Title: What’s the Point of Dying?
Series: What is the Point of Living?
Proposition: The point of dying is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
Title: What’s the Point of Dying?
(Click here for Notes & Group Study Plan as a PDF file .. Prints nice!)
Learning the point of dying from a biblical example – the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 4:6-8
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
I. Paul knows he will be passing soon from the scene.
A. He pictures himself as already being poured out – as though his life was wine in a jar – and in dying the water is poured out – for him the jar is already tipped. But it was a drink offering – one of the forms of Old Testament sacrifice to God – where his death was a sacrifice to God.
That is a hint as to what is the point of dying for a Christian – it is to glorify God.
I Cor 10:31 Therefore, whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.” Die for the glory of God.
B. And to enjoy Him forever…
Look at Paul’s next phrase – the time of my departure is at hand. This is not the end. It is a departure – a leaving one realm to enter another. Paul wrote of being “absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” II Cor. 5:8
He is departing from this world into the direct presence of God.
So we see here the next point of dying – to enjoy God forever.
Remember Psalm 16:11 – You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
We can see here that Paul approaches his death calmly. There is no panic. We need to get this firmly in our minds to face our own death – the point of it is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
II. Paul reviews his life with three statements. v 7
These three statements have a uniting theme – it is to persevere.
I have fought the Good Fight, I Have Finished the Race, I have kept the faith.
A. The first metaphor is that Paul has been in a fight – and he says he fought the good fight. It means he kept going after what is right, and he kept at it faithfully. Fighting a bad fight is losing heart, it’s cheating, it’s retreating and never coming back.
The Christian life is a fight – we have three spiritual enemies – the world, the flesh and the devil. Those three are opposed to the success of our life in Christ. We take blows from them. It hurts. The Christian life on this earth is not a teddy bear’s picnic. We get knocked down. A voice is calling to us: don’t get up. Don’t get up! But it’s not the voice of our divine manager. It’s the voice of the enemy. The voice of your divine manager says: Get up. Fight the good fight. Persevere!
B. The second metaphor is a race. I have finished the race. In any race there is pain. You push yourself beyond anything you would do in practice. Your lungs burn. Your heart is beating for all its worth. Your legs are heavy. And your mind is saying: Stop. Hold it. I quit! But you need to finish the race.
In life you get the weight on you. You feel the burn. Your heart is about to burst. But the divine coach – says – Finish the race. Persevere!
C. I have kept the faith. Things tried to knock it from my grasp. People tried to distract me into focusing on something else. But Paul looks back and says: I have kept the faith. Paul was arrested and handcuffed and jailed and beaten and spent nights awake and shivering, and he went hungry, and he was shipwrecked. He was forsaken and lied about, his authority was undermined. But he said: I have kept the faith.
You are called to persevere to the end. Get up off the ground. Stand up. Finish the race. Keep the faith – to the end. Persevering in faith through the battles and hardships of life glorifies God, because it says loving God is worth all the pains.
III. There is a joy awaiting ( verse 8 )
A. The reward is a crown of righteousness. Righteousness is ultimately upholding God’s glory.
If we uphold God’s glory, that is righteousness. Righteousness has a lot of applications to specific situations, but the unifying thought is to uphold God’s glory. If you do that, you have done right.
And if you keep believing him, and keep trusting his counsel, and you keep taking Christ at His word – that glorifies God. That is righteousness.
And so in persevering in faith, you receive the crown of righteousness.
Can you imagine what it would feel like to have such a crown laid on your head?
And what do Christians do with their crowns? If we are like the Elders in Rev 4, we cast them at Jesus feet, with great awe and joy. They become instruments of worship.
And that crown is for all who have loved his appearing. That is for all Christians.
B. You might think: Well, I’m not sure I love his appearing (that is, His coming again)?
This is meant to direct you the recognition that the culmination of the ages and of your life, and the good end of history – is for Jesus Christ to come again.
- Jesus Will Set things right in an unjust world
- Jesus End Disease & Pain
- Jesus will end all our relational and spiritual problems
- Ultimately, we long to see Jesus, our Savior and Lord
You look forward to the end of cancer, heart disease, …broken hearts, cruelty.
Application: What do we do with this?
1. The Bible says: “Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering our days means that we have a limited time on this earth – it means we realize each day is valuable, each its own opportunity to fight the good fight, keep racing to the finish line, to keep the faith (apply 2 Tim 4:7) .
Christian Gellert, a German poet of the 1700s, wrote,
“Live as you would have wished to live when you come to die.”
2. Death itself is nothing for the believer to fear. We have a strong God-given instinct to live, and we are to live faithfully and finish our race well. But we know should Christ delay his coming – we will die. And it is a departure.
We don’t relish the idea of dying. We would all choose going to sleep one night and not waking up. That would work, wouldn’t it? But we glorify God by realizing that in death we pass into the more complete joy of heaven.
“To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21 (Our win/win)
3. We have recently been through two deaths in our congregation, In both cases, as they had a few days and their families had a few days while death approached, I was struck by how at death we lay it all on the line. Dying is the ultimate test of our faith.
And how do we know that our words and thoughts about heaven and eternity and a mansion in the sky are not just wishful thinking?
The answer is a crucified and risen Savior.
Conclusion: So what’s the point of dying? It has the same point as living.
Man’s chief end in dying is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
—
Group Study Plan
Read 2 Timothy 4:6-8
Examine Point 1 – Glory & Joy in Death
Read Philippians 2:17. What can we draw from the expression, poured out as a drink offering? Note that the drink offering is an ancient custom (Gen 35:14), a pleasing aroma to the Lord (Numbers 15:7), and illustrative of the offering of Christ (Isaiah 53:12). What does this tell us what is necessary to glorify God? (sacrifice)
How does truth that death is a departure and not an end give us proper perspective?
Read Psalm 16:11. What is the strong reminder here that is in stark contrast to how the world views death? What does embracing this truth accomplish?
Examine Point 2 – Persevering in Faith
All three metaphors apply to every Christian, but which of the three metaphors do you identify with more closely? Which do you find the most difficult? What is the greatest motivation we have to persevere? How does the model of Paul’s life, and even more so, Christ’s passion motivate us?
Examine Point 3 – Anticipation of our Reward
A Look Crowns in the New Testament as reward for faithful Christian service:
Righteousness – 2 Tim 4:8
Rejoicing – 1 Thess 2:19
Life – James 1:12, Revelation 2:10
Glory – 1 Peter 4:1
What are some things that strike you about these crowns?
Paul also uses “crown” in Philippians 4:1. What is his crown here? What does this remind us of what is really important and help safeguard against being overly task oriented?
What attitude does understanding that our crowns will ultimately be used as an instrument of worship foster? (see Revelation 4)
Even more so than crowns, what is our ultimate motivation and longing? (The appearance of Christ). Our tendency is to become attached to this temporal world that is fading and failing. Why should we long for His appearing?
A Healthy reminder: Read Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Application
The reality of death will come to each one of us.
1. Read Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. What should be the result of a true and sober view of our finite existence hear on earth. What is true wisdom, and where is true wisdom found? (Prov. 1:7)
2. We do not need to fear death because not only do we have the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ, but our death does glorify God and result in ultimate joy for us. What perspective does Philippians 1:21 give us? How should this impact our lives?
3. Death is the ultimate test of our faith. What is the one truth we must rely on that is the central point of the Gospel?
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