For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Cor 15:22)
WE occupy an earthly plain in a world drowning in a sea of inquity. We glorify the achievements of mankind as the ultimate road to deliverance from what strains at the very fiber of our existence. Yet death reveals that temporary hope in those things do not alleviate that fact that life is draining from our sin cursed being every single second, every minute, every hour of every 24 hour day.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Cor 5:1)
It is the inevitability of senility...All the lotions and potions but a bandaid over the fact that from the dust we came and to the dust we shall return. Death is the reward of those dead in trespasses and sins, those who revel in and follow the course of this world, the things of the world, the cravings of sinful mankind,the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what we have and do. Mankinds vast and damning ego trip.
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,(Titus 3:5)
The world humans inhabit is not enough so we reach out with our less than baby steps into space, to a vast and lifeless universe and the secret things of God. That confound our sight and obliterate what was once thought as fact. The more we look into the vastness of God's created order. The more theories fall and new hypotheses make a feeble attempt to explain the what, why and how of this physical plain in which we inhabit for such a brief time.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Is it wrong that we should seek those things? Man is an insatiably curious creature. Constantly seeking answers to questions that plague our minds about this thing called life. Yet one thing takes precedence over every curiosity that nips at our heels. Why is there anything when in reality there should be nothing. It doesn't just happen by chance. For nothing from nothing leaves nothing. Nothing can't create anything. You can't get anything from nothing for nothing is non-existent of anything.
For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. (James 4:14)
As we observe further and further into the vastness of the universe more questons arise rather than answers. I once heard a scientist proclaim as two galaxies rotated around each other. One clockwise the other counterclockwise. IMPOSSIBLE! IT CAN'T DO THAT! Yet it did, it was, it continues to this day. Seeing is believing.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Phil. 1:21)
As Jesus said to Thomas who said, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:26-29)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Over two thousand years ago Scripture tells us "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."(John 1:14) It was Gods plan ordained before the foundation of the world. For nothing stumps God. Nothing thwarts Gods predestined plan of mankinds redemption.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess. 4:16-17)
The devil, satan, the serpent of old thought he had put a road block into Gods plan for mankind. With the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. God proved He had other plans with the words, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[seed] and hers; he will crush[strike] your head, and you will strike his heel.”God's sovereign plan could not, can not, will not ever be defeated. No One, Nothing can thwart the plan of God. Only God is omnipotent. Only He is sovereign over all creation. Our God is in heaven, He does whatever He pleases. (Ps. 115:3) And whatever God pleases will come to fruition.
If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:8)
The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:15-26 said, " it pleased God...who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace.... Think about that. If you have believed, by grace through faith and not of yourself, a gift of God, in the only name under heaven by which anyone is saved. Confessed, repented, trusted and obeyed, God was pleased to do that for you. He has called His people from darkness to light, from death to life. And no one is able to snatch them out of His hand. (John 10:28)
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25
God's chosen people have been rescued from that place of eternal separation from God. The place Jesus talked about more than anyone in the Bible. The place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. The place in the orginal language Jesus calls Gehenna. Scripture defines it as Hell. Jesus refers to a real place as more than a metaphor, using a common location with a cursed history to talk about eternal destruction. Christ warns of a dire destiny to reason with his hearers, for them to repent unto eternal life.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)
Jesus also refers to hell as a “fiery furnace” where law-breakers will be thrown at the end of the age when he returns. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41–42). Jesus calls it “the hell of fire” (Matt. 5:22), “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), “eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:46).
This last description—“eternal punishment”—is especially heartrending and fearful because it is contrasted with “eternal life.” “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” If we are to believe that those who believe in Jesus Christ have everlasting life. A citizenship in heaven. That Jesus has gone and prepared a place for us where we will be in the presence of God and the glory of His power. Then the opposite of this is also true.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt. 10:28)(the word "destroy) used here in the sense not of annnihilation but of the affliction of everlasting punishment upon a person. Matt. 25:26 (Contrasted with everlasting life)
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (1 Cor. 15:1)
Scripture tells us Jesus came to save His people from their sins. They are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people who may declare the praises of Him who called us from death to life. Brought from the darkness of this present evil age to the light of the world, Jesus the Christ. By grace (God's unmerited favor) are you saved through faith and not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast...For all our works are as filty rags.... Born into this world as children of God's wrath. (Eph. 2:1-5) Needing to be rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.(Col. 1:13-14).
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:47-48) These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (2 Thess 1:9)
Hell (original word gehenna) generally refers to the abode of the wicked, body and soul after the judgement day. Jesus then is saying there is an everlasting future for both the soul and body. For both those who believe, trust and obey in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and those who do not. And deny the only name under heaven by which anyone is saved. From the wrath of God to come. All those who refuse to believe the truth of God's word will go off into eternity having no redemption from sin, no forgiveness for a life absent from and not trusting in the way, the truth and the life sent by God the Father into the world to call a people to Himself; through the precious blood shed on the cross. They have no blessed Hope, which delivers the enemies of God from the the place of everlasting punishment prepared for the devil and his angels (messengers).
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33)
NOTE: Galatians 3:16
In the Bible, Paul emphasizes the singular "seed" in Galatians 3:16, indicating that the promises made to Abraham were directed to a specific individual, Christ. This singular reference signifies that the fulfillment of God's promises ultimately points towards Jesus, rather than a multitude of descendants. Paul's argument highlights that through Christ, all the promises of Abraham come to fruition, emphasizing the importance of faith in Jesus rather than adherence to the law.(Bible Hub)
