The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. When the Gospel is proclaimed as God gave it, it has the power to either save the soul or further harden it. It has been proclaimed once for all. There will be no additions to it – no more new revelation, no more new Scripture. Once Jesus rose from the dead, all that was left was to proclaim it and teach how to live in light of regeneration and then how things would end. There is nothing more to be said. And as Christians, we are commanded to preach the Gospel as God gave it, with no changes, exactly as it was given, and there is a hefty price for failing to do so.
We are to preach the Gospel regardless of how it is accepted or not. If no one receives it, that’s not our problem as long as we were faithful to the message given. We still give God glory. If everyone receives it, then we have two scenarios: we were faithful and God gave a special blessing, or we were not faithful and we got man’s praise.
We will never be able to preach the full Gospel in one sitting, let alone in our lifetime, so preach the parts we can that specifically address the situations we are facing. But the end goal is still Christ and the solution to all problems is still the cross because all problems are from one thing: sin. That said, any extras, any ‘secondary’ doctrines we deal with, need to be correct too because nothing tells an audience your story is baloney if you need to lead them to a lie in order to expose them to the truth. It does no one any good to load up your talk on totally extraneous stuff and then say, “By the way, Jesus loves you.” It needs to be connected.
Preaching the Gospel is not a competition. That is one thing I despise seeing in the Christian community. And I’ll get on my fellow “young earth creationists” for it as well as “campus ministries” where I have seen it too. They seem to carry that attitude more than some others, where other ministries are competition instead of partners in the same war. Jesus told His disciples to not stop a man preaching in Jesus’ name because he was not against Jesus. There is no need to be part of your “clique” to be able to preach the Gospel. If the Gospel is being preached, praise the Lord.
But what about those who have false doctrines and yet somehow preach the Gospel correctly from time to time and people get saved? We praise the Lord that the Gospel was preached, but that does not mean we endorse the false teacher. We still mark such a person, and we still avoid them, but we do not deny God’s sovereign power to work even through a heretic. We are not to endorse or support said teacher even if some people happened to have gotten saved because they did get the Gospel right on occasion if most of the time, they aren’t preaching the Gospel. They are preaching their own message, so be careful. Endorse those who preach the message correctly, expose those who do not, and praise the Lord anytime the Gospel is proclaimed regardless of who it is from.
Preach a correct response to the Gospel as well. Do not leave someone ready to meet the Lord hanging, but do not seek any manipulative means to get more people to the altar. Provide an opportunity to respond after the message, but if someone is going to respond right then and there, let them do it. Always include the correct response of repentance and faith and be sure the people understand that Christianity is a life of denial of self and a lifting up of God and living with His heart for this world.
The Gospel is not a “Get out of hell free” card, though getting out of hell is a benefit. The Gospel is about the life-changing transformation from a sinner in rebellion against God into a submissive, obedient child of God. The benefits that come with it are just bonuses. We will get to rule, we will get to paradise, and we will get to judge angels, but those are all side effects of being a child of God whose first and foremost purpose is to worship, glorify, and enjoy God forever.
The Gospel is not about heaven. We can talk about heaven, but it’s not about heaven. The Gospel is about the relationship between Jesus and His bride, the Church. It is about the true marriage between Jesus and the believer. That is one thing I have noticed in many of the “heavenly tourism” proclamations: a lack of focus on Jesus and the Father. Many do mention Him, but very casually and rather nonchalantly. When Isaiah and John saw their glimpses of heaven, the majesty and glory of God were all they could think about, as well as their own unworthiness to be there. When these “tourists” go to “visit heaven,” there is no solemnity and the focus is all on the joyous, fun things we get to do. It’s not about God. And worse is when they barely give a mention of how to get there, because they presume their audience is already going. That’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is about God, for God, and towards God, and we simply get to enjoy the side benefits of being there.
As I conclude this series, the Gospel needs to be the focus of every believer – preaching it to others and living it out. If our lives did not change, we did not hear the Gospel, even if it was preached correctly. We did not receive it. Do not worry about what others say about the Gospel. Let God deal with them, whether they receive it or not. And when it is all said and done, let our attitude be, “I am but a humble servant; I have only done that which I ought.”
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For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
While this feels like a new section since it starts a new chapter, what Paul writes here is directly connected to what came before it at the end of chapter 4 – the challenge to cultivate an eternal perspective while here on earth. Paul builds on that theme by looking at the sources of our divine comfort for believers who were possibly facing imminent death for their faith – possessing a perfect spiritual body, being transformed by the Spirit, and experiencing fellowship with Christ.
In verse 1, Paul contrasts our present, temporary bodies with the eternal, heavenly bodies promised to believers. The "earthly tent" symbolizes our physical bodies, which are fragile and temporary. The "building from God" represents our resurrection bodies, eternal and perfect. This assurance of a heavenly dwelling provides hope and perspective amidst the trials and sufferings of this life. A friend of mine wrote a children’s book called Grandpa Tom’s Tent based on this verse; it helps children (and adults) understand when loved ones pass away by showing that our earthly bodies will fail but our spirits will live on in heaven when we have faith in Jesus.
