The Fleeting Nature of Life

Jun P. Espina 8 min read

Written on August 30, 2024

The Fleeting Nature of Life

In this life, we exist for a fleeting moment. The fleeting nature of life means we usually spend our fleeting moments with food, money-making, friends, and relationships. However, time changes during our retirement years. When wrinkles cover your face and walking around your house without your bones aching becomes your most triumphant performance of the day, money is no longer a hot pursuit. Life is a story about being born into this world and then dying with everything we worked hard for becoming meaningless.

👁 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Fleeting Nature of Life
2. Bitterness and Cynicism
3. Dark Imagination
4. The Story of Unbelief
5. The Promise Beyond the Fleeting Nature of Life
6. The Warning
7. About Misquided Beliefs
8. Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Our Golden Years

Bitterness and Cynicism

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Without hope for a better existence beyond this temporary stop in our world, we would inevitably become bitter. The younger generation, whom we have helped to succeed us, holds different views and values regarding life. We are often troubled by their apparent lack of love and respect for their parents. In many cases, they fail to appreciate their elders, believing themselves to be culturally and intellectually superior due to the rise of artificial intelligence. For example, a taxi driver became confrontational with me after I disagreed with him about which battle tank was more powerful. These young individuals seem to think that older people no longer possess valuable information due to their limited exposure to the internet.

Dark Imagination

I explored websites that specialize in text-to-image generation, and what I discovered was predominantly dark imagery, including vibrant, god-like dragons, serpents, skulls, fire, death, and themes of tragedy—elements that are characteristic of a dark aesthetic.

When will we come to understand the truth that life is infinite and that our existence in this world is merely a prelude to eternal life with immortal bodies?

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The Story of Unbelief

I spoke with a group of carpenters one afternoon. The conversation was lively until I remarked, “We will live forever.” Their leader stood up and responded, “We don’t believe you; you lack evidence.”

I said, “Jesus Christ rose from the grave.”

“No, we do not believe in that story.”

“Aren’t you Catholics?”

“Yes, we are, but we do not believe in your Protestant Bible.”

Everyone has a worldview noise that filters their rejection of the gospel. The first is “you have a Protestant Bible.” Some said, “We already have a religion.” People’s acceptance of it (the gospel) is next to impossible without resistance, just like any form of truth. We will live after death because Christ said so.

The Promise Beyond the Fleeting Nature of Life

In John 10:27-30, our Lord said,

“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

A friend told me that Christ held us in His hand—if we believe in Him—as well as the Father in heaven. And the purpose of this two-fold grip of both the Father and the Son is to ensure salvation by faith in the shed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

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This promise is huge. We will live endlessly. Therefore, life on earth is not just a fleeting moment—it is a commencement, not a graduation! But if you don’t have Christ’s Spirit, your life today is your only life, and then comes the judgment. Think about it.

The Warning

Since 1984, I have been sharing the message of Christ whenever I have the opportunity. However, like any life-or-death message, many people do not seem to recognize or feel the urgency of the gospel. As Christ stated,

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:37-39)

This warning from our Lord is not confined to His Second Coming in the flesh. It also pertains to our impending death or the experience of an incurable illness, which is a reality for everyone, unless death occurs by accident.

Today, we are “eating and drinking, marrying,” and celebrating without a care in the world about the possibility of waking up in hell.

I knew someone who had been in an accident. She was injured and experienced a great deal of pain. When asked what would have happened if she had died, she replied, “I won’t go to hell because I don’t believe in it.”

About Misquided Beliefs

It is true that we must be uneducated before we can learn. The woman we just mentioned derived her erroneous belief about hell from the influences and individuals she encountered. This is how the Apostle Paul perceives people’s misguided beliefs regarding the afterlife. To Timothy, he stated, “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them.” (2 Tim. 3:14) If you learn from atheists, you will eventually adopt their views. Therefore, Paul emphasized the importance of the sources of your knowledge, urging us to be mindful of “knowing from whom you have learned them.”

Hell is a reality because Christ taught it. No other biblical teacher can surpass Christ in explaining the concept of hell, not even the Apostle Paul.

