LIFE AFTER DEATH???

LIFE AFTER DEATH?

Job 14:14 “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”

Job was the very first book of the Bible written. And it got very deep on a lot of subjects. This is one of three great problems raised by the Book of Job, each of which reaches its solution in the Lord Jesus Christ. Considered in logical order, they are: the problems of (1) the invisible God - "If only I knew where to find him!" (23:3) - answered by the incarnation of Christ; (2) human sin -"How can a mortal [man] be righteous before God?" (9:2; 25:4) - answered by the death of Christ; and (3) death and immortality - "If a man dies, will he live again?" (14:14) - answered by the resurrection of Christ. Let these words be carefully considered in their setting. The end of this reply of Job to the first cycle in the discussions with his friends consisted of a direct appeal to God. In the course of that appeal he dwelt on the fact that man's life is transitory and full of trouble. Moreover, it ended in the darkness and mystery of death: "Man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" There is hope for a tree that it will bud again, but there is none for a man. This dark assertion seems to have awakened in the mind of Job a wondering hope, and this found expression in these words: "If a man die, shall he live again?" That the question had in it the element of hope is proved by the declaration which Job made directly he had asked it, as he said that if that were so, he could endure all the days of the conflict. It was only a gleam; and was almost immediately overwhelmed in the darkness of his despair, as the next sentences show. But it was a gleam, shining up out of the deepest things in a human soul. Here we touch one of the supreme values of this wonderful Book. As we observe all the experiences through which this man passed, we discover that the human spirit is of such a nature that ever and anon, even in the midst of the most appalling darkness, it expresses its highest capacities by the questions which it asks. It was a tremendous question, but let us remind ourselves that there is no answer to it, except that which came to men through Jesus Christ and His Gospel. As Paul said, it is He "Who brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10). The question of Job was answered by Jesus and that so completely as to leave no room for doubt.