Paul acknowledges the tension and discomfort of our current existence in verse 2. The "groaning" reflects our yearning for the fulfillment of God's promises and the complete redemption of our bodies. This verse captures the Christian experience of living in the "already but not yet" reality of God's kingdom – already redeemed but not yet fully realized. We don’t know the nature of this “groaning” from this passage, but based on Romans 8:19-23 and Philippians 3:20-21, we can guess that it deals with Paul’s frustration with knowing he would one day be perfect in heaven yet still needing to deal with all of the imperfections and brokenness here on earth.
Paul uses the metaphor of clothing to describe the transformation from our earthly bodies to our heavenly bodies, which is highlighted in verse 3. To be clothed signifies being fully embodied in the new creation, while being naked implies vulnerability and incompleteness. The promise here is one of complete and secure transformation, leaving behind the vulnerabilities of our current state.
Verse 4 is very connected to the thought in verse 2, bringing back the idea of groaning and being burdened in this life. This verse also adds a vital detail: the desire to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. This longing is not just for relief from suffering but for the full realization of eternal life, where mortality is overcome by the fullness of life in Christ. This verse refers back to 4:16: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” The inward spiritual transformation swallows up the outward body that is wasting away, so that one day we will live in perfection.
In verse 5, Paul emphasizes that God Himself has designed us for this eternal purpose. The gift of the Holy Spirit serves as a "deposit," a foretaste and a guarantee of the future inheritance. This assurance is rooted in God's faithfulness and His commitment to bring His redemptive plan to completion.
The confidence mentioned in verse 6 stems from the assurance provided by the Holy Spirit. However, Paul also acknowledges a current reality: while we live in our physical bodies, we are not yet in the full presence of the Lord. This verse highlights the tension between our current state and our ultimate hope. The confidence highlighted in this verse is in contrast to the groaning from verses 2 and 4. We may groan while on this earth, but we still have confidence in God’s redeeming work.
Verse 7 is often quoted: "For we live by faith, not by sight." This succinct yet powerful statement captures the essence of the Christian walk. Living by faith means trusting in God's promises and unseen realities, rather than relying solely on our physical senses and present circumstances. It calls believers to a life of trust and reliance on God's word and His Spirit.
Paul reiterates his confidence in verse 8, and he expresses a preference for the ultimate reality – being in the full presence of the Lord. This longing to be "at home with the Lord" reflects the deep desire for communion with God that surpasses the temporary comforts and struggles of earthly life. Because of this, Paul sets forth a practical goal in verse 9: to live in a manner that pleases God. Whether in our current earthly bodies or in our future resurrected bodies, the aim is to live a life that honors and pleases God.
Finally, in verse 10 Paul brings a sobering reminder of accountability. Every believer will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and receive recompense for their actions. This judgment is not about salvation – which is secured by faith in Christ – but about the evaluation of our lives and deeds. It underscores the importance of living faithfully and responsibly, knowing that our actions have eternal significance.
This passage is a source of great comfort, reminding us that our earthly struggles are temporary and that a glorious future awaits. It challenges us to live by faith, aiming to please God in all we do, and to remain ever hopeful of the day when we will be fully at home with the Lord. As we navigate the complexities and challenges of life, this passage anchors us in the steadfast hope of eternal life and the faithful promises of God.
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The Gospel is about God. It is about the Father who created the universe. It is about the fall of man, who was created in the image of God, and his defiance against God. It is about the love of God and the mercy of God who, while upholding His righteous judgment against the wicked, made a plan from the start for how He would rescue mankind from his malady without violating His character. Jesus, the Son of God, fully divine, became a man, lived fully as a man, was in actuality fully man, and He submitted Himself to the suffering and discipline of manhood and to the Father where He would give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus died on the cross, bearing the full weight of God’s wrath, the full weight of the sin of mankind. He then rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling as the King of Kings, preparing a place for the saved, and preparing to come get His bride and put an end to the rebellion against God once and for all.
The Gospel is not just the ultimate epic story about the redemption of man. The Gospel has that ultimate ending, too, when the villain is finally squashed once and for all, and the hero gets to live with his loved ones happily ever after. Unlike the fairy tales, however, this happily ever after ending actually does happen because the sin that ruins it will be removed once and for all. All things in history today are pointing towards this grand finale. While I know every generation has believed this, there is serious reason to suggest that it will come in my lifetime or the next generation’s lifetime. I’m not calling that a prediction or a prophecy, just a hunch. The level of urgency to preach the Gospel, to get back to Scripture, and to start living holy lives once again is at an all-time high. The coming of Christ is imminent. I am not going to get into the end times models or anything like that, but this is about what Christ will do to end the story and how it will all come to a close, not the specific details of how it will be carried out.
The great struggle between good and evil, between righteousness and wickedness, is coming to a close. The wicked are becoming more wicked and the righteous are getting more righteous. And the day is coming, though we do not know when, that Jesus will come again. That day will be swift and sudden, and there will be no chance to get one’s life in order once it starts. Just read Jesus’ parables. Those who are ready and have already made terms of peace will be spared and welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. Those who are not will be treated as who they have always been – the enemies of God in a rebellious coup against Him. The devil will get one last chance to deceive the nations and it won’t be a gradual, sly deception this time. It will be a full-out war that will make Armageddon look small. But unlike Armageddon, this battle won’t even need to take place, because when all the nations and armies are gathered, Jesus will come on His white horse with the saints and the angels and spectators. He will come and slaughter the wicked in one last judgment. After that will be the Great White Throne Judgment in which every person will give account to God and all the physical creation will be burned with fire and the story will conclude as one closing a book.
