Articles
This is Certain
Benjamin Franklin once wrote, in a letter to a friend, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” It may be debatable about the taxes, but Franklin was correct on the subject of death. God’s word teaches us plainly, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). As much as man is trying to extend his physical life, or even overcome death, this is a certainty. No matter how much money one may pay or invest to cheat death, death won’t be cheated.
Long ago, the psalmist wrote, “Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him — for the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever — that he should continue to live eternally, and not see the Pit” (Psa. 49:6-9). In short: You can’t buy your way out of death. If anything, the psalmist will in another psalm, admonish the hearer or reader to consider the reality of our short time on earth: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psa. 90:10, 12). We would do well to be wise in this, too; medical technology and practices may have progressed a great deal since those words were written, but they are still true, and death still comes for each and every one of us. As David recognized, near the end of his earthly life, “I go the way of all the earth” (1 Kings 2:2). This, friends and brethren, is certain.
Let us also note from the words of the writer of Hebrews that our judgment is also certain (cf. Heb. 9:27). Paul wrote by Divine inspiration, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10); and again, “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10, 12). Jesus Himself spoke of this certain judgment (Matt. 25:31-46), and it is there it will be decided who “will go away into everlasting punishment” and who will be rewarded with “eternal life.”
In all these passages, it should be noted Jesus the Son and God the Father will be the ones to whom we must give account. Paul, in speaking to those in Athens, noted that God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31) — that Man being Jesus. Jesus also tells us plainly, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). While many would like to believe there is no such thing as accountability for how we live, such is merely wishful thinking, and dangerously foolish. A man who denies God’s existence will look extremely foolish when he stands before that God he denied exists, and the man who denies accountability will have no defense when he stands before God and Christ to give that account he denied would come. Judgment is certain.
The apostle Paul also tells us, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim. 6:6, 7). The old adage “You can’t take it with you” is true! We again find the psalmist speaking of this certainty when he wrote, “Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dies he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him” (Psa. 49:17). A rich man will leave behind no less than the poor man: Every material possession he ever had! The foolish rich man was faced with this reality when, after he had stored up his abundance, God asked, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:20). He wasn’t taking any of his abundance with him!
Does that not cause us to stop and think about where we are spending the most part of our lives? Since all the things of this world are temporary, at best, why spend our lives on accumulating the things that will only be left behind? Jesus admonishes us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19, 20). Paul saw the value of this, for he focused on the eternal, telling us, “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). If we would be wise, then our focus must be on the eternal, for the material, physical, temporary things will be left behind. This is certain!
The psalmist also wrote, “The testimony of the Lord is sure” (Psa. 19:7); the Hebrew word translated into our English word “sure” means just that — trustworthy, confirmed, faithful, reliable, and certain. How can he say that? He can say it because our God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2) and, in fact, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). As God Himself put it, “My word…that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). Unlike man, God keeps His word — always.
In fact, once, after God had already spoken through Balaam to Balak a blessing on the Israelites instead of a curse [as Balak requested], Balaam returned and told Balak, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19); in other words, we don’t need to wonder if God “meant what He said.” If God said it, it is true and it will happen just as He said. While men may not like what God said, or want it to mean something other than what He intended, God has spoken. He will not change (Mal. 3:6), Jesus does not change (Heb. 13:8), and God’s word does not and will not change (1 Pet. 1:25). When we read God’s word and what He has revealed to us — good or bad — we can know that what He said is certain.
And, finally, let us note the words of the wise writer: “The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward” (Prov. 11:18); the one who believes in God and who believes Jesus is the Christ and Son of God knows this well, for it is our hope! Every faithful believer trusts the certainty of God’s word, and lives not for himself any longer, but for the one who died for his sins (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). He gladly and completely surrenders himself to the Lord as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1) because he knows the God who does not lie promised eternal life — and he has no doubt that God will keep His word.
Paul lived for God because of this certainty, resting in the surety of God and His word, rather than in his ability to somehow ‘earn’ salvation (2 Tim. 1:12), and could say at the end of his earthly life, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). His reward was certain because it was God who promised it.
No doubt about it! — Steven Harper
