“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, whom I will see for myself, and my eyes will behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me.” Job 19:23-27

Do you have the confidence of Job? Do you have confidence — even in sickness and death — that Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, atoned for our sins by His death on the cross, is risen from the dead, ascended to the right hand of God the Father in heaven, and is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead?

Job endured great suffering and expected and even looked forward to death, but he still had the confidence that, though his body would die and decay, he would, on the Last Day and with his own eyes, see his living Redeemer. He took comfort in the fact that God would keep His promise to send a Savior and redeem him from sin and eternal death and damnation, and that God would also raise him up from the grave on the Last Day to see His Redeemer’s face.

Do you have such confidence? Do you believe and take comfort, even in the face of death, that your Redeemer came into this world, died on the cross to atone for your sins, and now lives? Do you have the confidence that though you may die and your body decay in the grave, you will be raised up on the Last Day and see Him with your own eyes?

It is as the Bible says in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

Of course, just believing Jesus rose from the dead and will raise and judge all people on the Last Day is not comforting to those who remain impenitent, to those who go on in their sinful and rebellious ways and do not turn from their sins to faith in Christ Jesus, because that Day will be a day of judgment and condemnation for them. It is why “all the tribes of the earth will mourn” when they see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory (Rev. 1:7).

However, for all who see their utter sinfulness and the judgment they deserve but look in faith to Christ Jesus and His perfect sacrifice for sins, made when He suffered and died on the cross, that will be a day of joy and gladness (cf. John 3:14-15; 1 John 1:7 — 2:2; Luke 21:27-28; 2 Thess. 1:5-10). As Jesus said in John 5:24, “Whoever hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life.”

With David, in Psalm 17:15, we as believers can say, “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”

Though we die and our bodies decay in the grave, our risen Savior will raise our bodies, and we will see Him who died for our sins and rose again to give us life everlasting (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13ff.; Psalm 16:11)!

With Job, we can say, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” and with Samuel Medley, the hymn writer, “What comfort this sweet sentence gives!”

O my crucified and risen Savior, grant that I live and die in the confidence Your resurrection gives, and raise me up on the Last Day to see Your face and partake of the eternal joys of Your kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]