At the judgment, those who failed to make terms of peace and receive the Gospel will be cast out once and for all, and they will be cast into hell. Those who sought all their lives to live without God will still never get their wish. They will only know God’s wrath and judgment. They will cease experiencing His love, mercy, and grace in which the rain falls on the just and the unjust. I do believe they will get the desires of their sinful flesh, but there will be no pleasure in any of it and those desires will only get stronger and stronger and never cease. I can’t prove those details of hell, but when you see the horror stories of cursed existences, those ideas come from somewhere.
But for those who have made terms of peace, for those who have received the Gospel and been born again and are now living lives that seek after God instead of self, they will see Christ come to their stand at the judgment day. Jesus will proclaim that His blood has purchased them, and God will make the righteous declaration final. At that point, we will be granted our new, glorified bodies, which are completely freed from any curse of sin, and we will be made as we were originally intended. At the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for sin. At the resurrection, Jesus broke the power of sin. And when He returns, Jesus will remove us from the very presence of sin. At that point, the Gospel will be completed, and those whom Jesus saved will be in true paradise forever.
But this paradise is not for us. That is, God did not save us so we could enjoy paradise. God saved us ultimately so we could enjoy HIM. True paradise is not simply a lack of sin, though it involves that. True paradise is being in the presence of God forever, where we can enjoy and worship Him forever. The Gospel starts with God, it was carried out by God, and it will be ended by God. And when it all comes to a close, God will be the center of everything, and we will get to see Him face-to-face. The marriage to Christ will be completed, and we will have all of eternity to learn more and more about God with a sin-free mind. That is something we cannot look forward to enough.
So that completes my series on what the Gospel is. But next, I want to get into some more specifics as to what the Gospel does and who it is for. The Gospel is a much stronger and greater story than just to save sinners. It does so much more than that. We’ll explore who the Gospel is for and what types of people it will heal starting next week.
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I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Paul has been discussing the resurrection for this entire chapter, and he finally comes to his conclusion here, though this passage still leaves questions in our minds of exactly what will happen when the dead are raised.
In verse 50, he continues the contrast he brought up in the previous section about the perishable versus the imperishable. Our sinful bodies that we currently possess are not able to fully inherit the kingdom of God because they are perishable. These decaying bodies cannot be a part of the perfection that awaits us in eternal life. For us to experience eternity with God, our bodies must be changed so that they are perfect and imperishable. This is why our resurrected bodies are required to be different in some way than our current earthly bodies, as Paul previously discussed.
Paul acknowledges in verse 51 that a lot of this is mysterious to us. The Corinthians did not fully understand the details, and neither do we, though Paul will attempt to inform them (and us). When Paul says that not all of the believers will “fall asleep,” he implies that some will still be alive when Christ comes back for His second coming, as referenced in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.
All believers will receive some kind of body that is changed at the second coming of Christ. Verse 52 indicates that this change will be instantaneous – “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.” Those who already died will be raised in their imperishable bodies, and those who are alive will be instantly changed and transformed.
What does that change look like? Paul clarifies it a bit more in verse 53 by saying that the perishable will be “clothed” with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. Those whose physical, earthly bodies are decaying in the grave will be given new, imperishable bodies. Those who are mortal – still alive in this world – will be given immortal bodies that will last for eternity. All of our new bodies will never die or decay so that we can experience eternal life with Jesus Christ.
Why is all this necessary? As Paul says in verse 54, “The saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’” This saying is reminiscent of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14. Paul further references the rhetorical questions from Hosea in verse 55: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Death does not have victory over us when we have our imperishable and immortal bodies. There is no sting of death when we will live forever with Jesus Christ.
What is the sting of death? Paul tells us in verse 56 that it is sin. Sin is the only reason that death exists. Sin only has that power because of the law, which explains God’s perfect standards to us. Because we sin and we are not able to live up to the perfect standards set in God’s law, our punishment is death (Romans 6:23a).
But, as the second half of Romans 6:23 tells us, “the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul reiterates that here in verse 57 by saying, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is only because of Jesus Christ that we have this victory and will not succumb to the sting of death that we deserve. As Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
But what does all of this mean for our daily lives as followers of Jesus? Paul tells us in verse 58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Because of all of this that Paul has explained to us, we should fully work out whatever God has for us to do. Even if things are rough in this world, we know that we will have true victory, perfection, and immortality in the life to come.
Our bodies will be broken, sinful, and decaying while in this world, but because of Jesus Christ, we know that we will have perfect bodies in the future eternal life that we will share with Him. We should work toward that goal with everything that we do in this life, knowing that perfection awaits us one day because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus!
