Death... A dark cold pit of fear rises in the hearts of many at the thought.
Why do people die? Is death the end? These and many other questions might be looming in your mind.
Let's turn to the ultimate source of wisdom, the very own word of God for answers.
God is love. Being a God of love, in love He created a perfect man and women. Do you think a God of love would delight in death?
"[As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked" - Ezekiel 33:11
No! Absolutely not!
So God's plan was to create Adam and Eve to live eternally, companions together in the beautiful paradise of Eden.
But dear reader, pay attention to what happened Let's not just gloss over the well-known fact that, yes Adam and Eve ate of the fruit and so here we are today. No! Let the import of these words sink into our minds:
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return." - Genesis 3:19
After Adam and Eve eat of the forbidden fruit, imagine God speaking those words... I'm sure tears would have been in His voice... The masterpiece of God's creation, formed from the dust in His very own image, now sentenced to return to dust!
And why? Why such a harsh sentence? One word.
Sin
Transgression, disobedience to the King of Kings. The wages, the end result of sin is death. Sin disrupts the peace of heaven, the atmosphere of love.
Let's face it. We live in a luke-warm generation. We're a sleeping people! I pray if only we could catch just a glimpse of the Holy God we profess to serve. Isaiah when taken in vision, seeing just a small view of the glory and holiness of God, exclaimed:
"Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." - Isaiah 6:5
We serve a holy God. Eternal life was, is and always will be on the condition of obedience. Do you think God will allow into Heaven, the very thing which caused Adam and Eve to be cast out? In up-coming parts of this gem we will dig deeper into victory over death, and just how this obedience is possible.
But for now we understand:
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" - Romans 5:12
So death is the result of sin.
However, how can we have victory over death? Over sin?
Anyhow, what is death? Are the dead still conscious?
How does God speak to us in His Word to answer these questions?
To be continued...
- by Emmanuel Higgins
1 comment
YAMO WU
3 months ago
DEAR SIR/MADAM
TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, FIRST WE SHOULD KNOW WHAT MAN IS.
GENESIS 2：7
the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (NIV)
So: dust = our body
breath of life = our life or energy of our life
Our breath of life (生命之气）is from God.
John !:1,2,3,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made:without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
life = the light of men
PSALM 33:6
By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth
HEBREWS 1:1,2
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life."
So: Jesus = the Word = life = the light of men
REVELATION 1;8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega", says the LORD God,"
1:17
"I am the First and the Last."
also: REVELATION 21:6 and 22:13
the Word = Jesus = the First and the Last = forever
Zechariah 12;1
This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:...
the breath of life is our life or life energy or the spirit of man. It is from the Word. It is from Jesus. It is from God. It is forever. The breath of life can't die. It is within us. It is our life.
What is death?
There is Chinese saying: 气在人在，气断人亡。 It means if we have the breath of life, we are alive. if we don't have the breath of life, or have the last breath, we die.
What happens after we have the last breath? The breath of life can't die. Where does it go? And how does it feel? What does Holy Bible say?
Genesis 4:10
The LORD said...Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
REVELATION 6:9,10
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the tesimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice,"how long Sovereign LORD,holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? Then each of them was given a white robe, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
According to bible, there are three worlds, heavens, our human beings' world and underground world.
PHILIPPIANS 2:10
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and ....
God made us in the image of God and likeness of God. The breath of life is from God. It is within us. We should keep it as it was when God gave us. In another word, We should be like God and be pure in our mind, our heart and live in God's way. So after we have the last breath, our breath of life can go to heavens or kingdom of God where we lived before we travelled to this world long long time ago. We are living in a sinful world. If we can't keep the breath of life pure, we might have to go to the underground world or return to this world again.
Thank you for taking time to share my opinions.
English is not my first language, if I make mistakes or offend you, please forgive me. Thanks.
Regards
Yamo Wu