Observe this statement regarding those who are destined to suffer in hell for eternity:

“But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)

If you claim not to believe in hell, that is merely your opinion. The truth remains unchanged, regardless of individual beliefs. Even if your mayor or priest asserts otherwise, fire is hot. Truth endures. As Paul stated, “For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.” (2 Cor. 13:8)

Prioritizing Spiritual Wealth over Earthly Possessions

🎯 The fleeting nature of life is also slanted towards a desire for worldly pleasures, financial riches, fame, and status. However, as we come to realize late in our lives, they are the kinds of things that ultimately don’t matter. Christ said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matt. 6:19-20) At his deathbed, Steve Jobs, for example, said that it’s not money after all. It’s the family; it’s relationship. Our lives are like vapor that briefly appears before disappearing. (cf. James 4:4) Focusing on everything that is vanishing, like smoke, is not a good rule for life in the end. And may I add that even family matters are inferior when compared to the much-needed shelter for our souls from hell judgment, which is the shed blood of Christ.

!Now, why is a person cast into hell seconds after his death? Well, because he rejected Christ’s words. Our soul’s salvation happens after experiencing genuine faith in our Savior, and it comes only by hearing Christ’s words through the Spirit’s unction. (cf. Rom. 10:17) For instance, “The Lord opened her [Lydia’s] heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14b, ESV)

One of the most important topics in this post about the fleeting nature of life is our salvation, as well as the promise and assurance of heaven after death. Our Lord is speaking about it in unambiguous terms. In John 6, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” (John 6:47-48) Similarly, Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)

Regarding assurance of our salvation, our Lord states, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)

Now, why is a person cast into hell seconds after his death? Well, because he rejected Christ’s words. Our soul’s salvation happens after experiencing genuine faith in our Savior, and it comes only by hearing Christ’s words through the Spirit’s unction. (cf. Rom. 10:17) For instance, “The Lord opened her [Lydia’s] heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14b, ESV)

Lydia was “a worshiper of God” (see Acts 16:14a)—the wrong God who was not Christ’s Father—but Christ’s Spirit honored her resolve for the truth, for she attended Paul’s prayer meeting by the river as a seeker of salvation. “The Lord opened her heart.” It was a genuine born-again conversion to Christianity, since she experienced God leading her to Christ by making her understand the Scriptures. It is the meaning of Christ’s word in John 6: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44)

The hyper-Calvinists—the Predestinarians—believed Lydia was chosen and predestined. And that was the reason for her quick conversion. But if we read Acts 16, she got converted because she was not only a worshiper of a higher and invisible being, but she was also a seeker of God, as she agreed to attend Paul’s preaching. In Acts 16:14a, the Bible states, “A woman named Lydia was listening.” And God loved her for that. “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.” (Prov. 8:17)

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Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Our Golden Years

My daughter shared with me her favorite eBooks, one of them was “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. As usual, I converted my treasured eBooks in audio format using free software. With the help of an audio app on a mobile device, I can study important topics wherever I go. I have not finished listening to this audiobook, but I got the point: little habits matter.

Why is Life so Fleeting?

💌 Life is fleeting because it is temporary here on the earth. According to the Bible, “life is a mere breath away.” (James 4:14) We never know when our time on earth is coming to an end; it is a brief and unpredictable existence. This realization of the fleeting nature of life could inspire us to cherish each moment and focus on what truly matters, instead of becoming engrossed in the trivial aspects of our daily lives. Understanding how short life is can inspire us to live intentionally, value the connections in our lives, and have a constructive influence while we can. In the end, life’s fleeting nature serves as a reminder to cherish the little time we have left. The good news is that in Christ, life is eternal. (John 3:16)

As a Christian, I believe that 70 years is a biblical deadline, so to speak. Here’s how the psalmist put it: “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” (Ps. 90:10, ESV) In our closing years, what little habits should we pursue? Death is coming. Are we prepared?

My point is not merely “atomic habits,” but the sorting out of important things before we finally “fly away.”

Before writing this blog, I was busy enhancing my websites (I have several). However, the fleeting nature of life continued to niggle at me. What must we do? We are old—and, as they say it, “perhaps today.”

I noticed most people don’t care at all. They are in a “come what may” world. In my case, the more I believe in the Scriptures and in our Lord Jesus, the more certain I become that I’m just a passer-by here, but I will soon be with my Lord Jesus and be with Him forever. His words just don’t leave my soul. I believe in all His promises for me. In John, He said,