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This is the final of the ten “systems” of theology. Eschatology is the study of end times, also known as the Consummation. How will it all end? There are many debates on this topic, and they fall into two sub-categories. One category deals with the Tribulation, where and when that will take place in conjunction with the Rapture. The other category deals with the Millennial reign of Christ and whether the end times events take place before or after the 1000-year reign of Christ, or whether that reign is symbolic in the amillennial position. I am not going to argue any one of them here. I personally lean towards a pre-tribulation position followed by a literal 1000-year reign of Christ, but not in a way that lets believers escape any form of persecution. Another subtopic is whether the end times prophecies only described the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. This is the preterist position.
That said, I know that no one in history ever really understood how a prophecy would be fulfilled prior to its fulfillment. The only ones whom seemed to get it were the chief priests at Jesus’ birth, knowing he’d be born in Bethlehem and knowing that Jesus said He’d raise from the dead after three days. That’s why they had the tomb guarded. Yet despite knowing what Scripture and Jesus said, they missed both badly. But no one else every figured out the details of how prophecy would be fulfilled prior to it being fulfilled. So I am perfectly fine if I am wrong on eschatology and won’t fight other believers for it. I tend to align more with David Wilkerson who said the point of it all is “Be ye ready.” Jesus’ main theme of end times is that we aren’t going to know when it will happen until it happens. He expects us to be watching, be ready, and be doing what we are supposed to be doing.
Our view of the end times is also affected by our view of origins if taken consistently. This is a key reason why Old Earth ideas must be false. The whole plan of salvation is a plan of redemption, a plan to restore that which was lost to an even more valuable form. A key thing about restoration is that it looks like the original. It’s more valuable than the original, but it looks like the original. For example, if someone wants to restore a 1957 Chevy, when the project is done, it is going to look like a 1957 Chevy. It is not going to look like a 2006 Lamborghini. When it comes to origins and end times, when God restores the Creation, it is going to look like what it originally did before sin corrupted it.
This is why Old Earth ideals, which include death before sin, must be false. If what we see now is how God created it all, which is their claim, then we have nothing to look forward to in the new earth. Everything will still die; sickness, disease, death, etc. are not going to change if this is how God created it to start with. I have heard some old earthers say that the new creation is going to be completely different and that it will finally be perfect. Yet, according to their position, the universe that God made is corrupt, defiled, cursed, breaking down, wearing down, and most certainly is not a product of someone who would make everything good and has the knowledge of getting it right the first time. So that would also be how the new universe will be made too. And how is that “restoration”? As I said, restoration brings back the original design.
Yet the Young Earth position, which derives from the clear reading of Genesis, teaches that when God created everything, it was in a perfect and ideal situation. No sin, death, disease, or heartache of any kind or in any of the living, breathing animals. Objectors will say that this would have been a severe problem because if there was no animal death, then the animals would have heavily overpopulated the earth. This is nice speculation but not fact. We don’t know what would have happened if Adam chose to eat from the Tree of Life instead. Some have suggested that God would have brought him with Him to paradise for choosing life. That too is speculation. But what we do know is that God had everything planned from the beginning, which means He had Adam’s sin and the curse in His plan. It also means He had how it will all end in the same plan, too.
The final thing I’ll note here is the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is both in the Garden of Eden in Genesis and it will be in the New Jerusalem on the New Earth. The only details we truly have of this tree is that it gives 12 fruits in their season and that once Adam and Eve sinned, God did not want them eating from that tree lest they live forever in their sinful state. But once we have our resurrected and glorified bodies that will be freed from sin itself, then we will be able to enjoy this tree’s fruit for eternity. We know that there won’t be any night there because God’s glory will play the role of the sun, and that indicates that our physical bodies will not need to rest with sleep. It makes me wonder how that new body will operate.
This concludes my series on Systematic Theology. As expected, I knew it would be just a few snapshots of what each system should cover. While origins is not included among them, each of the ten systems do tie to origins. As each system is holistic, you cannot disregard one without having some effect on the others. Thank you for reading.
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by Eric Hansen
While theology will always be contested until the end of mankind and the correct one is shown to us all, there have always been movements to demonstrate why this theology is correct over that. We see this even back in the time of Jesus (and well before that), where he had to prove against the Pharisees’ theology of old law that you no longer need to sacrifice animals, burnt offerings, etc. He was the final sacrifice, and it took believing Him and in His sacrifice to be saved, not your own works.
Fast forward about 1500 or so years, and we see a major explosion happening between the Roman Catholic church, government, and greed. What was once meant to stand for unity and uniformity had become corrupt with power, greed, and money. Various people broke away from this practice and tried to re-establish a Biblical foundation of faith, not one driven by man.
One of the more noticeable of these was Martin Luther (whose teachings founded the Lutheran church). He posted his 95 Theses on the front of the Catholic church which was both incredibly brave and awe-inspiring and potentially life-threatening. This document or manifesto tore the church to shreds, destroying all of its practices as heretical at best. However, this also laid the groundwork years later for another man to help draw attention to the fallacies: John Calvin.
While Calvin never wanted "Calvinism" to be a thing, it's synonymous these days with the Reformation. One of his greatest works, Institutes of Christian Religion, has been influential in many areas of Christianity as both a relic and symbol of lies, depending on which side of the fence you're on. But one of his principles would be later called "TULIP.” Each of these 5 elements can be an article in themselves, but we will cover the basics here and let you determine if they still hold true to this day.
