The Nature of Life
Job 14:1-2, 5, 14
I was honored to serve as ____________ pastor for over thirty years so today I realize that you have experienced one of life’s great losses - the death of someone you love. You have lost someone very important to you, a mother, grandmother, an aunt, a friend. How do you go about processing such a thing. So, I want to share with for a few minutes today from Scrip-ture about the experience of a man who had suffered almost unimaginable loss in his life, because he offers to us insight into the nature of life. This man’s name was Job and he had it all, he had ten children, an abundance of land, a houseful of servants and substantial financial assets. But then, without warning he experienced a storm of hardship. He lost every-thing; he lost his livestock, his crops, his servants, his savings and worse of all he lost all ten of his children. And when it seemed nothing else could go wrong, he lost his health. While buried in physical and emotional pain he wrote very clearly about his feelings.
Job’s problem is not so much financial or social or medical; his central problem is theological. Job must deal with the fact that in his life, God does not act the way he always thought God would and should act. In this drama, the Book of Job is not so much a record of solutions and explanations to this problem; it is more a revelation of Job’s experience and the answers carried within his experience.
Job writes, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. 2) He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue. ….5) Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass. …. 14) If a man dies, shall he live again? …”
First, An Agitated Existence. (Job 14:1-2)
“Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
2) He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
The first thing that Job touches on is - The Brevity of Life - “Man who is born of woman is of few Days’ Job compared the brevity of life to a “flower” quickly springing up and just as quickly withering away and to a “shadow” that vanishes with morning sun. Certainty the Bible teaches it –the Bible is full of warnings about the brevity of life one such is found in the book of James where we are warned “Now listen, you who say, Today of Tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year, carry on business and make money. 14) Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are (like) a mist that appears for a while and then vanishes. (James 4:14 - NIV)
And Experience Demonstrates It. How many others have we witnessed precede us in Death? The Bible says in Psalm 90:10, “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Here we are told that 70-80 years is the general span of human life, but we all know from experience that this is not a guarantee. Some live only a very short time, others live very long lives and but there are no guarantees and no way to know how long our lives will be. Job goes on to say that life is not only brief it is filled with difficulties. Job says that our days are “few” and troubles are many; in fact we are “full” of them.
Second, An Allotted Time. (Job 14:5)
“Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.”
Each of us has an allotted time set by God. That may be a thought that is hard to accept. It is never easy, nor is it something we want to happen. What we must realize first and foremost is that we each have an appointment to keep - some far earlier in life than others.
Third, An Appointed Hour. – In the New Testament the writer of Hebrews writes "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
Although we cannot know the hour that will end our lives there are some things we can know.
• Death is a sure appointment.
It is sometimes said that “nothing is certain in life except death and taxes.” But that is not wholly true. A clever man with a good lawyer can find a way around most if not all of his taxes, but no one escapes death. As George Bernard Shaw remarked, “The statistics on death have not changed. One out of one person dies.”
• Death is not an end but an avenue.
Life is a journey, a journey to Eternity, and Death is the vehicle that takes us home, to be with Jesus and with all those loved ones that have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and have gone on before. Death is the means by which our bodies are put to rest while our souls are escorted into eternity. Death itself brings us to the gate, but then it is opened by the one who says, "He who is Holy, who is true, who has the Key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens." (Revelation 3:7)
• Since death is sure and death is not an end then preparation is needed.
The fact is that we cannot remain here. Sooner or later all of us will meet death. We are not given a choice about whether to meet death, or even when we will meet death, only how we will meet death. Now is the time to prepare.
Fourth, An Assured Hope. (Job 14:14)
“If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.”
Job utters one of life’s greatest questions, “If a person dies, is there life beyond death.” The Bible is the only sure answer to that question. Beginning in Old Testament man is given the answer to that question when the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isa. 26:19)
Later Job himself has come to see the answer to his question that he raised earlier when he wrote “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26) And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26)
Job said, “I KNOW that my Redeemer lives.” He didn’t say “I hope,” or “I think” or “Perhaps” my Redeemer lives. He said, “I KNOW! Job didn’t say “I know A Redeemer lives” or “I know THE Redeemer lives.” He said, “I know that MY Redeemer lives.” “My” is such a important word. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 23. “The Lord is MY Shepherd.” Job said, “I know MY Redeemer lives.”
Why are we in need of redemption? You need a redeem-er because you are a sinner. And so am I! The Apostle Paul made it clear when he wrote “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom 3:23) and “None is righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10). That’s the bad news. A redeemer is necessary because humanity is separated from God, enslaved to sin, and under a death sentence that individuals cannot pay themselves.
The good news is that God has provided our needed redeemer. Sin has separated us from God, but because of the redeeming power of Jesus, we can be forgiven, restoring our relationship. The Apostle Paul wrote, “In him (that is Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8a) Redemption is an act of God that frees us from the penalty deserved because of our sins, restores our relationship with God, and offers eternal life.
Jesus is the Redeemer, but can you say today, “Jesus is MY Redeemer?” Even though Job spoke these words almost 4,000 years ago, he used the correct tense for the verb “to live.” He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” He didn’t say, “I know my Redeemer lived” or “I know that my Redeemer will live.” Job knew one day he would die, but His Redeemer lives and would live forever.
There is in the gospel according to John a story recorded in the eleventh chapter that speaks to our situation today. In the story Mary and Martha’s beloved brother Lazarus has been sick and has died. Lazarus has died and his sisters are devastated. Jesus speaking to Martha says, “…I am the resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. (26) And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all." (The Message)The same message is found in John 3:16 and John 14:6. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Later in John 14:6, Jesus says, "…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus promises eternal life to “whoever believes” in Him. The promise is limited only to those who will believe and receive it. But the result is that the dead shall live again.I think I can say with certainty that it was __________ desire that each one of you have the same relationship she had with the Savior. Perhaps you already do. But there may be someone here today that has really never given much thought to your eternal future, but this morning you are asking yourself, “Where would I go if I were to leave this world?” What is Going to Happen To You When You Die?” Can we know for sure that we have eternal life? Can we know for sure that we are headed for Heaven? The Apostle John wrote, in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you that believe in the name of the son of God so that that you may know that you have eternal life?”
We can know for sure that we will go to Heaven when we die! But no one goes to heaven automatically or by accident. It is a conscious choice. So, the question becomes, “Do you know for sure where you are going to spend eternity, for it is certain that you will spend eternity somewhere?”
Don’t be content with “I Think I’ll make it to Heaven!” or “I Hope I Make it to Heaven!” This is way too important an issue to allow this kind of response. The Bible says you can know for certain you have eternal life. Right now, in this place, you can turn from your sins and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and be saved. You can leave this place today, knowing that you have a place in Heaven.
Death may seem to triumph for a time as it enters into our homes, and one by one, takes those nearest and dearest to us. And sooner or later death will come for you and for me. But death cannot win in the end. Jesus fought and won that battle 2000 years ago. Heaven is attained by believing in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross as a penalty for your sin and the acceptance of that sacrifice by repentance and faith. Have you ever accepted personally what Jesus did on the Cross? Why not turn to God in repentance today and ask Him to forgive and save you. There is nothing I know of that could honor _________ more.
Perhaps you could pray something like this: "Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgive-ness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen."
