IMMORTALITY;
ETERNITY; DEATH: TRIUMPH IN

It was then that Paul wrote a letter to a young friend, Timothy.

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure” (2 Timothy 4:6), he wrote. He knew that death was near, so he wrote on:

“I have fought a good fight” (4:7)—past perfect tense!

“I have finished the race” (4:7)—past perfect tense!

“My testimony has been given. I am a martyr and a witness. I have done all that I could for Jesus. The war is over and I will take off my uniform. I have completed God’s plan for me on earth.”

According to the logic of death, the next words should have been “The End,” for within a few days, Paul knelt on the flagstones of a Roman prison and the executioner severed his head from his body with a sword.

He had written his last testimony, but he did not say, “This is the end of Paul.” Instead, he had purposely added one of those conjunctive words that speaks of a yesterday and connects it to a tomorrow.

“I have finished my course.… Henceforth (KJV)” (4:7–8).

Paul was testifying: “All of these things were a part of the human biography, but I am going on to another and better and eternal chapter!” For Paul, it was the blessed experience of coming to the next chapter after the last!…

Thank God for the gracious chapter still being written, the chapter titled “Immortality.” It is the chapter of God’s tomorrows. It is the chapter of the henceforths known only to the children of God.

2 Timothy 4:6–8; 1 Peter 1:3–5

Who Put Jesus on the Cross?, 89, 90, 92.