The Blessed Hope

                                                           Death: The Final Frontier

 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ  and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.(Phil 3:7-14))

Paul said the life he pursued,  before God's call, was one where he put the high stake of his service to God on what he could do to stop those who now preached Jesus as the savior of the world. His whole existence was dedicated to putting his entire trust in being what he described as a faithful jew and follower of God.  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;  concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless."   

                                         

                                                                            

Yet the truth from God's standpoint was the opposite of what Paul thought was his obedience to the God of the holy scriptures. The eradication of the Way that recognized and worshipped Jesus Christ as the only name under heaven by which anyone is saved. His being the way, truth and life, the  blessed hope by  which anyone is bought from darkness to light and from death to life.                                                                                         

                         

It was in a vision that God came to the disciple Ananais, as Paul traveled on the road to Damascus, telling him “Go, for Paul  is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” The die was cast, the plan announced, the order given. And Ananias went his way and entered the house where Paul was sent,  and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. After some days with the disciples,  Paul went off and immediately preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come to Damascus for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ." The Apostle Paul, was chosen by God to go and preach the gospel to the world.  God's called and chosen are to be a light to God's truth in this lost and dieing world. 

                                                         

                                                                   

Death is the result of mankinds refusal to believe what God had said. Eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and you will die. The temptation from the father of lies, the devil, satan, the serpent of old said, "if you eat you will not die but be like God. The lie believed, the die was  cast. They wanted to be like God and believed a lie. The death of mankind sealed in the dust.                                                                                                 

                                                                 

Still today mankind wants to be their own God. To wield power over another. To be idolized as one who holds all the answers and can solve all the worlds problems. Many who have put themselves on the pedestals of obeisance have proven to be false delusions of corrupt and failing promises. Void of what is truth. But a clanging cymbal--an attention-grabbing loud empty noise lacking substance and thus hope.                                                       

                                                                                        

Only One has proved Himself the Blessed Hope. Jesus Christ came to live a perfect life, to shed his blood on the cross, die and rise again on the 3rd day to conquer sin and death. To offer to all who repent and confess Jesus Christ is Lord everlasting life. A citizenship in heaven in the presence of God and the glory of His power.  He is the way, truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.  All other gods are but idols who offer only despair in the dust from which they were formed. And an eternity that Jesus Himself called the outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth. A fiery furnace of eternal punishment where the worm does not die and the fire is never quenched. The warning given. The choice proclaimed. Confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is Lord. Believe in your heart God has raised Him from the dead. Repent, believe the gospel, the good news, and you will be saved.