The One Question of Humanity, and its Many Answers
Richard Hancock. Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. I. THE ONE QUESTION. 1. It has always been asked. In all periods of history it has been proposed; time has not diminished its interest; it will always spring naturally from man's heart. 2. It is asked everywhere. It is the question of all nations and of all conditions of men. It is universal — an eminently human question. 3. It arises in varied circumstances. The brevity and the vicissitudes of life, the sufferings of the good, and the prosperity of the wicked; premature deaths, bereavement, and the expectation of our own dissolution suggest it. 4. It is asked with different feelings. With despair. The atheist. With hope and desire. "To be or not to be? that is the question." "Whence comes this pleasing hope, this fond desire, this longing after immortality?" With terror. The murderer, the tyrant, the impenitent, the backslider. It is asked in triumph, "Art Thou not from everlasting to everlasting, O God, mine Holy One?" II. THE MANY ANSWERS. There are three different answers. 1. The negative, or that of atheism. "There is no God, and there can be no immortality." This is an assertion without proof. Who can prove it? 2. The neutral, or that of secularism. "We do not know, but it matters not." However, it does matter. Then we cannot help feeling interested in it. 3. The affirmative, or that of Christianity. Most men have answered yes. But the affirmative responders have greatly varied in tone and import. The answer of Christianity alone is full and assuring. (1) It is calm and dignified. "I am the resurrection and the life."(2) It proclaims a complete immortality. According to it, the whole of man is to be perpetuated and perfected in eternity. We shall be like Him. There is a spiritual body. (3) It is practical. "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."(4) It is holy in its influence. "He that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (Richard Hancock.) Parallel Verses KJV: If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. WEB: If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, until my release should come.