February 2 2014
What Would Convince You That There Is An Afterlife?
John 11:43b-46 (NIV)
Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
If you witnessed a resurrection, would you then believe that it is possible? Some of the people, who lived in Jesus’ time, actually saw Him bring Lazarus back from the dead, but only some of them actually believed it! Some who witnessed it had already decided not to believe it, and thus, they did not become followers of Jesus, because they had already decided what they believed, and even this amazing event did not make them become believers. Do you have beliefs in your mind that stop you from believing that Jesus can in fact deliver your immortal soul into heaven immediately when you die?
Jesus told Nicodemus that he and everyone must be “born again” before they can attain salvation. Do you believe that you have been born again? Being born again puts you into a position of eternal life, a life that will go on forever, and your immortal soul will live with Jesus. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. (1 Peter 1:23, NLT) When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become a new creation.
Paul wrote about this new creation of our immortal soul, sighting Jesus as the beginning of this new world view. So from now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) Paul is talking about believers when he writes “So from now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view.” Paul is amplifying this when he wrote, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Being born again has caused you to be new, you are different than all those who have not been born again.
In this day of Political Correctness, we must be careful how we present this difference, as it will usually be construed as we are saying we are now better than those who practice other religions, and those who choose to ignore all religious groups. Remember, we are not better; we are just saved through the saving grace of Jesus! Your salvation is a gift from God, but it is the greatest gift of all! As with the people who saw Lazarus arise, we live in a world where people will believe in all kinds of outlandish ideas, just to escape the obvious miracles that go on around us every day.
People choose to believe we got here through a big bang and evolution, and even try to cram it into the Bible in place of God’s Word, so to appease the worldly views of those people who choose to not believe God’s Word, and to even not believe there is a god at all. More and more we see people even believing that there is a god within them, and/or that we can become a god. People now want to accept that there are the undead or vampires that truly exist, and that are portrayed as the good guys in many movies and television shows. While these ideas are not new, there seems to be an increasing number of people who are willing to believe it.
We see an ever increasing violence in our society, as this nations pulls away from God to become a godless society, and it makes us wonder if there could be another great revival coming? While I’ve never sided with those who believed this country was ever truly a God fearing nation, it becomes more obvious we are running away from God at an alarming rate! Churches that choose to follow Jesus are closing the doors at an increasing rate. Have you noticed that trend?
Most of the countries of Europe have already left Jesus behind, and there church buildings are being used by other religious groups or for other purposes other than as a church. Those countries are just ahead of the USA a bit in this ever moving wave of shifting from a belief in the God of the Bible to believing in other religions, or more to no belief in anything supernatural at all! Did this creation we live in, create itself with no design or Designer, as many people choose to believe? What do you believe, when you go out in nature, and view the complexity that cannot be ignored?
When I started writing this commentary, I did not plan to be writing, what was just written! However, I do not apologize for what has been written here! I believe it is from the Word of God, yes, the God of the Bible. Do you know Him? Have you studied His Word? This God commands us to tell his story, which is the true story of how everything was created by His Supernatural power. Everything was created by Him (Ex Nihilo) or from nothing! If you believe in the big bang, it is basically the same, except it created itself form noting too, but without a Designer.
How could anyone believe such a farfetched story as the big bang presents, but then they question what God has told us? Do they believe that God could not have kept one book accurate for a few thousand years, but then accept a man-made idea that they claim has been carried forward accurately for billions of years? Which story makes more sense to you? History is His story!
With God there is no prehistoric time frame, because the Bible starts out with the statement, “in the beginning!” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) There is nothing unknown before this statement from God! There was nothing there that we call the created universe before God spoke it into existence. The Bible presents the whole story related to how and when everything came into existence. Now that is a story you should believe!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
John 11:43b-46 (NIV)
Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
If you witnessed a resurrection, would you then believe that it is possible? Some of the people, who lived in Jesus’ time, actually saw Him bring Lazarus back from the dead, but only some of them actually believed it! Some who witnessed it had already decided not to believe it, and thus, they did not become followers of Jesus, because they had already decided what they believed, and even this amazing event did not make them become believers. Do you have beliefs in your mind that stop you from believing that Jesus can in fact deliver your immortal soul into heaven immediately when you die?
Jesus told Nicodemus that he and everyone must be “born again” before they can attain salvation. Do you believe that you have been born again? Being born again puts you into a position of eternal life, a life that will go on forever, and your immortal soul will live with Jesus. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. (1 Peter 1:23, NLT) When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become a new creation.
Paul wrote about this new creation of our immortal soul, sighting Jesus as the beginning of this new world view. So from now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) Paul is talking about believers when he writes “So from now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view.” Paul is amplifying this when he wrote, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Being born again has caused you to be new, you are different than all those who have not been born again.
In this day of Political Correctness, we must be careful how we present this difference, as it will usually be construed as we are saying we are now better than those who practice other religions, and those who choose to ignore all religious groups. Remember, we are not better; we are just saved through the saving grace of Jesus! Your salvation is a gift from God, but it is the greatest gift of all! As with the people who saw Lazarus arise, we live in a world where people will believe in all kinds of outlandish ideas, just to escape the obvious miracles that go on around us every day.
People choose to believe we got here through a big bang and evolution, and even try to cram it into the Bible in place of God’s Word, so to appease the worldly views of those people who choose to not believe God’s Word, and to even not believe there is a god at all. More and more we see people even believing that there is a god within them, and/or that we can become a god. People now want to accept that there are the undead or vampires that truly exist, and that are portrayed as the good guys in many movies and television shows. While these ideas are not new, there seems to be an increasing number of people who are willing to believe it.
We see an ever increasing violence in our society, as this nations pulls away from God to become a godless society, and it makes us wonder if there could be another great revival coming? While I’ve never sided with those who believed this country was ever truly a God fearing nation, it becomes more obvious we are running away from God at an alarming rate! Churches that choose to follow Jesus are closing the doors at an increasing rate. Have you noticed that trend?
Most of the countries of Europe have already left Jesus behind, and there church buildings are being used by other religious groups or for other purposes other than as a church. Those countries are just ahead of the USA a bit in this ever moving wave of shifting from a belief in the God of the Bible to believing in other religions, or more to no belief in anything supernatural at all! Did this creation we live in, create itself with no design or Designer, as many people choose to believe? What do you believe, when you go out in nature, and view the complexity that cannot be ignored?
When I started writing this commentary, I did not plan to be writing, what was just written! However, I do not apologize for what has been written here! I believe it is from the Word of God, yes, the God of the Bible. Do you know Him? Have you studied His Word? This God commands us to tell his story, which is the true story of how everything was created by His Supernatural power. Everything was created by Him (Ex Nihilo) or from nothing! If you believe in the big bang, it is basically the same, except it created itself form noting too, but without a Designer.
How could anyone believe such a farfetched story as the big bang presents, but then they question what God has told us? Do they believe that God could not have kept one book accurate for a few thousand years, but then accept a man-made idea that they claim has been carried forward accurately for billions of years? Which story makes more sense to you? History is His story!
With God there is no prehistoric time frame, because the Bible starts out with the statement, “in the beginning!” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) There is nothing unknown before this statement from God! There was nothing there that we call the created universe before God spoke it into existence. The Bible presents the whole story related to how and when everything came into existence. Now that is a story you should believe!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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