respond in unison, “the Pharisees”. Yet, Jesus’ statement to this group of pious followers of God’s law is incredibly shocking: “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). What was Jesus declaring to them? He proclaimed that, if their standing with God did not change before they died, they would die as a sinner, and be judged as one. In explaining this verse, the late R.C. Sproul says it well, “We sometimes think that the worst thing that can befall a person is to die. That is not the message of Jesus. According to Christ, the worst possible thing that can befall us is to die in our sins.” What does he mean by that? To put it simply, at death, if one’s standing with God is that of an unjustified sinner, then at the time of judgment, they will be cast “away into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46). These are the words of Jesus as He spoke about the separation of the righteous and unrighteous at the final judgment. As the verse quoted above from Hebrews says: we die once, then after comes judgment. No chance in purgatory, for it does not exist and is a myth invented by man to try to calm the fears of frightened people (another blog post for another time). Nor are we reincarnated, another myth that, even if it were true, does not give much comfort to those who, according to the lie, must face death over and over and over (again, another blog post for another time).

One of the biggest lies that a multitude of people believe today is: there will be no final judgment. Jesus clearly teaches and explains the contrary. He even elaborates by declaring that all secrets will be revealed and all the skeletons that we have hidden in the closet will be exposed (Luke 8:17; 12:2-3). So, the only way for any person, even those who pursue holiness the most, to be able to stand in the presence of God at the final judgment, are those who are justified in His eyes. Those who are not justified in His eyes will die in their sins and face eternal punishment. Notice I said, “in His eyes”. That is the key. It is easy to feel justified in our own eyes. But God knows everything about us. Our thoughts, motivations, attitude, and hearts. That is why that even the Pharisees did not stand a chance. King David understood this when he wrote, “If You, O Lord, should mark my iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3). So, this truth debunks two other very common lies many believe. The first one is that we can be good enough to stand in the presence of a holy God. Many embrace this lie because our culture has sought to water-down the holiness of God, to make Him just a bit better than us, but reachable by us. The second lie that many believe is that, since God is loving and gracious, He will let us regardless of what we have done. This lie elevates one of God’s characteristics over and above His other ones. In validating His love, it seeks to devalue or even discredit His will for justice, His perfect holiness, and His wrath against sin. To believe these two lies is to live in an imaginary world that does not exist, or to seek to rewrite the Christian faith in one’s own image. Either way, both are delusional. There exists a barrier to heaven (eternal life), and that barrier is unbelief in the Lord Jesus. So, unless the barrier is removed, when our rendezvous with death occurs, there will absolutely no hope for salvation, regardless of how many pious and loving deeds we do.

But, there is good news!!! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God gave His Son Jesus to be killed on a cross as a sacrifice as payment for our sin. So, in the death of Jesus we see God’s love for us as He satisfies His wrath for our sin by killing His own Son in our place. In the cross we see how much He loves us, but we also see how seriously He takes sin. It is enough to require the death of His own Son. He gave Him freely so that we might could be free from sin. What good news! Our sin was not paid for by silver, gold, jewels, religious acts, or even our good deeds. It was paid for by the precious blood of Christ. And all who repent of their sin and place their trust (faith) in Him, are believers in God, who raised Jesus us from the grave, so that our hope and faith are not in us, but in Him alone (1 Peter 1:18-21). For those of us that repent and believe in Jesus, when our time comes to die and stand before God in judgment, the barrier will be removed, and we will receive eternal life. So, if you have never repented of your sin and trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior, I urge you to do that right now. For if you wait, and your rendezvous arrives sooner that you thought or planned, how do you think you can escape judgment if you neglect such a great salvation (Hebrews 2:3)?

So, here is my confidence: One day I will be reunited with my good friend who died of cancer earlier this year. I am also confident that I will see my former neighbor who was once such a big part of my family’s life. But, let me be clear on why I am confident. My confidence does not lie in the fact that these two wonderful people are in heaven today because they were good and did so many good things during their lifetime. Nor do I presume that I will one day be there because I try hard to please God and do His will. This is not my confidence and hope. For, if it was, it would be empty and useless. I am confident of these things because both the two men who have now passed away, as well as myself who will one day die, have repented of our sin, and place our trust and faith in Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the door to salvation (John 10:9), and there is no other (John 14:6).

Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. Dying in one’s sins is. For the believer in Jesus, death is not a bad thing, but a gain (Philippians 1:21). Yet, for the one who has not believed, death is not a gain, but results in an eternal and tormenting loss. And after our judgment, the decision will be final forever. Where will you stand when your rendezvous arrives?

This blog post was inspired by a book by R.C. Sproul entitled, Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life, 2009.