The Christian’s “Death Benefits”
2 Timothy 4:6–18
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. 2 Timothy 4:8
The first great benefit of death for Christians is that death brings a permanent freedom from evil. The Christian who has tasted the delight of God’s righteousness longs for a purity that he will never have on earth. He longs to be free of sin, pain, care, and anxiety. And he knows that death brings freedom.
The second great benefit of death to believers is that they will be like Jesus. John writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). It is not enough to say that death brings freedom from evil. Annihilation would be just as effective and death is better than that. The Bible teaches that death brings a final perfection of the sanctification of the believer that has begun on earth.
We shall be like him. That means that we shall be like him in righteousness, for Paul speaks of “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” The thought is almost breathtaking. Crowned with righteousness! We do not know that righteousness now; we have only tasted it slightly. But the day is coming when we shall be what we should be.
We also shall be like him in knowledge. Now we see things imperfectly. We know in part, and our knowledge (even of spiritual things) is always mixed with error. In that day we shall know as God knows us, and all that has puzzled us in this life will become clear.
We shall also be like Christ in love. What a joy to be like him in this. There is so much of self in everything we do, but Christ’s love was selfless and self-sacrificing. It was a love that reached to us when we were sinners and saved us for this life and for eternity.
Certainly the greatest benefit of the believer’s death is that he or she will be with Jesus. Now we know him and he is with us in this life. We may trust in the fact that he will be particularly close to us in death. For we are told that “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15). But the day is coming when we shall be with him as never before, as the bride is with her husband on the evening of their marriage. In that day there will be no tears, no unfulfilled longings or disappointments, and no separation.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.