Because it's a mystery to those who have never
sought for TRUTH about what happens after we pass from this realm to
the next.
I'd like to share a couple of scriptures to get you
thinking
spiritually.
|
Genesis
2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
BREATH OF LIFE;
and man became a living soul. |
|
Job 33:4
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the
BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY
hath given me life. |
Pretty awesome, yes?!
GOD's breath gives US life! We are His children.
Do you suppose that He just lets us ... His children ...
Die ... And be NO MORE?
That our flesh turns back into dust ... And
that's it!? There's nothing else to talk about?
Wait just a minute!
What about the rest of our being? Not our human being
... Our spiritual being?
IT'S ELEMENTARY!
Think back for a moment to something you learned back
in grade school. By dying, a flower forms a seed that
comes to life again. Now, I'm sure that when you were a
child, this made perfect simple sense and you didn't
question it one bit, but now that FEAR is involved, you
probably want to know just exactly how all of that
works.
Of course a seed itself appears to be
dead, but it's really a tiny plant in a state of
dormancy until the conditions of temperature, moisture
and sunlight are right for the seed to grow, then the
rest period ends and germination begins.
The same is true for us ...
Sort of ...
Our physical
aspect DOES actually die and turns back into dust, but
the REAL us ...
The spiritual part LIVES ON!
But, because
we were born in the flesh and even though we may have
become spiritually reborn a Christian, it's still hard
to fathom what it's like to be totally spiritual and
without flesh because we are still human ...
For
now.
|
1
Corinthians 15:35-55
But some man will say, How are the dead raised
up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool,
that which thou sowest is not quickened (given
life), except it die: And that which thou sowest,
thou sowest not that body that shall be, but
bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some
other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath
pleased Him, and to every seed his own body. All
flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one
kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts,
another of fishes, and another of birds. There
are also celestial (heavenly) bodies, and bodies
terrestrial (earthly): but the glory
(magnificence) of the celestial is one, and the
glory of the terrestrial is another. There is
one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars: for one
star differeth from another star in glory. So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown
in corruption (subject to death); it is raised
in incorruption (of spiritual nature): It is
sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is
sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is
sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual
body. There is a natural body, and there is a
spiritual body. And so it is written, The first
man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam
(Jesus) was made a quickening (life giving) Spirit.
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual,
but that which is natural; and afterward that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the
Earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from
Heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also
that are earthy: and as is the Heavenly, such
are they also that are Heavenly. And as we have
borne the image of the earthy, we shall also
bear the image of the Heavenly. Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a
mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? |
What does all that mean? It means that first you were
made a physical mortal human being which is subject to
death, but when you choose Jesus, you are reborn in
SPIRIT and when your corruptible (subject to death) body
goes back to the earth to turn back into dust, your SOUL
lives on in the image of your Heavenly Lord ...
Who is
Spiritual!
Death has no more hold on you.
|
1 Corinthians 15:54
So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. |
DEATH ... IS JUST A WORD
My
friend, we have some exciting things to discover about
this mystery of death.
Actually, since we
are speaking
spiritually ... We should call it the mystery of life after death.
May I be so bold as to suggest that there is no such
thing as death at least the way most perceive it?
It is just a word.
(at least where human beings are concerned)
What would persuade me to suggest something so absurd?
THE BIBLE!
If
you're a Christian ... Of course you believe and look
forward to the promise of everlasting life with the
Lord.
|
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should NOT perish, but have
EVERLASTING life. |
TRUTH?
If you do
not choose the
Christian path ...
You still get everlasting life
... However you won't like the accommodations.
|
Jude
1:7
Even
as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about
them in like manner, giving themselves over
to fornication, and going after strange
flesh, are set forth for
AN EXAMPLE,
suffering the vengeance of
ETERNAL FIRE. |
|
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
And to you who are troubled rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
Heaven with His mighty Angels, in
FLAMING FIRE
taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with
EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION
from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of His power; When He shall come to be
glorified in His Saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe (because our
testimony among you was believed) in that
day. |
There are some folks who
don't believe in Hell, but the Bible clearly shows
it's real. This study looks into what the Bible says
Heaven and Hell are each like.
It is probably a safe
assessment to say that Heaven is better than we can
possibly imagine and Hell is worse than we can
possibly imagine.
Let's learn about
this everlasting life that Jesus speaks of.
Click on the link
below to learn more about Eternal Life.
Pretty interesting ... And one thing that we oft times
fail to consider in this life is that God's perspective is
eternity while ours is merely a human lifetime. We tend
to want things to happen in our lives immediately, but
we don't see the full picture.
From eternity, the things
that we think are important do not really amount to much, so
when we think things are moving too slow in our life, we
need to understand that God is moving everything into
it's proper place, according to His perspective of time.
|
2 Peter 3:8
But,
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. |
So, now you know the TRUTH about eternal life, and
as a Christian, you have a pretty good idea of how God
wants you to live in order to obtain it ...
|
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. |
But somehow, that still leaves a lot of questions about
death itself, does it not?
You may think that the only
way to traverse into that mysterious realm of eternity
is by dying a physical death, but in fact there are two
other ways of entering that realm.
One is by being raptured, and the other is by surviving and resisting
the devil throughout the End Times and then once again
after the Millennium when Satan is loosed from the
bottomless pit and tries one last time to try and
deceive and win all the souls he can away from God
before he is cast into the Lake of Fire FOREVER.
