Queen Elizabeth died this morning on the 8th of September in 2022. The Queen served as the longest monarch of England with 70 years of leadership. Her eldest son: Prince Charles, 73 years old, now reigns as the King of England.
Why do I feel the need to write?
I am not from England, I know very little about their government, I know even less about the Queen and her reign, and I have no knowledge about her impact on the world during her 70 year leadership. So why do I write? I do so because a death like this brings a verse to mind that I believe is worth great meditation for all of us:
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Hebrews 9:27
There is only one certainty for every person born on this earth: death. It haunts and awaits all men from the poorest beggar on the street to, yes, even the Queen of England. For the unbeliever, the contemplation of death is depressing. Everything you do on this earth is met with a sudden end. There is no point to anything that you do if everything simply ends in death. If you make a lot of money, you will die with nothing. If you are very beautiful, you will grow old and die looking not so beautiful. If you do good deeds, you will die. If you do evil deeds, you will die. You see? It is a depressing meditation. Men hide from thinking about it and seek to “make a difference” here on earth when, deep down, they know it will not.
What about believers in Jesus Christ? Let me share with you a verse I read over recently:
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 15:58
After expounding on the fact of the resurrection of the dead as the absolute grounding of our Christian faith, Paul ends with a “Therefore”. The phrase that shouts out to me is: “ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” You see, whereas unbelievers have great reason to believe that everything they do means nothing because everything ends in death, believers have great reason to believe that everything they do matters. Why? Because they are “in the Lord.”, Jesus Christ, who is resurrected and sits at the right hand of the Father in glory and will come back again to redeem us.
We Have Purpose
There is life beyond death. This is a great motivation for us to continue “in the work of the Lord.” Jesus beholds and sees everything you do on this earth. He engineers circumstances in your life to push you closer to Himself. Every word, thought, deed, and action has an eternal impact for you. This is good news! We have a purpose! No longer is everything meaningless. The message of Ecclessiasites, ““Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”, is the message of one who is contemplating the idea of death. But not the resurrection! If we contemplate the resurrection we can confidently come away from our thoughts saying:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:5
Look at the bolded text! I do not need to expand further on that. It speaks for itself.
Continue therefore…
With this knowledge in your head you must steadfastly hold to the faith. Contemplating the Queen of Englands death must not send us into the bit of despair. Rather, we must realize that she, along with every other person to have ever stepped foot on this earth, will stand before Jesus to be judged according to what is written in the book of life. Is your name in that book? With John I say: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” Make this sure first. Next, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” (Col 2: 6-7) Walk forward, run to obtain, discipline yourselves unto godliness, cleave to Jesus, fall more and more in love with Him. This is your great purpose.
Application
- Spend time in prayer thanking God for giving you a purpose in and through Jesus Christ our Lord
- Confess to God the times you failed to focus on Jesus and your eternal inheritance in Him.
- Ask God for wisdom and understanding to walk closer to Jesus and continue to build yourself up in Him.
- Take time out of your day to read through the verses I mentioned above. Contemplate them with all seriousness, asking God to reveal to you more of His Son and His eternal truths.