The Obituary of a Believer

Marvin Stalnaker

“And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” [Genesis 5:5]

As I read an obituary column, I never cease to be amazed at how quickly the life of a man is summed up. What seems should take volumes to recap (that is, a man’s life) is simply reduced to three words – “AND HE DIED!”

Rich and poor, young and old are all brought to the same certain end. There is an appointment for every man – “ONCE TO DIE, BUT AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT” (Hebrews 9:27).

The carnal man scrambles to attain in this life (spiritually and physically) what seems will sustain him now and forever. He believes that his own free will has written an obituary of peace before God and that his own arm of power has secured for himself a place in glory.

A believer, on the other hand, knows that in the Day of the Lord any peace, any hope, any joy is going to be summed up in one eternal fact. That fact singularly reveals God to be well pleased with Christ and those found in Him. This obituary will forever ring in eternity to the praise of the glory of His grace — “He died for me!”