You Will Die Someday

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Hebrews 9:27-28

Nobody likes to think about it, but it’s true that you will die someday. And the Bible tells us that “each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.” (Heb 9:27). If the Bible truly is the Word of God, then its terrible warning of hell and incredible promise of Heaven are true and must be heeded. How then can a person find everlasting life – the promise of Heaven?

Most think that it’s by living a good life. That seems right, but according to the Bible it is wrong. Our mistake is that we think that God’s standards are the same as ours, but His standards are much higher. So what is God’s standard? Jesus said, “you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:48) The Apostle Paul wrote that “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Rom 3:23) If you don’t believe that applies to you, then test yourself against God’s law, the Ten Commandments. Let’s look at just four of them.

Ninth commandment: Have you ever told a lie? Even if it was just a white lie, telling a lie still makes you a liar. Eighth commandment: Have you ever stolen anything (the value is irrelevant)? Stealing even one thing makes you a thief. Third commandment: Have you ever used God’s holy name in vain? Using God’s name in place of a cuss word to express disgust is blasphemy. Seventh commandment: Have you ever committed adultery or had sex outside of marriage? Now before you say that you haven’t, remember that Jesus said any man who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt 5:28).

The reality is that you’re guilty of breaking God’s law, something which the Bible calls sin. And the Bible says that “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23) You are on death row for your sins, because God – though merciful – is holy, righteous, and just. He has told us that he will by no means excuse the guilty (Ex 34:7). He must judge sin – all sin – and you know that you are guilty. Consider all the secret sins you have committed and terrible things you have done, and understand that you rightly deserve to die for them.

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:14-15

So what can you possibly do to obtain eternal life and avoid the judgement of Hell? Well… nothing. But God did something for you so that you could be saved. He loved you so much that he took on the form of a man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Son of God, and he paid the penalty you couldn’t: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Rom 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life that we couldn’t, perfectly fulfilling God’s righteous law. And then he voluntarily took our place on the cross, facing the infinite wrath of a righteous God that we couldn’t. He died, paying our sin debt, but then he rose back to new life three days later, defeating death itself, proving that he has the power to save us from death.

You can’t earn Heaven. But if you repent and trust only in Jesus’s finished work on the cross, God will forgive you and grant you eternal life: “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Eph 2:8-9)

But what does it mean to “repent”? It means to do an about-face, to turn 180 degrees from your current course. You must repent from your sins and self-righteousness. Turn your ship away from the sinful rocks of destruction and toward safety in the open waters of Christ. Place your faith and trust in Jesus like you would place trust in a parachute; let him do all the work.

But what about good deeds? Aren’t Christians supposed to do good deeds? Yes, but that is a response to the salvation Jesus provides, not a way to earn it. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Eph 2:10)

So please, I am pleading with you to choose life over death. Repent from your sins, and place your faith in Jesus Christ as your only savior. But also know this: there are many who want a savior, but few who want a Lord. Jesus is Lord, and he must be your Lord. Though salvation is a free gift, it will still cost you everything to follow him.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

To repent and trust in Jesus means to receive him as your Lord as well as your savior. Like a medieval knight, you must bend the knee to Jesus and swear your fealty to him. Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” (Matt 16:24-25) When Jesus redeems you, you become his. If you love him, you will keep his commandments, and you won’t find that hard to do (John 14:15, 1 John 5:3).

If you think that you don’t have it in you to follow Jesus in this way, then you are right. But the good news is that God promises to give his Holy Spirit to those who repent, and he will change your heart and empower you to follow Jesus: “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Please consider your life: is it valuable to you? Of course it is. So save it by repenting and placing your faith in Jesus. Give up your own way, because that way leads to death (Prov 14:12). But if you turn from your sins and your own striving, trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, and submit to his Lordship, you will be saved from the judgement to come.

If you want to be saved, pray to God right now. Confess your sins and your own sinful nature directly to God (you don’t need a priest), acknowledging that you rightly deserve Hell. Ask him to forgive you and cleanse you through the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. Ask him to change your heart and cause you to follow Jesus, and he will respond.

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

John 3:36

_{Much of the content on this page was adapted from Living Waters}