Total Depravity
Total depravity, or the T of TULIP, is a fancy way of saying "we are sinful by nature and cannot save ourselves." There are many spins on this, but as a framework we can see this truth in John 14:5-14. This includes the famous line of "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
We need Christ because we cannot get rid of our sins. This is why unless we come to Him, we are destined for damnation (i.e., hell). The sacrifice of holy pureness on the cross was the only way to extinguish our sins once we truly repent and believe.
Unconditional Election
Under what grounds do we ascend into Heaven? Is it by our own works that God sees us as righteous, holy, and good, or is it by God’s sovereign decision, love, and most importantly grace that we are granted entrance to eternal life?
Unconditional election answers this by stating that it is not by our works or deeds that we enter into Heaven but by God’s righteous judgment of whether we are holy or not. This is why it’s called unconditional election, because God elects or chooses who will be entering Heaven based on no conditions set by us - unconditionally.
Often the rebuttal to this is if us doing no good deeds at all or a boundless amount doesn’t guarantee us Heaven then why do good at all? The book of Romans 9:10-13 tackles this. God chose Jacob to continue the line that would ultimately bring us Jesus Christ. As He did that, He also chooses who of us to this day will enter into Heaven. Ephesians 2:8-10 addresses this as well, stating that we do good deeds to glorify God and His love for us.
Limited Atonement
This is one people tend to struggle with. Did Christ die on the cross for everyone, or just the believers? Calvin states that Christ died only for the believers. The reason being is that if Christ died for the unbelievers as well then it was wasted blood. Another way to look at it is God placed us where we need to be, where we may never learn of Him or may be surrounded by His word (Acts 17:22-31). However, that does not mean that we are saved just because God placed us. Once again, it all circles back around to Christ and needing his blood.
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible grace is often attributed to being given God's grace regardless whether we want it or not. Before we explore this in a little more detail, let's take into account Heaven. It's a place full of holiness, purity, and righteousness. Total depravity essentially makes us full of sin and no desire on our own will to be holy, pure, or righteous. Yet, these do not contradict each other and also exemplifies the free choice God gave us.
An example of this is Paul (named Saul before his conversion). He was a vile man who hated Christians, taking pleasure in arresting and killing them. There was no reason for Jesus Christ to come to him and seek his existence to spread the gospel by our means, but he did (Acts 9). But if we look at Acts 9:4-9, we see that God never forced Paul, not commanding him to do anything. But God knew he was needed to further the kingdom, thus true irresistible grace.
Perseverance of the Saints
The last element of TULIP is the perseverance of the saints. This separates Reformists from Arminians as this teaches that you can never lose your salvation if you are truly saved (emphasis mine). Arminians teach that you can lose your salvation.
The distinction gets lost in translation as the Reformation teaches the key component of true salvation, meaning you are not confessing Christ to please people but you truly accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
This also doesn't mean you can't fall from grace, but it does mean you won't achieve total fall (loss of salvation). We all go through highs and lows during our spiritual walk, some more frequent than others. I can count on 2 hands and a foot how many times I struggled with salvation and such. But at the end I know that I am saved because if I wasn't, I would not have cared to begin with. We are able to equate this part of TULIP similar to the phrase "when you get knocked off the horse, you get back on.”
I hope this has been a good introduction to these core teachings of Calvinism to help you determine what you believe.
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“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)
In this second week of advent, our focus is on peace. Last week, we talked about hope and how we have a certain hope in Jesus Christ and the promises that God has given us. It is because of that hope that we can have peace - true and lasting peace - in Jesus Christ.
The verse I quoted above is a common one from the Christmas story in Luke 2, and it’s where we get the phrase “Peace on earth” that’s commonly spoken during this Christmas and Advent season. The angels proclaim this phrase in the presence of the shepherds who were among the first to hear of the birth of the Savior on earth.
But what exactly is this peace that the angels proclaimed? The Greek word for peace is eirene (pronounced like “ay-RAY-nay”), and it can mean peace, harmony, tranquility, safety, welfare, health, a lack of strife, or reconciliation in a relationship. It can also be used as a greeting for either hello or goodbye, just as the Hebrew word shalom. Using it as a greeting has the implication of wishing God’s peace on the person you are greeting, more than just a simple hello or goodbye.
In this world, we often think of peace as a sense of stillness or the absence of conflict. Perhaps if you have small children at home, you imagine peace as when the kids are sleeping soundly and you have a moment of rest. If you’re dealing with arguments or disagreements in life, perhaps you think of peace as a time when that is no more and everyone can just get along. If you’ve lived through a major war, perhaps peace to you is when that war is finally over.
But, we know from the Scriptures that that is not necessarily the kind of peace that Jesus came to bring us. Jesus’ arrival on earth did not bring a profound sense of quiet and calm to this world. Jesus’ arrival on earth did not cause all conflicts and disagreements to stop. Jesus’ arrival on earth did not end wars.
So what kind of peace did Jesus come to bring? He came to bring us everlasting peace, a peace that passes all understanding. We really can’t understand this peace that Jesus brings; it is supernatural and beyond the full comprehension of our finite human minds. This is a peace that is focused on eternity, not a peace that is focused on the immediate events of this world we live in.
