1st November 2025

1st November 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 14) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


There is a billboard in Portrush which declares “Life is short, death is sure, sin the cause, Christ the cure.” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve stood and considered that message. I’ve even used it in sermons to try and summarise the human condition. It is catchy, easily remembered and absolutely true.


What is life like? The human experience can be one which is full of trouble (v1) and all life has its limits determined by Almighty God (v5). We will not receive one minute more or less than has been decreed by God Himself. We are like a flower which shoots up but then begins to wither (v2) and when death does inevitably come, we are like a dried up river which is laid in the grave never to roused again (v10-12). 


If you took a chainsaw to the tree at the end of your grandmother’s garden it wouldn’t necessarily be the end of that tree. The stump and the roots would remain and with some water new life and new shoots might spring forth (v7-9). However, Job could not comprehend any such hope for a man. All a man could hope for was that the Lord would leave him alone so that he might enjoy his day like a worker or hired hand (v6). But Job believed that God would not look away. As the mountains crumble and the waters wash away the soil of the earth (v18-19), so too does God destroy man’s hope (v19b). All that is left for man is to be sent away in death (v20) and from the grave he will know nothing about the life of his family (v21). Indeed, all he will know is pain and mourning (v22).


We have made much of Job’s faith in these devotions and so we might be surprised by how bleak is Job’s description of life and death. It is important however that we comprehend his place in the story of the Gospel. Job’s understanding of Jesus was veiled and what we know about the resurrection to come was not within Job’s frame of reference. Even so, as Job considered the frailty of life we can still see glimpses of his Gospel hope.


He longed for God to keep him in the grave before a set time that Job would be remembered (v13). Furthermore, he would speak of waiting for his renewal (v14) and the day that his sins would be forgotten (v16) and his iniquity covered (v17). At first glance Job seemed hopeless but in the midst of his personal darkness, the light of the Gospel was still shining brightly.


Job’s question is one of great seriousness - “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (v14). The answer is absolutely yes. Just as the thief of the cross asked to be remembered, so all who call upon the name of Jesus will be remembered in both life and death. There is no question that life can be exceedingly hard but by the blood of Jesus our sins are covered and remembered no more. There is also a day coming that we will receive our resurrection renewal and will never die again. Job may have struggled to see it but God never forgot him and the man who sat in ashes will one day stand again upon the earth.


The billboard in Portrush is right. Life is short, death is sure, sin the cause but Christ is the cure. Thanks be to God!    


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q8 How doth God execute his decrees?
God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
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