I often read
passages in the Bible assuming they are only saying the obvious, and missing
what else they are saying which could be less obvious, even paradoxical. I
often miss that the other side of the coin not explicit in the text is equally important,
and may take a little more meditation through the Spirit to get there.
For example,
when you read that your life is like grass, or a mist, or a flower, what is
obvious about that? Well, I suppose you might say that your life is short, or it
is fleeting. Obviously. Yes, that is important to consider. But do you also
read that your life is valuable? Or do you read into the fact that since it is
like a vanishing mist or withering grass or a fading flower that it is so short
that it doesn’t matter so much? I do. At first. Then I am reminded of how
ridiculous it is to assume that because life is short it is also meaningless.
How ridiculous to think that is what Scripture is saying! How ridiculous to
forget that a mist contributes significantly to temperature regulation and air
conditions in the short time it is around, or that grass portrays the beauty of
God’s creation with vivid color and provides nourishment to several creatures
if only during daylight or for a season.
To say that
the fleeting nature of life as referenced in the Bible is only meant to
communicate the brevity of life and not also the value of life is reductionism.
Scripture (thankfully!) is more than a compilation of obvious statements. It is
also a sea of pearls that are hidden beneath the surface. The implication on
the surface is that life is short and therefore not of much value. I think that
is what we are prone to think. The pearl at the bottom is that life is short
and therefore unspeakably valuable. We see its value despite its brevity, even in
its brevity. Yet, is that intuitive from the passages that reference this? I
don’t think so, hence my emphasizing it here. Yes, life is short! Even though
it is so short - since it is so short - what are we to make of that reality? Eat,
drink, be merry, and die only? God forbid!
Consider the
book of Job. This fascinating portion of Scripture involves a godly man Job,
who has experienced great loss and is attempting to work out the reason and
purpose of his suffering, while his well-meaning but theologically naïve
friends attempt to help him. How does one read and understand the book of Job?
Are all the individual statements automatically truth because they are in
Bible, even though in this case they are about the nature of an infinite God made
by finite humans wrestling with thoughts too lofty for them? Can one read and
understand Job truthfully without considering Christ?
Those are
big questions. If you read Job 14 specifically, you see Job lamenting the
reality that death comes soon to all. As Dr. Thomas Constable notes in his
commentary, this chapter and Job’s remarks could be separated into three
sections: the brevity of life (v. 1-6), the finality of death (v. 7-17), and
the absence of hope (v. 18-22). Consider the words of Job here:
“Man who is
born of a woman is few of days and full of toil and trouble. He comes out like
a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.” (v. 1-2)
“As waters
fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, so a man lies down and
rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused
out of his sleep.” (v. 11-12)
“But the
mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; the
waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so
you destroy the hope of man.” (v. 18-19)
You could
say, as a faithful student of the Scriptures sensitive to genre and context,
that Job is not speaking absolute truth on its own but instead modeling a
natural response to suffering, acknowledging that it has purposes beyond his
grasp and Scripture’s revelation. Questioning God, or even coming to false
conclusions about the nature and purposes of God, is fine, if it accompanies
steadfast faith in God despite the circumstances. You could say this is the
purpose of the book of Job and statements like this.
Perhaps.
Another way to say a similar thing is to say that these three realities that
Job is emphasizing - the brevity of life, the finality of death, and the
absence of hope - are absolutely true outside of Christ. It seems to me that
Job is setting up a pretty strong gospel presentation. That he doesn’t happen
to finish it is neither here nor there for those of us who have the whole story
and the complete revelation in the Old and New Testament.
The rest of
the story is that all three of these realities
are reversed and redeemed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Yes, life is fleeting, but through Christ it is immeasurably valuable and purposeful.
Yes, death is final, but through Christ it is swallowed whole and becomes an
entryway into paradise. Without Christ, there is no hope in life or death, yet
through Christ hope is laid up for us in heaven! And as Puritan Thomas Brooks
said, assurance of this hope (Hebrews 6:11, Hebrews 11:1) also produces heaven
on earth. “An assured soul lives in paradise, and walks in paradise, and works
in paradise; and rests in paradise; he hath heaven within him, and heaven about
him, and heaven over him; all his language is Heaven, heaven! Glory, glory!” (Heaven
on Earth, p. 139)
The
overcoming of death and the eternal hope through Christ’s death and
resurrection on our behalf is the center of the gospel. You see that
articulated throughout the New Testament in glorious ways. But it is the
redemption of this first reality mentioned by Job, namely, the brevity of life,
that does not get enough attention in my opinion. It is not only Job
that speaks of this reality. If you were to ask the Biblical authors the
question, “what is my life?”, you would get several answers that all point to
this same reality.