Philippians 4:7 tells us, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When I read that verse again, it struck me that it begins with the conjunction “and.” In the original Greek, it’s significant that this conjunction is “kai,” not “de.” The conjunction “de” can mean and, but, for, etc. depending on the context. The conjunction “kai” typically joins two similar parts of speech (i.e., two nouns, two verbs, etc.) so that means that verse 7 is connected to the phrases before it.
So, the previous verses give us some clues about this peace spoken of that transcends all understanding: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:4-6).
How do we try and obtain this eternal peace that Jesus came to bring? Rejoice. Be Gentle. Don’t be anxious. Pray. Be thankful. Most importantly, note that the end of verse 5 says, “The Lord is near.” Near can mean that He is physically nearby, or it can mean that He is near in time. This particular use of the word means the latter, that He is close in time, referring to Jesus’ second coming. The Apostle Paul who wrote this letter to the Philippians believed that Jesus was going to return again in his lifetime. All Christians throughout the ages have believed similarly, and we should as well.
During this Advent season, we look forward to our annual celebration of Jesus’ birth as a baby in Bethlehem. We should also be looking forward to the time when Jesus will be physically near to us when He comes again at His second coming. Until that time, we will not be able to fully experience or even understand the eternal peace that He brings us. Once Jesus comes again to judge all people, those of us who have faith in Him and His sacrificial death and resurrection will finally understand and be able to experience His perfect peace for all eternity.
Do you have that saving faith in Jesus? He was that little baby born in Bethlehem, but He grew up and lived a perfect life to pay the penalty for the sins that every one of us has committed (and will commit). If you have not yet committed your life to faith in the Savior, I encourage you to do so this Christmas season.
For more on peace and how it’s spoken of in the Bible, check out this post.
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A few weeks ago, I wrote about preparing to suffer. The context was getting ready for persecution. As I am writing about an objection against God asking why God doesn’t heal amputees, I am going to look at suffering from a different angle: a necessity for growth.
We in America are such spoiled brats, it’s rather embarrassing. In 2011, El Paso, TX was slammed with the harshest winter storm we’d ever seen. Not much for snow and wind, but for the first time in recorded history, El Paso was below freezing for over 72 hours, much of it below 15°F. Now I know most people who are from up north are laughing about this. I grew up in Colorado, so I know cold, but the northern mid-west still has me beat on that one, too. But El Paso is not built for cold. While we do often see temps fall into the teens, it’s only for a few hours and the daytime is above freezing. We had never experienced 2-3 straight days where the high never got above freezing. What happened?
The pipes froze and burst in many homes and buildings. City water pipes also burst, forcing us to be on a one-week “boil water” order, because dirt had leaked into the main water lines. The generators also froze which meant they could not pump water. The city lost 90% of its water, and we had to maintain rolling black outs because we couldn’t produce enough electricity because everything was frozen over. But how did the people respond?
The residents of El Paso whined and complained. They demanded of the mayor and city government to fix the issues immediately, and they put the blame on them for not being prepared. Who living in El Paso would ever think that kind of cold would hit us? How could they be prepared? El Paso citizens were comfortable in our comforts, and when those comforts were taken away even for a couple of days, sin rose up in the forms of selfishness and pride. Just on the other side of the river, Juarez, Mexico had the exact same problems but they had a very different response.
In Juarez, most people were used to suffering so when their pipes burst, they simply went about their business and fixed it. They didn’t whine or complain. No riots. No public protests against the short comings of the government. They just went about their business, dealt with the situation, didn’t whine about it, and basically treated it as just a new obstacle for that day. After all, when you live in homes built with pallets and your doors and walls are blankets and curtains, and the cold wind of winter or the searing sun scorches you anyway, what’s a lack of water for a day or two in which you really only have a barrel of water for everything anyway going to do? The people of Mexico, living in the colonias in third-world settings didn’t bother whining about the cold temps. They were used to being in it anyway. They had been hardened by suffering and so this Deep Freeze event didn’t even bother them.
The same issue applies to us as Christians. There is a satanic doctrine in many American churches that says that “suffering cannot be from God.” The notion of “brokenness” is virtually anathema in many Christian circles (check out this sermon by Voddie Baucham on the value of brokenness). They teach that if we are suffering, it must be because we have sinned or don’t have an enough faith. (Perhaps these people need to read and study the book of Job, because that book specifically refutes such a notion.) So, when people pray for a miracle to answer the suffering and then whine to God because the pain didn’t go away, that’s a problem. Now, no one likes suffering. I’m not suggesting that we should like it. However, our response to suffering should not be “God, please remove this.” Our response should be, “God, what do you need to teach me through this?”
