March 29th 2020
No Virus Or Anything Else Can Threaten The Promise Of Everlasting Life With Jesus!
Colossians 3:2-4 (NIV)
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
We all fear death, because of the unknown result of our death in this cursed world. Paul calls us a new creation, and Jesus taught that unless we die and be born again, we could not go to heaven when we die! While we live in this cursed world, cursed because of sin, and we will die in this cursed world, but we should not fear death, because it frees us from this world and blesses us with salvation through our death! In the selected verses Paul wrote, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” It is difficult for most of us to see this world as cursed, because it is also a beautiful place with much of its beauty being scars of God’s punishment of mankind through a worldwide flood about 4,350 years ago! Only the eight people and the animals that God sent to the ark survived this Flood and then repopulated this earth.
The writer of Hebrews wrote about being trained to distinguish good from evil. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14). This same term was used by God when Adam disobeyed God’s command to not eat from one of the trees in the Garden of Eden. In this account God tried to keep Adam and Eve from knowing about evil, as they were then living in the prefect world created by Jesus. And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:22-23). So, as you can see in this cursed world mankind must learn about good and be able to separate good from evil, while in the perfect created world mankind did not know anything about evil! This is how it will be for us in the new world, which Jesus will create as described in Revelation and other books of the Bible. Where again mankind will not know about evil, therefore, we will not be tempted to sin in any way!
The born-again members of mankind who will live in the new world will no longer have a sinful nature, which we all inherited from the sin of Adam. This will allow us to not be attracted to sinful desires, as we are in this cursed world! John wrote about how we are attracted to this world and thus it becomes difficult for us to believe in a just and loving God. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives for ever. (1 John 2:15-17). We all were created with an immortal soul, which will exist forever, this is the part of us that was made in the image of God. In this lifetime we can decide whether this immortal soul will live forever with Jesus/God or languish in torment in hell. Death in this lifetime releases us from this cursed world, and allows us to regain the ignorance of evil, so that we no longer think or know good from evil, as there will remain no knowledge of evil!
Remember how this knowledge of evil came to mankind in the first place. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:15-17). When this occurred, God then enacted a plan of salvation through His Son who would come into this cursed world and die for our sins, and then rise from the dead to create a Way for us to reenter the Paradise of God when we leave this mortal lifetime! Jesus was the first to rise from the dead and go back to heaven to show all of mankind that He was establishing this path or Way for us to follow Him during this lifetime, and then to follow that Way for us to also be with Him in heaven.
Jesus told His disciples (us) that He was going back to heaven, and that He was preparing a place for us in heaven. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:2-4). Notice too that Jesus not only says He is preparing a place for us, but that He will be coming back to guide us to where He is! Jesus said, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” So, When the time comes, expect Jesus to come and get your soul and take you (it) back with Him! Sorry about all this positive talk about death in this world!
However, in this time of great peril it seemed like a good time to write about the fact that death is not the end, but it is a new beginning of a perfect life, like that experienced by Adam and Eve before sin came into this world. Moses wrote about how the promises of God can be depended on, unlike many of the promises on mankind. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil? (Numbers 23:19). So, we have the promises of God received through Jesus Christ. James the brother of Jesus wrote about how we should conduct our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26-27). Here James wrote about how followers of Jesus should help all those people who need our help. Help them with physical needs if you can, but more importantly, tell them about Jesus!
The best way we can help others during this very trying time in this world is to tell them about how Jesus Christ being in your life has changed your life for the better. If they take Jesus to be their personal Savior, then they too will have the promises of God to help alleviate their stress during this time of suffering and possible death threatened by this virus. No virus or anything else in this cursed world can threaten the promise of everlasting life with Jesus!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Colossians 3:2-4 (NIV)
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
We all fear death, because of the unknown result of our death in this cursed world. Paul calls us a new creation, and Jesus taught that unless we die and be born again, we could not go to heaven when we die! While we live in this cursed world, cursed because of sin, and we will die in this cursed world, but we should not fear death, because it frees us from this world and blesses us with salvation through our death! In the selected verses Paul wrote, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” It is difficult for most of us to see this world as cursed, because it is also a beautiful place with much of its beauty being scars of God’s punishment of mankind through a worldwide flood about 4,350 years ago! Only the eight people and the animals that God sent to the ark survived this Flood and then repopulated this earth.
The writer of Hebrews wrote about being trained to distinguish good from evil. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14). This same term was used by God when Adam disobeyed God’s command to not eat from one of the trees in the Garden of Eden. In this account God tried to keep Adam and Eve from knowing about evil, as they were then living in the prefect world created by Jesus. And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:22-23). So, as you can see in this cursed world mankind must learn about good and be able to separate good from evil, while in the perfect created world mankind did not know anything about evil! This is how it will be for us in the new world, which Jesus will create as described in Revelation and other books of the Bible. Where again mankind will not know about evil, therefore, we will not be tempted to sin in any way!
The born-again members of mankind who will live in the new world will no longer have a sinful nature, which we all inherited from the sin of Adam. This will allow us to not be attracted to sinful desires, as we are in this cursed world! John wrote about how we are attracted to this world and thus it becomes difficult for us to believe in a just and loving God. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives for ever. (1 John 2:15-17). We all were created with an immortal soul, which will exist forever, this is the part of us that was made in the image of God. In this lifetime we can decide whether this immortal soul will live forever with Jesus/God or languish in torment in hell. Death in this lifetime releases us from this cursed world, and allows us to regain the ignorance of evil, so that we no longer think or know good from evil, as there will remain no knowledge of evil!
Remember how this knowledge of evil came to mankind in the first place. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:15-17). When this occurred, God then enacted a plan of salvation through His Son who would come into this cursed world and die for our sins, and then rise from the dead to create a Way for us to reenter the Paradise of God when we leave this mortal lifetime! Jesus was the first to rise from the dead and go back to heaven to show all of mankind that He was establishing this path or Way for us to follow Him during this lifetime, and then to follow that Way for us to also be with Him in heaven.
Jesus told His disciples (us) that He was going back to heaven, and that He was preparing a place for us in heaven. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:2-4). Notice too that Jesus not only says He is preparing a place for us, but that He will be coming back to guide us to where He is! Jesus said, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” So, When the time comes, expect Jesus to come and get your soul and take you (it) back with Him! Sorry about all this positive talk about death in this world!
However, in this time of great peril it seemed like a good time to write about the fact that death is not the end, but it is a new beginning of a perfect life, like that experienced by Adam and Eve before sin came into this world. Moses wrote about how the promises of God can be depended on, unlike many of the promises on mankind. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil? (Numbers 23:19). So, we have the promises of God received through Jesus Christ. James the brother of Jesus wrote about how we should conduct our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26-27). Here James wrote about how followers of Jesus should help all those people who need our help. Help them with physical needs if you can, but more importantly, tell them about Jesus!
The best way we can help others during this very trying time in this world is to tell them about how Jesus Christ being in your life has changed your life for the better. If they take Jesus to be their personal Savior, then they too will have the promises of God to help alleviate their stress during this time of suffering and possible death threatened by this virus. No virus or anything else in this cursed world can threaten the promise of everlasting life with Jesus!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak