The Brevity Of Human Life (Time)

Introduction

– End-of-life discussion – a series of questions which include asking a person if he/she wants to prolong life with artificial means. If death is inevitable, what are the critical things we can do for them

– Unpleasant talk, so the world tends to sugarcoat it

– God has never kept us in ignorance about death, neither does the Bible sugarcoat it

 

Psalms 90 – Written by Moses

1  Lord, you have been our dwelling place

    in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

 

3 You return man to dust

    and say, “Return, O children of man!”

4 For a thousand years in your sight

    are but as yesterday when it is past,

    or as a watch in the night.

 

• While God is immortal, man is mortal
• God is Creator, man is His creation

 

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,

    like grass that is renewed in the morning:

6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

    in the evening it fades and withers.

 

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;

    by your wrath we are dismayed.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,

    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

 

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;

    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10 The years of our life are seventy,

    or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble;

    they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11 Who considers the power of your anger,

    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

 

 

Man’s definite ending on earth: Death

• Certainty of man’s death due to sin
  • <Ps 90:3 You return man to dust>
• Death = termination of human existence in the bodily or materialized state
• The results of sin penetrate to all parts of human life – aging, illness, injuries, disasters etc
• <Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord>
  • Physical death is not a finality
  • Judgment after physical death >>> eternal damnation or eternal life
• We have the awareness that the soul lives forever — divinely implanted by God in our hearts < Eccl 3:11>

 

• Have you thought very much about the possibility of your own/others’ death?
• We hear a lot of voices everyday, but do we hear the cries of the rich man from hell, in the beggar Lazarus story? <Lk 19:25-28>

 

Brevity of time (Ps 90: 4, 10)

• While God is timeless, man is constrained by time
• God, not us, controls our time. <Job 14:5 “.. God have appointed his limit that he cannot pass>
• Our time on earth is shorter than we know or believe it is
  • 70-80s – “they are soon gone”
  • Like a mist <James 4:14 What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes> – You only have this short time to sow things that reap eternally
• The brevity of time often surprises us
  • God sweeps us away, we are often asleep when it ends (Ps 90:5)
  • <Mt 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect>

 

Our short life is full of toil and trouble because of God’s wrath <Ps 90:7-10>

• God’s wrath = righteous anger, divine action to come
  • <Deu 4:25 When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger>
  • Triggered by unholy living:
    • Disobedience toward God
    • Doing what is evil in His sight (idolatry, syncretic life)
  • Even the man of God, Moses, suffered great loss when he was not careful to live before God – how much more we will we suffer if we do not take our walk with God seriously?

 

Are you insensitive to the brevity of time and God’s wrath?

Are we aware that God takes the holy living of His people seriously?

If we are made in God’s image, how can we be anything but significant in this short life?

Would God want us to waste our life away?

 

Psalms 90:12-13

V12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!

 

Numbering our days

• Pray for God’s mercy and ask Him to teach us to number our days
• Short time = Urgent time
• Job 28:28 Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.
• Wisdom is really needed today, when the path of holiness is not always immediately clear, until we reflect upon God’s Word and discern His will

 

a) Making the best use time with right priorities

• Prioritize based on what God has instructed, not according to our hearts or wordly pressures
• <Ep 5:15-17 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is>
• Plan our time centering on God’s purpose, as if God’s decision is more important than our decision
  • Reflect the motives behind all that we are doing
  • Pray to be a committed follower of God – when you are a committed Christian, that itself is witnessing God
  • Faith in missing out – Y.O.L.O (You only live once)
• The Bible warns against making plans for self-seeking reason, as if God is at our disposal.
  • This is sinful pride.
  • <James 4:14-16  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil>
  • If Lord wills…

*Examine our hearts

– What kind of motives do we bring into doing all that we are doing?

– Self-promoting heart vs  heart that desires to exalt Christ?

We need not grand things to qualify as working in the Lord. The smallest act, done through Christ and for Christ, will by no means lose its reward.

• Everything done in reverence to God, have eternal value.

 

b) Pursue a life of holiness, which gives us joy and gladness

Ps 90: 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

16 Let your work be shown to your servants,

    and your glorious power to their children.

• If we want to live a life of happiness, do we pray for this satisfaction every morning? Pursue a life of holiness means we desire God so much in our lives.
• What do we truly desire? Man’s affirmation, earthly pleasures? Do they satisfy you?
• Do we desire God every morning?
  • God says, only His steadfast love can satisfy us
  • When we desire God, we naturally want to hear from Him, draw near to Him
  • When we desire God, it does not mean setting apart or submitting to God are easy. They are real struggles but we want to give ourselves to God regardless, through the help of Holy Spirit
    • Romans 6: 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

 

A man living in faithfulness to God will have God’s favor

Ps 90:17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

• Our labour is not in vain in God
• With God, our earthly life can have value
• Look to the example set forth by our Lord Jesus
  • He lived 33.5 years, our Lord Jesus has done the will of the Father.
• If we are filled with the Spirit, walk with God, we too can finish the work God gives us.

 

Conclusion

Have we been sowing in things that reap eternal value?

Have we been living faithfully to God?