A man caught cancer and asked his pastor to come pray for him to heal him of the cancer. The pastor said, “I will not pray for God to heal your cancer, because this cancer has brought you closer to God than 40 years of my preaching. But I will pray that this cancer cannot take another cell of your body without express permission from God.” What was happening? When we suffer, the natural instinct is to turn to God to appeal to His grace and mercy to get us through it. Nowadays, many people have so seared their conscious that they no longer seek after God but after whatever drug they have found that can dull the pain. Russel Berger was a spokesperson for CrossFit and both he and his wife were exceptional athletes. Yet his wife had a genetic disorder that completely sapped her strength and has forced her to live on oxygen, among other issues. But she came to know Christ through the suffering and gladly suffers as long as she gets to be with Christ. Their story can be found on the “American Gospel: Christ Alone” documentary.
Many of us love a good story of a hero rising up to face a great evil and overcoming that evil. We love to watch in the distance from our armchairs because the hero goes through immense suffering, and it is in that suffering that he gains the character and strength needed to face his nemesis and gain victory. Those of us who want to be like the heroes tend to go for the admirable qualities and the action but are not willing to face the suffering from the training or the losses that are required to go there. Eric Ludy preached on Richard Wurmbrand one time and said he admired and wanted the love Wurmbrand had for the Communists who tortured him. God reminded him, “Do you want to go through what he did to get that (14 years of brutal torture in prison)?” Ludy had second thoughts. I greatly admire Ray Comfort for his genuine love for the lost, but what has he had to go through to get that love? He became known as the “Banana Man” and is the center of ridicule for many atheists. Yet through that suffering, he has had the opportunity to witness to so many people including Lawrence Krauss and Penn Jillette. But it took suffering to reach that point.
Suffering is really the only way God can work sin out of our lives without destroying us in the process. When we suffer, it forces us to depend upon God, because we naturally will not do it on our own when we are comfortable. God never calls for His people to be comfortable, because only when we are not comfortable do we actually depend upon His strength instead of our own.
But we must also remember that the suffering we must face in this world is only temporary. Our lives in our sin-cursed bodies will end, and for those of us who are born again, we will be resurrected with a new body, one that is not cursed of sin but rather one that is glorified. Revelation describes how there will be no more pain, no more tears, no more death when God brings it all to a close. We will instead truly have that “they lived happily ever after” ending. The suffering we face is temporary. Let us keep that in mind as we pray and as we address the answer to why God allows suffering in this world.
The suffering we face in this world will end. Those who have put their faith in Christ will receive glorified bodies that will have their full function, without pain or suffering. Yet, those who think the suffering is bad in this world now and don’t receive the free gift of Christ, this is as good as you will get. We deal with the cards we are given and many of us have been dealt a difficult hand. We can whine about it, or we can make the best of it. But if you haven’t noticed in my posts lately, there is a common message: those who know how to handle suffering well tend to be the happiest and most content people alive. Trouble comes their way and it’s just water off a duck’s back. That doesn’t make it any less painful or real, but it doesn’t bring them down. It just makes them stronger. We as Christians in America need to learn how to suffer well, because the end result will be more of Christ and a greater longing to spend eternity with Him. I look forward to that day. Nineteen years ago today, 9/11 happened. We suffered. Only a few people learned from it. We are far worse today than we were 20 years ago. What’s it going to take?
So to wrap up my study on why God doesn’t heal amputees, I’m not going to defend God before a scoffer. I’m not going to put God through a “test.” I’m going to expose what the real issue is, and the real issue is not about not having prayers answered or not having evidence of the supernatural. The real issue is about a sinful heart that is looking for a reason to reject God. We are to give a defense for why we believe what we believe, but God can defend himself just fine. I will say that God is God, and we are not. He is in charge. We are not. He is the standard; we are not. We answer to Him; He doesn’t answer to us. Some will call Him cruel. I’d tell them to look in the mirror first. God’s grace is sufficient for us. Be grateful you get any at all.
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While we know that everything has its season in God’s plan and we are able to discover our purpose with God’s help, we also need to remember that everything isn’t always sunshine and rainbows as our passage today from Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 tells us. Evil does exist in this world, and we are mortal beings too.
Sadly, where we would expect to see judgment and justice, we see wickedness instead (verse 16). The people who are in power should be the ones to make justice a reality, but all people are selfish because of original sin. Wickedness takes the place of what should be right ruling over other people. But as believers in Jesus, we know that God will ultimately judge everyone, and those who do wicked things and don’t have faith in God will be given their ultimate consequences (verse 17). We will all be held accountable to God.
Next, for the rest of today’s passage, the Teacher turns to thoughts on mortality. First, he explains the similarities between us humans and the animals (verses 18-19). We all have the breath of life, but we will all die. He reiterates that in this way, everything is again meaningless because we’ll all die someday. Both humans and animals have bodies that are made of organic materials that will eventually decay and return to dust (verse 20).
So since we’re all going to die someday, verse 22 tells us, “So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?” This brings us back to the beginning of chapter 3 where we see that everything has its appointed season, even death. Knowing that God is in control of all our times and seasons means we should do our best to enjoy whatever season we’re in, as that is what God has called us to. We have no idea what will happen in the future, whether the immediate future or in the long run. We can’t count on having a certain number of days to do the work that God has called us to do, so we must make the most of each day that He has given us.
Death can be a difficult topic to discuss or even think about. But the Bible does talk about death (and life) quite a bit; find out more here. The important thing to remember is that there are two types of death that each person experiences - our physical death and our spiritual death.
