Three influential Christians passed away this year, attracting the attention not only of Christians worldwide but also of the secular media:
John MacArthur, husband of Patricia MacArthur and father of four children, served in the pastoral ministry of Grace Community Church for 56 years, wrote/edited more than 150 books (including 34 volumes of New Testament commentaries), served as president of The Master’s University from 1985 to 2019, and later served as chancellor of the institution. He had a major impact on the evangelical world for his emphasis on expository preaching. He died at the age of 86, on July 14.
Voddie Baucham, husband of Bridget Baucham and father of nine children, who founded Voddie Baucham Ministries in 1993, was appointed Dean of Theology at the African Christian University in Lusaka, a founding faculty member of the Institute of Public Theology, a church planter, pastor, professor, and author of several books focusing on the nuclear family and highly influential books on what is known as “Critical Race Theory” in the United States. He passed away at the age of 56 on September 25.
Charlie Kirk, husband of Erika Kirk and father of two, was a well-known conservative Christian activist, co-founder of Turning Point USA (an organization that seeks to defend and teach conservative positions on issues such as abortion, gender ideology, race, etc. in universities, colleges, and institutions through open debates), a podcaster who once became one of the top 10 most popular podcasts, and author of a book that became a New York Times bestseller. He was murdered at the age of 31, on September 10.
86, 56, 31…
Like the three people mentioned, we all have objectives to achieve, goals, jobs, projects, etc. But what would happen if tomorrow we simply didn’t wake up? Would that be all?
Some even believe that after this life there’s nothing left, so I ask: What’s the point of life if it’s all about living for yourself, and in the end, nothing remains, and you simply pass into nonexistence? Those who chase what the world claims is “the best” in this life are constantly chasing something that will never be enough to fill them (money, success, recognition, fame, comfort). Whether they like it or not, there’s never a point at which they will be able to say “I’m satisfied.” They’re always searching for something else to fill that void we all have, but they try to fill it with the wrong things.
Do you realize the meaninglessness of your life if you don’t have a greater purpose than living for yourself? I go to school so I can then go to college, and then what? I finish college to get a job, and then what? I work to have more money, and then what?… There is no end in itself. You can change each of the things I mentioned with what you pursue, and even continue adding more and more stuff until you realize that you’re really getting nowhere. You continue on an endless quest.
The three people I mentioned at the beginning were of very different ages, and yet all three passed away in the same year… One died at a normal age, but the other two most likely passed away without thinking that would be their last day. Which should make you think that no matter how young or old you are, you don’t know when it will be your turn to die. Illness, accident, old age, being persecuted and murdered, and a host of other things could be the possible causes of your death. And what should worry you is not the how of our death, but the uncertainty of WHEN. It could be today, tomorrow, or perhaps a few years from now. But the question is: Is there really nothing beyond death? Let me be the one to tell you: Yes, there is more; there is much more.
This is not it
What the Word tells us is that at the end of our lives we will appear before that Just Judge who will declare us guilty because of the sins we have committed (Romans 3:23; Hebrews 9:27). It is enough that we have broken one of God’s commandments to make us transgressors of the law and deserving of punishment (James 2:10). A Just Judge will not let a single sin go unpunished, no matter how many good things we have done, they will be useless and like filthy rags when it comes to justice (Isaiah 64:6). And now… What shall we do? How can we be saved from this condemnation that we all deserve? I can tell you, there is only one way to salvation and you can only find it in the Bible.
This life is fleeting, the one to come is eternal, but eternal in heaven or hell.
John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, and Charlie Kirk all had one thing in common: by the grace of God, they had found that purpose in life through Christ. They had a living hope! Not only did they reach the path of salvation, but, in the strength of the Lord, they lived according to the faith they professed, regardless of the fact that they might be persecuted for it (which did happen), they stood firm in their convictions and fought the good fight to the end.
They were the light God demanded of them in a world surrounded by darkness, and right now, they enjoy the Lord’s presence. I can’t say they were perfect people—no one is, for we remain in this body of death (Romans 7). But I can say they sought the Lord’s will, submitting to it, often denying themselves, with their eyes fixed on Christ. They surely still saw much ahead, projecting and planning even more, seeking to be faithful to the Lord, faithful stewards and administrators of the talents the Lord had given them, in order to honor and glorify His name. But it was also the Lord who determined the beginning and end of each of their paths.
As Christians we live in the light of the glorious end, we battle in the forces of the Lord with the certainty that we will achieve victory, we plan but always trusting in the sovereign will of the Lord and just as the Word says, we also say: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:15)
But if you are not a Christian… In light of what are you living now? It is my longing that this text may reach you in such a way that it encourages you to examine your life and ask yourself: Is this really all there is?
