Life's Grestest Question Answered

"Life's Greatest Question Answered"

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Introduction: As we approach this Easter season with all of its spiritual and cultural implications one, can't help but think about the powerful message that Easter sends to all of the world. Jesus Christ died 2,000 years ago as a traitor of Rome and a blasphemer of God. According to the Scriptures He was buried the same day that He died per Jewish custom and His body was placed in a borrowed tomb. Then according to the testimony of the Scriptures and the eye witness reports of over 500 people He rose from the dead and for two millennium millions have lived and died believing that He is alive! But long before Jesus was ever born, in what we believe is the oldest book in the Bible a man named Job asked a powerful and penetrating question. "If a man die, shall he live again..." I'd like to examine Job's thoughts on this subject to see if there is anything we can learn. First,

I. JOB'S RESIGNATION

A reading of this first phrase in Gill's exposition of the Bible reads like this: "This is said not as if it was a matter of doubt, he had before asserted it; as sure as men have sinned, so sure shall they die; nothing is more certain than death, it is appointed by God, and is sure." So perhaps it would be better to say; "When a man dies...rather than if!"

a. The certainty of death

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

"If you live each day as it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right"

¯ Steve Jobs

"No one here gets out alive."

¯ Jim Morrison of the Doors

"After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die."

¯ E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

"I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens."

¯ Woody Allen

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."

¯ Will Rogers

"Death, taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them."

¯ Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind

b. The cause of death

When each of us dies somewhere there will be a document that specifies the cause of death. A doctor or coroner will indicate how you died medically. Some people die from natural causes and others die much differently. For instance:

"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."

¯ Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love (Cause of death -- drug overdose)

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."

¯ Ernest Hemingway (Cause of death -- suicide)

"President William McKinley, the third American president to be assassinated lived for several days after he was shot, and towards the end, his wife started crying and screaming, "I want to go too! I want to go too!" And with his last measure of strength, McKinley turned to her and spoke his last words: "We are all going."

¯ John Green, Looking for Alaska (Cause of death -- assassination)

10. Roller Coasters kill 4 people per year

9. Vending machines kill 13 people per year

8. Ants kill 30 people per year

7. Dogs kill 34 people per year in the U.S.

6. Jellyfish kill 20-40 people per year in the Philippines alone

5. Icicles kill 100 people per year in Russia

4. Falling out of bed kills 450 people annually in the U.S.

3. Autoerotic Asphyxiation Kills 600 people annually

2. Hippos kill 2,900 people annually in Africa

1. Texting while driving kills 6,000 annually in the U.S. alone

Now all of this is strange but not too surprising when you consider what human beings are capable of but let me tell you what you will never see on any coroner's report but it is definitely the real, actual, true, legitimate cause of death for all men.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;