1) Life-What is it?
Man defines life by saying that any thing that exists as a single cell or a multi-cell unit that can grow and reduplicate itself is called life.
2) Are the things that are alive made up of matter?
Yes, living material is made up of molecules that contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. There are other trace elements as well. These atoms are common throughout the universe.
3) Is the life that we described above, eternal?
Most people will say, of course not. However, some deep thinkers say that life is eternal because of the reduplication of our genetic material. These people say that the cycle of life and death will go on forever with the product of evolution bringing fourth some kind of "super" life. This thinking is based upon the theory of evolution. These people have even described their "man of the future". They say that he will be a spindly legged man with a very large, bald head. He will have no teeth and not very many muscles. But he will have much brain power. Will this man of the future be able to save himself when he finds that his sun is dying, and his earth is too cold to support life? Matter is dying all over the universe. Can this super man find a way out of his trap of death? Can he create something with life inherent in it, or will he be trapped because he is unable to even think in the abstract, much less create a universe that has eternal life in it. Man is only able to think with the material he is familiar with. A system with eternal life is alien to his thinking. The bible says that God is a eternal spirit. Many men deny that god even exists. Can man be creative outside the building material that God has given him to build with? Mankind becomes puffed up with knowledge and the things he has created, but all the things he uses in his creation of things have been made by Almighty God. Man without God is totally lost.
4) Is the life that we have defined really eternal?
First, how is life sustained? How do we go on living? We must eat. We feed on other forms of life. We must eat the meat of animals or the substance of plants in order to live. Therefore, something must die that we might live. Is this survival of the fittest, or is it the whole of creation pointing to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? The evolutionist says this is survival of the fittest. The Christian says this is nature's way of saying Christ died that we might have eternal life. When we look at it through the eyes of the evolutionist we see evil, bestial communist governments that hate God and have destroyed the lives of millions of people because they were "strongest". A communist has no compassion, his political system is his god. Terrorism and violence are acceptable to these evil people as long as it achieves it's political goals. We also see evil dictators like Hitler, who are willing to murder millions of innocent people in order to "clean up" the genetic pool. He created the cold heartless o.s.s. "supermen" to preform his murderous goals. God has a higher calling for mankind than can be found in the theory of evolution. Anyway, we know that in order to live, we must eat. The basic form of food is the plant. They get their energy from the sun by the process of photosynthesis. The sun is the ultimate source of energy to sustain life. If life is to be eternal then the sun must also be eternal.
5) Is the sun going to last forever?
Thermodynamics is the study of systems that do work. These laws say that every time a chemical or physical reaction takes place that does work, energy is lost in the form of heat. This heat is lost; Gone forever. For example, when we drive our cars the following chemical reaction takes place: Gasoline + oxygen = carbon dioxide + water + explosive force + heat. The explosive force moves the car but approximately 50% of the energy from this reaction is lost as heat. This is why we use water to cool the engine. Heat from the sun is this type of heat. We recycle it here on the earth to sustain life but most is lost in space, never to be recovered. Since the sun has no means within itself to go on forever, it will some day burn itself out. Life on the earth will also die. The sun is dying and all matter throughout the universe behaves the same way,, Therefore the whole universe is running down, seeking the state of absolute zero....death.
6) What conclusion can be drawn from all this.
Physical life as exists on this earth that is made up of matter is not eternal life. No matter how often we recycle, sooner or later, life must cease to exist. Matter does not have life within itself.
7) Is man trapped in this physical death?
Where can he go? Even to travel to the nearest star would take many generations. We are separated from the rest of the universe by a "great gulf". All matter has a sentence of death upon it. However, Praise God, there is good news.......If we look at this physical universe with the eyes of the eternal spirit of God, we do not even exist. We are as the chaff that the wind drives away. In His eternal eyes time does not exist. Time exists only in a system of death. In order for man to really exist he must be born again. Only by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ can we be born again. Otherwise we are lost in a system of death. Yet this loving Spirit, God our Father, gave his first begotten Son so that whosoever believes upon him might have eternal life.
The 2nd chapter of Hebrews says:" Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Jesus Christ the Son of God said, "He who has the Son has life and he who has not the Son has not seen life. But the wrath of God abides upon him". Then according to the bible the, the text book on the Spirit of God, there is an escape from this prison of flesh.
8) What evidence is given that man can obtain eternal life? What is God?
The following verse was found in the gospel of John chapter 4 vs. 24: God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship must worship him in spirit and in truth. God is not material, He is a spirit. It also says in this same book of John that God is love. The bible also tells us about life, real life. Life that is free of sorrow, sickness, famine, hunger, war and death. John 5:24 says: He that hears and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death unto life.
John 5 : 21: For as the Father raises up the dead and quickens,(makes alive), whom he will, so will the Son quicken whom he will.
John: 5: 26: For as the Father has life in himself: So has He given unto the Son to have life in himself.
John 5 : 39-40: "Search the scriptures for in them you think you have life and they are they that speak of me. And you will not come unto me that you might have life.
John 6 : 33 : For the bread (word) of God is he which came down from heaven and gave life unto the world.
John 6 : 54: He who eats my flesh,( who believes my words), and drinks my blood, (who bears the cross that the world puts on him for Jesus sake) will have eternal life.
John 6 : 63: It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak they are spirit and they are life.
