Creator, Father, King #205

Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD the saying, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die”? It’s an age-old phrase dating back into antiquity. King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 8:15), Isaiah (Isaiah 22:13), and the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:32) referenced it in their writings. It speaks to a shortsighted, self-indulgent philosophy of life, eschewing any notion of moral responsibility.

We see this attitude displayed in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. In the story, the rich man lived a secluded, luxurious life. Meanwhile, Lazarus, a destitute and diseased man, waited outside, hoping to feed on the rich man’s unwanted table scraps. Yet the rich man never even acknowledged him.

Eventually, both men died. God brought Lazarus to heaven, while the rich man was sentenced to “torment” (verse 23) and “flames” (verse 24). The rich man begged Abraham (as a heavenly representative of God’s redeemed people) to allow Lazarus “to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue” (verse 24). Abraham’s response is chilling:

Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.

What’s It Mean?

There’s a stunning finality to death. As today’s verse says, every human will physically die because of sin’s curse and then experience God’s righteous judgment. Those who trust in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for their sins (represented by Lazarus in the parable) will enjoy God’s heavenly blessings forever. Those who reject God in this life and live only for themselves and worldly pleasures (represented by the rich man) will be condemned to hell eternally.

Life is not a video game. Once we die, there are no do-overs, reset buttons, or round twos. Yet God has made the way of salvation through Christ very clear to us in Scripture (Luke 16:29; 2 Timothy 3:15). Rejection of that message will bring judgment.

Instead of living life self-indulgently, live for the Lord. Trust in his Son. Seek to honor him. Then, one day, he will bring you into his glorious presence forever!

Now What?

Read the entire parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.

Did You Know?

The “Lazarus” in this parable is not the same man as Jesus’ friend whom he raised from the dead in John 11.