The Great Equalizer
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
Job 3:16-19
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The Great Equalizer
The old saying goes, “The only things certain in this life are death and taxes.” And it is true we will all face death one day, unless Christ returns before that day. Death makes all equal. The slave and the master, the king and the servant, rich and poor alike all are equal in death. Which is to say they all will die. We cannot escape it. Yet we live in a world which tries to deny it. Our scientists are busy in their labs attempting to find the fountain of youth which will once and for all cheat death. We talk of uploading our conscience to the internet in hopes of achieving immortality. But why? Why do so many fear death? Job does not fear it, in fact he welcomes it. He desires to be in the grave, away from the trials and troubles of life. But Job is not saying there is no difference between those who are saved and those who are not, in death. He speaks to this later on (19:25). He is simply recognizing the fact that in death all are equal. And the equality does not stop in just the cessation of physical life here on earth, but it also extends to judgement. In death, all will face God. All will face judgement day. And that is where the similarities stop. For the believer, judgement day is one of joy in being welcomed into God’s kingdom. For the unbeliever, it is a day of unspeakable tragedy as they realize their eternity will be spent apart from God. This is why Job does not fear death and why all who have been given the gift of faith should not either. Sin is no longer our master because in our death of the old Adam in us through the waters of Holy Baptism, we are freed from its chains to be the children of God. Christ’s death and resurrection destroys even death itself.
Job 3:16-19
+
The Great Equalizer
The old saying goes, “The only things certain in this life are death and taxes.” And it is true we will all face death one day, unless Christ returns before that day. Death makes all equal. The slave and the master, the king and the servant, rich and poor alike all are equal in death. Which is to say they all will die. We cannot escape it. Yet we live in a world which tries to deny it. Our scientists are busy in their labs attempting to find the fountain of youth which will once and for all cheat death. We talk of uploading our conscience to the internet in hopes of achieving immortality. But why? Why do so many fear death? Job does not fear it, in fact he welcomes it. He desires to be in the grave, away from the trials and troubles of life. But Job is not saying there is no difference between those who are saved and those who are not, in death. He speaks to this later on (19:25). He is simply recognizing the fact that in death all are equal. And the equality does not stop in just the cessation of physical life here on earth, but it also extends to judgement. In death, all will face God. All will face judgement day. And that is where the similarities stop. For the believer, judgement day is one of joy in being welcomed into God’s kingdom. For the unbeliever, it is a day of unspeakable tragedy as they realize their eternity will be spent apart from God. This is why Job does not fear death and why all who have been given the gift of faith should not either. Sin is no longer our master because in our death of the old Adam in us through the waters of Holy Baptism, we are freed from its chains to be the children of God. Christ’s death and resurrection destroys even death itself.
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