Matthew McCullough, Remember Death: The Surprising Path to Living Hope (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2018), 185 pp.

The subject of death is off limits in our culture. Sadly, many churches say very little about death. For this reason, Matthew McCullough’s book, Remember Death: The Surprising Path to Living Hope is a much-need tonic.

McCullough guides readers down the pathway to hope by first acknowledging the reality of death. He establishes this trajectory early in the book:

Before you long for a life that is imperishable, you must accept that you are perishing along with everyone you care about. You must recognize. that anything you might accomplish or acquire in this world is already fading away. Only then will you crave the unfading glory of what Jesus has accomplished and acquired for you. And you need to recognize you are going to lose everything you love in this world before you will hope in an inheritance kept in heaven for you.

One of the great strengths of Remember Death is facing the subject without equivocation. McCullough writes, “Death is an intrusion into the perfect world of the Creator designed by that same Creator to make a point. Death is a punishment for human pride. It exposes our foolish confidence in our freedom to be whoever we want to be.” But the reader is never left dangling. At every juncture, hope is offered and the vista of heaven is on the horizon.

Ultimately, death reveals what awaits each one of God’s elect, a heavenly home, where sin is extinguished forever. The author returns to this theme throughout the book by directing the reader’s attention to the Word of God, his promises, and the triumphant gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remember Death is a much-needed antidote to the pragmatism and man-centeredness that pervades the church. I commend it without reservation.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.