The average life expectancy of an American is about 78 years old. In Hong Kong, it’s 81 years old. I figure since I’m half of each, my life expectancy is probably somewhere around 79 and a half years old. That gives me half of a century left, minus a few weeks, to leave my mark on this world.
But I’ll be honest. I’m shooting for a loftier goal. I want to make my mark on eternity. It might sound rather unattainable; but, statistically speaking, the life expectancy of a Christ-lover is indefinite on a human scale. John 3:16 put it this way: Whoever believes in Him (Christ) will not perish but have everlasting life. So, since I believe this to be true, I can assume but one thing: though I may die physically, I have the promise of eternity. And I choose to live for eternity now.
I recently finished reading the book, Radical, by David Platt, and I feel like much of what I read has challenged my perception of my life. Throughout his book, Platt challenges the American Christian church to awaken and embrace the call of Christ upon His church: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25).
At first glance, it might sound like Jesus is telling His Christian followers to deny themselves of life and embrace a death sentence. In some ways, I suppose that’s true, as John 15:18-25 promises that those who follow Jesus will be hated by the world, because they hated Him first. But I believe Jesus is inviting us to be a part of an adventure that spans beyond the life we have on this earth, an adventure that is full of abundant life, and an adventure that is eternally satisfying. Yes, the call of Christ will require sacrifices as you put to death your earthly, fleshly nature. But in the place of your flesh, Christ gives you a new self, filled with the power, peace, and presence of the Holy Spirit, and filled to overflowing with God’s immense love for you.
We are called to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20). In other words, we are called to invite others to be a part of this grand adventure of eternity, too, through believing in Jesus and embracing the eternal life He purchased for us with His blood.
You know what my favorite part of that passage is? The promise of Christ’s presence. I figure, if my God is for me, who can be against me? Though I lose my life on this earth for the sake of His glory, is it not far more satisfying to sit in the loving presence of God for all eternity? Platt writes, “When we risk our lives to run after Christ, we discover the SAFETY found only in His SOVEREIGNTY, the SECURITY that is found in His LOVE, and the SATISFACTION that is found only in His PRESENCE.” (emphasis mine). When I recognize that the God of the Universe has me in the palm of His sovereign hand, that He promises me life abundantly (and life ETERNALLY), and when I realize that nothing can keep me from His love – even death – then what is keeping me from giving up everything…EVERYTHING…to follow Him?
One of the chapters of one of my favorite books, Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn, begins with this statement: Is this the day I die? It might seem like a foreboding, fear-inducing question, but throughout the course of the book, the character who asks this question begins to change his perspective about death. Rather than looking to death as “the end,” he begins to realize that dying on this earth for the sake of Christ only marks the beginning of a measureless eternity for him, and he begins to ask the question with expectant joy rather than with suffocating fear. I want to live my life in the same way.
Elisabeth Elliot, widow of Jim Elliot, a young man who was killed by the Auca Indians of Ecuador in the 1950s, wrote that her husband would not want to be remembered as a martyr, but rather as one who both lived and died for Christ. She wrote, “Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him, after all, so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first?”
So today, I choose to live for Christ. I choose to die for Christ. And through it all, I choose to live.