No
matter which of the three ways happens to you ...
You
must be in the Book of Life in order to obtain eternal
life.
Cool, huh?
There
is a Tree of Life that you learned
about in the Original Sin study, AND there's also a Book
of Life that you'll learn more about later in our
program.
UNDERSTANDING UNTIMELY DEATH
You may know someone, who in the prime of their life,
was diagnosed with cancer, or someone who was suddenly
killed in an automobile accident. Sometimes children die
when they're infants or just little tots and sometimes
we lose teens in whom we had so much hope for their
future. You may be facing death yourself, or someone
close to you may be nearing death, and maybe that's why
you're here ... Afraid and searching for some TRUTH. It
seems that at times like these, instead of turning to
God for comfort and healing for our loss, many turn away
from Him, even accusing Him of cruelty.
WHY ...
Why, Lord?
That's the question that usually haunts
people when they lose a loved one to death, especially
if it is an untimely death, or when they find out that
they may die themselves.
One answer from the Word of God
is this:
|
Isaiah 57:1-2
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to
heart: and merciful men are taken away, none
considering that the righteous is taken away
from the evil to come. He shall enter into
peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one
walking in his uprightness. |
What was that?
Did we just read that death is oft times a blessing? Are
we to understand that God is so merciful that He would
set a soul free by way of "death" rather than have
them suffer something terrible that may have happened
to them on this Earth?
If
you never considered that, it's easy to be selfish and
want our loved ones here for ourselves, to talk to and
laugh with and enjoy their company and love and hear and
see.
But, sometimes, even when we know that God has a
divine plan that we don't understand, we still don't
want to let go even though they're free from this world
and resting in peace. We should be celebrating death ...
Instead, we mourn for those who achieve it, but more
truthfully, we mourn for ourselves because we miss them.
Do we lament when someone we love goes on a dream
vacation? Heavens no, we're elated for them.
If you look
at death from a different perspective ...
TRUTH ...
You'll see that if the deceased is a Christian, it's
nothing to be sad about at all.
A
great study to read that may help you cope with the
untimely death of a loved one is ...
JOHN 3:16
Okay, now, maybe you're not scared of death at all, and
you'll take that bull by the horns when it approaches
you, but just exactly what is the procedure for
trading in this life for the next one? You're asking
some GREAT questions!
Pretty simple really ... First and foremost, there
is one prerequisite for Salvation:
|
John
3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should NOT perish, but have
everlasting life. |
How many times have you heard or read that scripture? My
friend, Jesus said those words to comfort us, and we
proudly quote Him whenever we get the chance to speak of
Salvation, but when the topic of death arises, if we
fear it, we obviously forget what He said. We will NOT
PERISH.
It
could be that you're not really afraid of what happens
to you AFTER death, because you've probably heard some
cool stuff about it, but the dying part itself ...
Kinda
like if you've never flown before and you're planning a
trip to Switzerland. You're not really afraid of not
knowing what to do once you get there, but ... What do
you do once you get to the airport?
Some questions you might have about dying are:
How will it happen to me?
Will it be something terminal or an accident or a murder
or just old age?
Will it be painful?
If
it is painful, how long will the pain last once my heart
stops beating?
Is
there really a white light?
How long does it take?
What if I'm not good enough, will I go to Purgatory?
We'll be looking into these things.
MORE QUESTIONS
Aside from wondering about the moment of death, many
people are scared because they don't know the answers to
questions like these:
What's gonna happen to my spouse and kids?
I
know that my loved ones won't be able to see me anymore,
but will I be able to see them? Will I be able to hear
the things they say ... Like angels you see on TV?
Will I be able to protect them ... Be their guardian
angel?
When they die, will we be back together again?
We'll be looking into these things too.
Well, just like life ... Death is different for
everyone. Just as when you were young you couldn't
anticipate what your life was going to be like, you
can't really know what your transition to the "next
life" will be like either. One thing to remember though,
is that death should not be an unspeakably scary
experience that makes you panic just to think of it. If
you believe in Jesus, you'll learn that quite the
opposite is true.
|
Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the
death of His Saints. |
Now why would the Word of the Lord say that if death was
a horrible thing? There can only be one explanation ...
IT'S NOT, it's something that gives God happiness ...
The fact that we get the REWARD for enduring this world.
|
James
1:12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the
crown of life, which the Lord hath promised
to them that love Him. |
We
LOOK FORWARD to eternal life. It is the promise that we
HOPE for. Why then, in the back of our minds, do we fear
it so much? Because we haven't bothered to find out what
it's all about.
The study that you're about to read will shed A LOT of
light on your search of TRUTH about death. If you ask
just about anyone, "If a Christian dies, where does
their soul go?" they will answer ... Heaven. But you're
about to discover some fascinating things about life
after death that might surprise you!
The Abraham's Bosom study
at the link below will enlighten you greatly about where
a Christian soul goes after death.
The great unknown may seem scary, but as you can
see, more is known than one might think, all you
have to do is search for the answers and the Lord
will bring you peace. More of that peace my friend
is what we're going to discover in the next steps of
this program. Are you excited? Or are you still ...
SCARED
TO DEATH ... OF DEATH?
Not for long!
To continue our program, select:
STEP #2
Spirit of Truth