James would
tell you that your life is like a flower, which falls, and like grass, which
withers, (James 1:10-11). He would also say it is like a mist, which vanishes
(James 4:14). Notice, there are three realities in each of these answers.
First, life is fleeting, like flowers, grass, and mist. Second, life does not
last, instead it falls, withers, or vanishes. But third – do you see the other
reality?? The third reality is that life is like flowers, grass, and mist. What
are these things like? What is the purpose of these things? Surely, their
purpose is not only evident but glorious. The beauty of flowers in the Spring,
and the joy produced by flowers all year (ask your wife!) is worth our
consideration, especially as we compare it to our life. And that is before
saying anything about their more technical or scientific value to creation,
which would also be seen in the grass and mist. If you don’t see the value of
mist you need to go to Disney World in the hottest part of the year, or the
Indianapolis 500 when it is 90 degrees outside. And that is man-made mist! How
much more the wonderful cooling properties of a mist descending into a scenic
valley on a hot day. I digress.
David,
Moses, Isaiah, and Peter would all agree with James and answer that your life
is like a flower or grass. Notice that David highlights that your life is not
only like a flower, but flourishes
like a flower (Psalm 103:15). Moses indicates the same in Psalm 90 and adds to
it the concept of renewal (Psalm 90:5-6). Isaiah and Peter (who quotes Isaiah)
describe the “beauty” (or “glory” in 1 Peter) of grass (Isaiah 40:6-8, 1 Peter
1:24-25). All life is short like grass, and withers like grass, but it is
beautiful like grass!
Don’t you see?!
Through Christ our life is like beautiful and valuable components of creation
that bring joy and fruit to life. The fact that our earthly life is short and
fleeting takes nothing away from its value and eternal purposes, in Christ. In
and through Christ, life is a gift and a picture and a vessel and so much more.
What are we to do with this? Eat? Yes! Drink? Sure! Be merry? Of course! Die?
Sadly, yes. Anything else? Yes!!
We are to
labor. The depth and detail of what this means is my passion in life. The Word
of God has an enormous amount to say about this. The Word of God, that as
Isaiah and Peter tell us, in contrast to the brevity of our life,
is everlasting. As Tom Nelson has said, the theology of work and vocation
(calling) is a central thread in the Bible, all the way from the Garden of Eden
in Genesis to the New Heavens and New Earth in Revelation. What is your life?
What is it made up of? I have always been prone to compartmentalize the parts
of my life and then prioritize them into the categories of God, family, work,
and ministry. In my case my work is in a secular business environment. Is my
“labor” this day-job only? When Moses in Psalm 90 calls upon the favor of the
Lord to fall upon us and for God to establish the “work” of our hands, and when
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 exhorts us that in the Lord our “labor” is not in
vain, does this only mean our career? You can be sure, it absolutely means our
career. That is essential to understand and live accordingly.
It also
absolutely means every part of our life. Our work, our labor, our “craft” as I
like to say, as finite humans who serve an eternal and infinite God, is our
living and serving in every capacity in every part of our life. Work or labor
is ultimately service to others, which is our highest calling in every
activity. It is the purpose for which we were created and though our window of
time is short, and our accomplishments are ultimately but a shadow, in and
through Christ and according to His Word, we can glorify Him and contribute to
his creation and redemptive plan in everlasting ways.
“Let us be
on the watch for opportunities of usefulness; let us go about the world with
our ears and our eyes open, ready to avail ourselves of every occasion for
doing good; let us not be content till we are useful, but make this the main
design and ambition of our lives.” – Charles Spurgeon (Counsel for Christian
Workers, p. 108)
Let us get
to work! For we do not have much time. Spring reminds us of new life. Let us not
forget that winter will still come after. The grass will wither and the flower
will fade, and so it will be with our life. May we live in such a way that our momentary
flourishing will be seen and experienced by others and they will in turn give
glory to our Father in Heaven.
