This month we continue our series, 10 Big Truths. These are truths we should rehearse daily so that they reshape our thinking, our beliefs, and our actions. This month, we will once again consider two truths together:
This article is part a series on 10 Big Truths to Remember Daily. Find the others here:
10 Big Truths #2: God Loves You
10 Big Truths #3: Jesus Died for You
10 Big Truths #4 & 5: God Sees You as Righteous…But It’s Not Your Own
You are mortal, and you are accountable to God (Ps. 90:10–12; Jam. 4:14; Heb. 9:27).
You will live forever in glory (Rom. 8:18; Heb. 10:34).
For the believer, these two truths must be held together. The first gives us sober clarity about how we steward our days before God. The second keeps us from fearing death by teaching us to live in light of glory.
The Delusion of Invincibility and Avoiding Mortality
Consider how often we assume, at least practically, that we are invincible. This is especially true when we are young. We imagine that death comes only for the old, the sick, or the distant. But as we grow older, we may be tempted in another direction. Instead of assuming invincibility, we try to avoid thinking about death altogether. We might avoid funerals. We might avoid speaking of our own death or the death of those we love. We usually do not want to be reminded that our lives are brief. However, Scripture does not allow us to avoid this reality. Man lives only a little while. He is like a vapor that appears for a time and then vanishes. And when that vapor passes away, he will stand before God to give an account.
That is why our mortality is not merely something to fear or ignore. It is something we must face honestly. Death does not merely remind us that life is short. It reminds us that we are accountable to God. To come to grips with death is to gain clarity about life. Our days are not ours to waste. Our days are God’s to be spent for His glory.
Friend, if you do not know Christ, few things should awaken you to the need for salvation from sin and death more than the reality of your own mortality. If you will die (and you will), and if after death comes judgment (and it will), then you must deal honestly with the most important question of all: Have you believed the gospel? Have you found forgiveness in Christ? If you have not, then contemplate your mortality, feel the weight of judgment, and run to Jesus in faith.
But if you are a believer, your mortality should lead you to pray with Moses, “Teach us to number our days that we might present to You a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). The brevity of life should not produce despair, but faithful urgency. It should move us to fruitful labor for the Lord, to wise stewardship of our time, and to glad obedience in the days that remain.
Sober-minded But Not Terrified
Yet we must not become preoccupied with death. The Christian is called to be sober-minded but not terrified. We are called to number our days, but not to live as slaves to the fear of death. Death does not have the final word over those who are in Christ. Jesus conquered death by His own resurrection from the dead, and He will complete that victory when He raises His people in glory. The Christian hope is not merely that our souls go to heaven when we die, but that Christ will raise our bodies, renew all things, and bring us fully into the glory He has promised.
Scripture teaches us to pair the reality of death with the promise of resurrection. Our mortality brings clarity and accountability to our daily lives, but the promise of glory brings hope, courage, and endurance. No matter how bleak today may seem, no matter how painful suffering may be, and no matter how dreadful death may appear, glory is just around the corner.
We can live as though that is true because it is true. The Lord has declared it in His infallible and inerrant Word. The believer’s future is not uncertain. The grave is not ultimate. Death is not victorious.
Therefore, we do not labor in vain. Every act of obedience, every sin overcome, and every burden carried for Christ matters. Because death has been defeated and glory is certain, we can give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.
So yes, friend, you will die. Let that reality strike you with all the clarity and sobriety it brings. But do not despair. Death has been defeated. The grave could not hold Christ, and it cannot hold you if you belong to Him. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
