by David J. Stewart | Click here for music in a new separate window
Death is the great equalizer! Whether a person be rich or poor, they enter
into eternity with nothing.
Whether a person be healthy or sick, they leave this world dead. It matters not if you are crippled in a wheel chair, or a jock athlete when you die, either way your soul and spirit separate from your body at the time of your death.
Whether it be Bill Gates with his billions-of-dollars in wealth, or some unknown homeless man who died with only the clothes on his back, death is the great equalizer that strips away all possessions, all health, all fame, all fortune, all friends, all family, and everything that a person clings to during their earthly life.
Everyone's body is left behind at death. Ecclesiastes 12:7 defines death as the spirit returning unto God Who gave it. The first death is separation of one's soul and spirit from their physical body. The Bible warns of a second death in Hell for all eternity, where one's body, soul and spirit are separated from God for all eternity. This is the most horrifying thing anyone ever has to fear in life. Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Many soldiers die early in youth, never having enjoyed the blessings of marriage, children, retirement, grandchildren, and the fulfillment of a prosperous life. Yet the elite politicians who send them into a needless war to die, enjoy the blessings and fruits of this life. Many people work hard their entire life, only to die the year before their retirement. I worked with a man for 11 years who died of a heart-attack while on a dialysis machine (he was diabetic). He was planning to retire the following year and spoke about it quite often. It doesn't seem fair. He never got to enjoy his retirement.
God never said that life was going to be fair. In fact, God said “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverb 27:1). Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed unto men once to die, and then the judgment. Only God knows how, when, or where a person will die. Our days are all numbered. The important thing is to make sure that we are prepared to die and meet our Maker. Are you saved? Do you have HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matthew 6:33), that is, the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:21)? Please don't go to Hell. Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 6:23).
Death is the great equalizer which will bring all men to nought. Everything that you ever worked for throughout this life will be brought into judgment before the God of the Bible. No one will escape the eyes of God, and His hand of divine judgment. So many people today live as though there is no God, no afterlife, no penalty for wrong doing... you had better hope that you are right, because you'll split Hell wide open and suffer the eternal wrath of an angry God in the flames of Hell if you're wrong (2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9).
Death is the great equalizer. It matters not whether you are rich nor poor, whether you are healthy nor sick, whether you are smart or uneducated; all that matters is whether your sins have been forgiven in Christ Jesus. Have you been born-again? Have you believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God? (John 3:16-18, 36).
