Near and Far
September 27, 2018
During a recent run with a friend, he asked me if I look near at the ground or far at the horizon when I am running. I said I tend to look near, at the next two or three sidewalk squares to be sure I don’t trip and fall, although I do look up occasionally. He told me that he always looks far in the distance because he likes to reel in the horizon as he runs, but he looks down occasionally for safety’s sake. Good drivers should also always be looking near and far. We need to be aware of immediate danger and yet anticipate danger that could materialize ahead. We need to balance looking near and far.
In life, there is a balance to looking near and far as well. Time is a continuum of near and far events. We all have things that we are looking forward to with either excitement or dread in the near or the far future. Positively, we might have a vacation scheduled or tickets to a show, or a visit with family upcoming. There are also things in our near future that we can’t wait to have behind us, like a dentist appointment, or jury duty, or a dentist appointment J. Life can be an endless series of wishing for the next unpleasantry to be behind us. As to things in the far future, I am really looking forward to being a grandparent, but not too soon! I’m very eager to see what God has planned for our church, but He will show us in His time. Of course, on the other side of the coin, the thing many of us dread about the future is death. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
1 Cor. 15:54-56 says “54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Our own deaths could be near or they could be far. We are not promised one more day. But the good news is that whether near or far, our physical deaths are only the doorway to eternal life if we are believers in Jesus Christ as our savior. In that sense, Paul could write that death is swallowed up in the victory that Jesus Christ won for us on the cross. He defeated sin because by dying on our behalf, Jesus took the penalty that we deserve for our sin. Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior will not be condemned by his sin because Jesus has already paid for it. He defeated Satan because he thought he had won the battle when Jesus went to the cross, only to realize that he had lost when Jesus rose from the dead. Finally, Jesus defeated death because by rising from the grave, He proved that He has the power to raise us from the grave too.
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? All you have to do is acknowledge that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead. You place your trust in Him for your salvation rather than any trusting in any merit of your own for your salvation. As soon as a batter makes his first out, he can no longer bat 1.000 even if he gets a hit in every other at bat he ever has. The one out makes batting 1.000 impossible. In the same way, our sin makes it impossible for us to be perfect anymore and it disqualifies us from being able to rely on ourselves for salvation. Only the sinless Christ was qualified to pay for our sin. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is given to man once to die and then the judgment.” Don’t let another day pass without accepting Jesus as your Savior. If you have already done so, this verse should give us a burden for our family and friends too. Death may be near or far, but with Jesus as your Savior, it really doesn’t matter. We will be ushered into heaven where Jesus Himself will say, “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.”
