Young Man Holding A Skull, by Frans Hals, 1626
Because of sin, nothing in this life ends well. In fact, death eventually comes to all living things; it is just a matter of time. Even though the Lord Jesus was subject to death, we live our lives ignoring it, thinking we can somehow elude it.
Dr. Carl Truman, a professor at Westminster Seminary, makes a startling statement that reminds us of reality, “All human marriages begin with joy but end in tragedy. Whether it is divorce or death, the human bond of love is eventually torn apart.” Most weddings acknowledge this in their marriage vows promising to love, “till death do us part.”
Perhaps you have noticed in old paintings, a human skull sitting on a desk or table. It strikes you as strange and perhaps evil. Why would a great artist put a skull in the picture? And what kind of person would keep a human skull around? Well, it was not because of a morbid obsession with death; rather, it was an ancient practice to help keep in mind one’s own mortality and the nearness of death and judgment.
These days, we not only don’t like to think about death, we have become obsessed with pursuing never ending vitality and youth. We do what we can to keep death isolated from our lives, hoping it will somehow go away. But the reality is, life always ends in death. The human bonds of love and family are eventually, always, severed.
Yet, as normal as death might be, it is not natural. It is the enemy that came upon us as the result of sin–Adam’s sin first and foremost, but our own as well. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
But the hope of God’s people is in Christ who has defeated death. As the Apostle John wrote, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
We all face physical death, eternity, and the judgment of a holy God. The question is, will you face them clothed in your own unrighteousness or clothed in the Righteousness of Christ Who said, “the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Do you have the Son and life eternal?
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