You see from this that the bible has many examples of how we must obtain eternal life and it is all through Jesus Christ, nothing else. We also see that God is a Spirit. This is why we must be born again into the realm of spirit in order to enter His kingdom.
9) Did Jesus give us a sign in which we might believe him about eternal life?
Luke 11 : 29: And when they were gathered thick about him He began to say, this is an evil generation they seek a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jona the prophet. For as Jona was in the belly of the wale 3 days and 3 nights so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth.
Read the book of Jona in the bible. Nineva was a wicked city like many of our cities today.
God told Jona to go preach repentance to them, for if they do not repent I will destroy their city.. Jona like many of us, wanted to shirk his responsibility to God. Instead, he caught a ship going in another direction. While on this ship God sent a great storm against it. So that it was about to sink. Jona told the seamen that God had sent the storm because of him. Jona convinced them to throw him overboard in order to save themselves. When they threw him into the sea god had prepared a great fish to swallow him. It did, and the sea became calm. Three days later the fish vomited Jona up on a beach somewhere. Of course, this great sign impressed the seamen. This story must have reached Nineva before Jona even arrived there to preach to them. Because the people all repented, even the King of Nineva himself repented. Not because of Jona's ability as a preacher but because of the great sign that surrounded him.
Jesus gave us a much greater sign than this. He was raised from the dead after three days. Jesus gave this generation the sign of eternal life by his resurrection. The men who crucified him were looking for a sign too. They taunted and mocked him. They said, "If you be the Son of God come down from the cross and save yourself." These people wanted a big show like the world always gives. These men went back to their homes and missed the sign of eternal life. The world tried to hide the fact that he had risen, just as the world will always try to hide the truth. But Jesus appeared to those who loved him. The sign of eternal life was given to those who love Jesus.
Jesus came back from the dead to prove to man that he defeated death and the devil. He is the only one who ever gave this sign to men. He is the gate to eternal life. This great sign allows God's people to look into the face of death and obey God. When the high priest threatened John and Peter with death for preaching Jesus's resurrection, Peter said, "Whether it is right to obey you or God, you judge. But we can but tell of the things we have seen and heard. They defied death to preach the kingdom of God. Paul wrote, oh death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy victory? This sign of eternal life has allowed thousands to go to their deaths down through the ages. This victory over death will allow the elect of God to refuse the 666 mark of the beast someday. They can say "We have eternal life given to us. The author of our faith has proved it to us. Praise the blessed name of Jesus."
What have we learned so far We know that God is a spirit, that he is love. He has eternal life in himself. We know that God has come in the flesh to give us eternal life. He has delivered us from the dead material prison of flesh and blood. He has given us the sign of the prophet Jona, his resurrection. No other man, no other religion has this victory sign over death. Jesus said to the pharisees, you are like white washed tombs filled with dead men's bones. They were holding Moses, a dead man, and his ordinances higher than the righteousness of God. The Buddhists, the Hindus, the Mohammedans, and all other religions have a dead man's tomb with his bones in it, but, praise God, Jesus has no tomb.
10) What does the bible tell us that we must do in order to obtain salvation?
( Luke 24: 45-47) Jesus is speaking to his deciples just before his ascention, He says: And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: Jesus is explaining to them that it is by his name that repentance and remission of sins is given to them, and in the last verse he said that he would send the promise of the father upon them. In other words, he would send them the Holy Ghost. Then in acts 2: 37, 38 Peter repeats these things Jesus had told them in Luke24: They said to Peter, What must we do to have salvation? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then in acts 10: 47 Peter is ministering in the house of the gentile Cornealius, and he said And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Again Peter is preaching remission of sins through the NAME and the Holy Ghost fell just as Jesus said it would in Luke 24.
Salvation, what is salvation? Salvation means to be saved. Saved from death in this physical world and to be conceived by the incorruptible seed of Jesus Christ into the kingdom of God. Peter said first, repent. this means to change your ways. Stop living to the world and start living according to the word of God. Next he said to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, not in the titles of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved and that name is Jesus Christ. This is how the first church baptized and that is how the true church baptizes now. Many people will say that it is not important how you are baptized but they are wrong. Peter said that if you do this you shall receive the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Without the Holy Ghost we can never receive the revelation of Jesus Christ and without this we can never really know the Father. To be baptized in his name is not denying the Father it is acknowledging the way he has chosen for us to be saved.
In acts chapter 16, Paul and his followers were put in prison for preaching the Gospel. There was a great earthquake that opened the door of the prison, but they did not escape. This so impressed the jailer that he asked Paul how he too could be saved. Paul answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your house. Once you have committed your self to Jesus there is a race to run. It is a hard race in which the very powers of hell will come against you. You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you will never last unto the end. If you don't really believe, satan will get to you as he has some of our famous television preachers. Your flesh is just as susceptable to the wiles of the devil as theirs was. You must believe his judgment as well as his promises. In the scriptures it says that obedience is greater than sacrifice, We must obey his word ,but if you don't believe, you will not obey when you are tempted of the devil. You must read your bible in order to know what his commandments to us are. Study, to show your self approved, so that you rightly divide the word of God. Without reading his word, someone can tell you any thing and you won't know if it's true or not.
Do these things and you will have life real life. The overcomers of this world will be born again when he returns to the world the second time. Then we will have eternal life. God bless you. Amen.
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