For “All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”And this is the word which was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:24-25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Some years ago, a distant cousin passed away and my uncle was asked, “What killed him?” He answered: “Everything. Everything kills human beings.” He wasn’t trying to be deep or philosophical. He was simply stating a fact of life. Whereas there are only two ways for people to come into this world – natural birth and cesarean section – there are thousands of ways for them to leave it.
The enemies start right from the members of your own body, in a wide variety of illness and ailments in all parts of the body. Head, shoulders, knees, toes. Yes, even toes, just ask Bob Marley. Even now as you read this, some cells in your body may be conspiring against you, only you don’t know it so you think you guys are cool.
Then there’s danger from other human beings. It’s telling that the first death in the world was a murder in Genesis 4. Some of the most ingenious inventions people make are designed to kill others as efficiently as possible. And even the things we create for good purposes like vehicles, machinery and electricity kill and injure millions of people every year.
Then there’s the whole of creation, corrupted by the fall and dangerous to us in various ways. Fire, rain, lightning, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. Massive things like mountains and ocean waves, tiny things like bacteria and viruses. The floor you walk on is just biding its time before adding you to the list of casualties. And if you somehow manage to escape alllll these known ways of dying, surpriiiise, here’s COVID! New ways of dying will always appear. “Everything kills human beings,” indeed.
Over 250 years before my uncle shared this bit of wisdom, however, Jonathan Edwards expressed the same sentiment in his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God.” I quote:
It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand […]
The unseen, unthought of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. […]
God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment.
Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God.”
In these coronavirus times, it’s easy for us to wash our hands, stay home, wear face masks and think we are safe from disaster, but God has never needed a particular disease to call his people home or send unbelievers to their final end. All the people who heard Jonathan Edwards preach in person are dead. Edwards himself is gone. And it is certain that all the people reading this will eventually die, if Jesus does not come first.
In light of that truth, how ought we to live? First, for believers, since the end can come at any time, we should live in light of eternity. “Set your mind on things above,” says Colossians 3:2.
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)
We should dedicate ourselves to things with eternal value: prayer, good works, preaching the gospel, living holy lives that bless and influence others. Then when we are called up to glory, we can say like Paul that we have fought the good fight and finished the race as we look forward to our crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
And for unbelievers in Jesus Christ, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6) Today if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart. This may be your last warning before the end. Before you lose everything you have, everything you’re counting on to save you in the end. Don’t put your hope in face masks, or government policies, or your own physical strength. “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)
I pray the Lord will touch all our hearts and help us realize our own frailties so that we can turn to Him while we can. The Lord be with you in these trying times.