Death and Taxes

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Hebrews 9:27

We live in a world that is sadly bereft of certainties. Truth has been discarded and society seems unable to discern the most obvious of things. In the chaos of our social upheaval, the universe remains undisturbed. Whether we acknowledge them or not, certain laws have been encoded into the created order and they continue to operate unimpressed by our “modernity”. These Truths are anchors to which we can hold fast when the seas of change are overwhelming.

As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “there’s nothing certain except death and taxes.” I’m not entirely sure about the taxes part, but there is not one who has been born of woman who has ever escaped death[1]. Even Jesus conquered death, not by escaping it, but by tasting it and overcoming it.

Perhaps it is just because I am of a certain age that death is more frequently in my thoughts and it touches my world and those near me with increasing frequency.  I live in the “sandwich generation”, where we are caring for aging parents and parenting adult children. More than that, many around me are touched by soul-crushing trials, pain, and diseases. Add to that the chaos of our society and it is no surprise that my heart craves truth I can rely on and hope for the future.

This verse was one of the first set I memorized from the Navigators Topical Memory system when I was in college (a very long time ago). It always struck me as odd that this sentence fragment should be a memory verse, but it’s meaning is clear enough and is motivation to believe and share the gospel. Yet today I find a deeper meaning than I did before.

There are three key truths here that are asserted, not defended. That is, they are presented as self-evidently true, just as the existence of God is asserted in Genesis 1:1.

1. There is one who has decreed times. God is in control
2. Every man (woman) will die
3. Each will face judgment.

Here is a Truth to which we can anchor our souls: each of us has an appointment with death. You see, death is not a tragedy (although it can be tragic) or something that befalls us. To be sure, it is an enemy; one that has dogged humanity ever since the garden. Some of us are stricken by disease, others taken by accidents, some are felled by the hand of man, and others succumb gracefully to old age, but in all cases it is to be hated, resisted, and avoided to the extent possible.

Yet, we cannot escape our appointment. The Greek word used here means “laid away, reserved for, awaiting one”. We have death on lay-away, and it is ready for pick up. The Bible tells us that our days are numbered (Job 14:5-6) and that God knows that number. This appointment must be kept because we must receive our wages (Gen 2:17, Rom 6:23).

Another anchor is that there will be a judgment. This is actually very good news[2]. Deep in our soul is a longing for justice, for good to be rewarded and evil to be repaid. If evil is never judged, then life doesn’t make sense; there is no reason to be good, and those who suffer injustice have no hope.

Now, if there will be a judgment, then there must be a judge. Our confidence and our hope is that the judge is a good, just, and loving God. Some might claim that a good God, a loving God could never judge and condemn his creation. Yet such a God would not be just; neither would he be good. Would such a God be loving?

Consider a good God. God in his goodness cannot tolerate evil. To do so would pollute and corrupt his goodness, and he would no longer be good[3]. Consequently, a good God must purge evil from his presence. 

Similarly, justice requires that each one is treated fairly, without preference or prejudice. In our human legal system, unjust judges are detestable. We crave Justice, but in our fallen world, no human judge is able to always decide rightly. Fortunately, the judge who will render eternal judgment is not a fallen man, but the God-man, Jesus (John 5:22,30, 8:16).

One common misconception about this judgment is that our good deeds will be placed on one side of a scale and our bad deeds on another; our fate will be decided by which way the scale tips. This view is based on a complete misunderstanding of the nature of sin and its consequences. 

While most people are familiar with John 3:16, and many know John 3:17 (although perhaps not in context), less know John 3:18-19. It is clear that we start out under the condemnation of sin (Romans 5:12-14); it is for this reason that we have our appointment with death. More on this later.

Finally, can a loving God execute judgment on his creation? Would doing so make him unloving? In truth, to not judge would be unloving. Is a father unloving when he disciplines his child (Psalm 94:12, Prov 3:11)? The dictionary defines discipline as “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.” In other words, judgment of (willful) wrong behavior. This is what a loving parent does (Heb 12:9). There could be nothing more unloving than to sweep the evil done by men under the carpet in the name of “love”. No, love demands that justice be served.

Yet what then? Since we are all guilty, that sounds like horrible news. If would be, but God… This passage continues,

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:28 

In the same way that our death and judgment are appointed, Christ will return. Not just any Christ, but the one who “once for all” (Heb 9:26) took upon himself the penalty, the judgment, the price that was due to all humanity. The second “advent” will be to save those who love him. Now John 3 makes sense. Now there is some hope.

We see (finally) what love really looks like (Isaiah 53:6, Rom 5:8). The (priceless) gift has been freely offered. But for those who love darkness rather than the light, they will not be denied their “joy”. May God grant that none who read these words choose darkness and death over the offense of the cross.

SDG