The Precious Human Life #6: Prepare To Meet Thy God

 

 

INTRODUCTION TO OUR SERIES:

 

This is part of a series that is looking at the preciousness of life and the need for a more serious examination of the Scriptural validity of taking a human life under any circumstance.  Folks, our world has devalued the taking of human life to the point the loss of human life is “no big deal” and “JUST a part of the world in which we live.”

By God’s grace, as we continue through this series, my prayer is that the Lord would open all of our spiritual eyes and come to a more complete realization of the great value of human life.  Also, we need to carefully consider the results of our actions, and the circumstances surrounding the taking of human life, making sure that in each situation, the taking of life is Biblically justifiable and absolutely necessary.

Our devotional series will contain six daily devotions, all of which will emphasize the wondrous nature of the human creation and the loss inflicted upon mankind when a human life is taken from their midst…

1. Thou Shalt Not Kill (Exo 20:13)
2. The Glory and Honor Of Man (Psa 8:4-6)
3. God’s Image & Likeness (Gen 1:26-27)
4. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (Psa 139:14-16)
5. The Minister and Witness Of These Things (Acts 26:16-17)
6. Prepare To Meet Thy God (Amos 4:12)

 

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL:

Prepare To Meet Thy God (Amos 4:12, Eccl 9:10, Isa 38:18-19, 55:6, Eph 5:15-17)

 

Amos 4:12 KJV – “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 KJV – “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

Isaiah 38:18-19 KJV – “For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.   The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.”

Isaiah 55:6 KJV – “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”

Ephesians 5:15-17 KJV – “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.   Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

 

In Amos 4:12, We find the Lord speaking to the nation of Israel after explaining to them their sinful condition.  The Lord commands them to “Prepare to meet thy God”.  In other words, the Lord was encouraging the Jews recognize their sinful condition, turn from their sins and place their faith in the coming Messiah.

In a very real way, the command given to the nation of Israel applies to us in today’s time as well.   All of fallen mankind, regardless of race or nationality, are to prepare to meet their God through recognition of their sin, turning from those sins, and placing their faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who came to the earth and died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of His people.

When are we to prepare to meet our God?  Now, while we still have life within us.  At our physical death, our opportunity to be prepared will come to an end, and we will enter eternity.  That is why the Bible emphasizes the need to live our physical lives to prepare to enter into our Lord’s presence, after death all opportunities for salvation and faithful service will come to an end (Eph 5:15-17).  And this is why Ecclesiastes tells us to do all we can, while we can, to the best of our ability.  It will be too late to come to Christ or serve Him following our death (Eccl 9:10).  Even the Old Testament prophet Isaiah understood this truth (Isaiah 38:18-19).

Folks when the physical life of a person is taken from them, all their hope of salvation and their future service for Christ is forever lost.   From a totally human perspective, the taking of life can rob a person of their future salvation or service to our Lord.

Please keep in mind: We know that the Lord is a sovereign Lord who will bring to salvation those whom He has chosen to save from eternity past.  He will keep each and every one of His elect alive until He calls them to Himself and grants them eternal life and forgiveness.  From a divine perspective, when a person dies in a lost state it is proof they were never one of God’s elect.

However, when we are looking at an issue concerning man’s responsibility, we are required to look at things from a human viewpoint.  For example, from God’s standpoint, any sin that is committed is a part of His sovereign plan for mankind.  If it wasn’t a part of His plan, He would not allow the sin to take place.

However, although a sin may be allowed by God, when we stand before Him we will never be able to justify that sin by saying “You are to blame, You allowed the sin to take place” or “The sin I committed as done according to your will’.  Of course we could not say these things.  To blame the Lord for our sin and attempt to make Him the responsible party based upon His sovereign will, is utter blasphemy.

 

The same holds true for the argument that would say, because the Lord allowed me to kill this lost individual, then it proves the person was not one of God’s elect.  Although, from God’s perspective, this may be true; from mankind’s perspective, we can never look at things this way, nor justify our actions based upon them.   From our human viewpoint, we cannot know if a lost person is one of God’s elect or not, therefore we can, and will, be held accountable for taking their “chance” of salvation away from them at the point of their death.  This is a grave sin indeed.  In a sense, from our viewpoint (as mankind who cannot know God’s future sovereign will) we are taking the eternal destiny of an individual into our own hands.

Likewise, how foolish it would be to try to justify the taking of human life based upon the principle that if the Lord did not desire for it to take place then He would not have allowed it.  In other words, we can twist the Word to teach that all taking of human life must be pleasing to God… simply because it took place.  Both of these attitudes are unscriptural and a blasphemy in God’s sight.

 

In closing, may we all follow Isaiah’s instructions for us and… “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”  (Isaiah 55:6 KJV)

 

Summary Of Our Study

In these devotionals, we have seen several ramifications of the taking of physical life:

1. For mankind to devalue human life is to mock the authority, value and deserved respect that God Himself has placed upon mankind.

2. For mankind to devalue human life is to devalue a wonderful picture of the gracious humility, authority and exaltation of Christ that took place at His first coming.

3. Man being made by God the “image” (“similitude”) and “likeness” of Him is another reason why the devaluing of human life is such a very sobering act. When a man’s life is taken, an image of God given to mankind is silenced and, in actuality, destroyed.

4. We are devaluing that which the Lord has fearfully and wonderfully made and that continually testifies of His greatness. To bring an end to this life is to bring an end to this testimony of God’s greatness.

5. Whether they be saved, or potentially a future recipient of salvation, by devaluing and taking away physical life, we are silencing one who may be used of God to accomplish great things in His service.

6. The devaluing and taking of human life is, from a human viewpoint, will, be held accountable for taking their “chance” of salvation away from them at the point of their death. This is a grave sin indeed for we are taking the eternal destiny of an individual into our own hands.

May we all come to understand the need to value physical life above all of God’s other creations and do everything in our power to bring an end to the unscriptural devaluing and taking of life that is so common in today’s world…

“But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?   Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:”

(Hebrews 2:6-7 KJV)

 

 

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