It is certain that we’ll all experience physical death. For some, it may come early in life; others may live to be very old. That’s for God to determine. But at some point, our physical bodies will stop working, whether due to disease, injury, or simply worn out parts and old age. We may be able to postpone death by having good health and getting medical treatment when we’re sick or injured, but we can never postpone it permanently. Just like the animals, we humans will all die a physical death.
Spiritual death is much different, and we have more of a choice in this matter. Because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity to spiritually die with Him so that we can have eternal life with Him forever. But to do that, we need to live in a manner that we’re dead to sin but alive in Christ. When we die spiritually by confessing our sins and having faith in Jesus’ amazing sacrifice, we also come alive spiritually! We can’t stay dead when we’re in Jesus. For more on that, check out Romans 6.
We will all be judged, but if we have faith in Jesus, then God will look at us in light of Jesus’ perfect life, not seeing the sins that have plagued us during our time on earth. Jesus lived that perfect and sinless life that He knew we would never be able to live, and that is why His sacrifice is a worthy one to take the place of our messed up and meaningless lives.
Knowing that we will all die physically is a pretty depressing thought, especially when we think about our loved ones who will likely die that physical death before we do. But knowing that we can be spiritually alive after we die gives us hope! Our life on earth is not meaningless when we have faith in Jesus. The things of this world may not have ultimate meaning, but when we live our lives for Christ and His purposes, then that is the best purpose we could ever experience.
Whether you’ve thought about death much or not, and whether you know your time on this earth is short or if you think you have many years yet to come, know that God is ultimately in control of that. Listen to His guidance for your life, both for the big picture and the little details of your life, so that you’re living for His purposes by faith and will experience eternal life with Him forever.
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The last two of the basic doctrines of Hebrews 6:1-2 are the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment. Since both deal with the other side of this life, I am going to deal with them together. Leonard Ravenhill suggested we would all live our lives differently if we had eternity stamped onto our eyeballs. He is saying if we had eternity constantly on our minds and if we saw everything through the lens of eternity, we’d been handling our lives very differently than we do now.
I have to confess that I don’t think about eternity nearly as often as I should. While I do not worry about the affairs of this life because I know God is in control, I do not think about these issues in terms of eternity very often. Paul could think of nothing else other than eternity. In all his troubles, and he faced a LOT of them, he considered them as mere trifles compared to the entire eternity perspective. But he also saw the state of souls from an eternal context. That is why he pleaded with and pursued people that they might be saved.
Atheists know our own Gospel better than most of us do (though I am amazed at how many other basics they get wrong). They know the Bible teaches an eternal Hell. This is one of their primary arguments against God. How can God be a good God if He sends people to suffer and be tortured in Hell forever? Instead of recognizing that they are in danger of that very real Hell, they blame God for being unfair. And to not have to deal with the issues of the judgment, they concoct this crazy idea that once you die, that’s it. You are gone and there is nothing afterwards. Yet that is so far from the truth. It is appointed once for every man to die and after that the judgment.
Every person will have a resurrected body, a body which will not die. It is not just the believers who will be resurrected but every person. The grave will give up the dead. The sea will give up the dead. And all will face God on judgment day. On judgment day, every person will give an account for what they did and why they did it. Every person’s works will be judged with fire and only that which was made with eternal material is going to last. The rest will burn to ashes. This applies to both Christians and non-Christians alike. There are many Christians whose works and “ministries” were nothing but works of the flesh and while they escape the fire of Hell, it will only be by escape and with total loss. In reality, there will be many tears as all the works that were not God-initiated, God-directed, and God-approved will be for naught. No person will be able to boast about their works on judgment day because they will all burn to ashes in that fire.
Those who do not have Christ as their Lord will not have Him as their Savior. Jesus has no obligation to save anyone from the judgment seat except for those He claims as His own. Many people can claim to be Christians, but only Christ’s call on whether any of us are His counts. I could go up to the White House and claim that I know President Trump, but I won’t get in unless President Trump says he knows me and gives the okay for me to come in. The same is true with eternity. Jesus warned that many will claim His name and show all kinds of good deeds they did for Him, but His reply will be “I never knew you.” That should frighten us, and I know I’m not scared enough of this dire warning.
Now, part of these teachings includes “assurance of the believer.” Never does the Bible state that we can never know who gets in until the time it happens. We can know because God will make clear that we are His in part because He disciplines us. God doesn’t discipline children who aren’t His. That is by no means a license to sin, if we are saved, we no longer will want that sinful life; we will want the new life. If we are born again, we do not have to worry about if one sin is going to cast us out of Heaven, but if we sin, we can expect God to come around and discipline us.
Jesus commanded us to store up treasures in heaven that will never rot, fade, nor get stolen. Yet how much do we take and spend our money and lives on things that only last for a few minutes or years before fading? I have published two books, and I have at least 8-10 others started or on the back burner. Yet, how much time have I spent on them? While my teaching job most certainly is a priority, have I honestly used my spare time appropriately? Not entirely. Part of the issue is that I have difficulty getting started on a topic and need to get some momentum going before I commit to a project. That is why I tend to write my Worldview Warriors series in one big swoop (such as this one which was done in just a few days) because I get onto a roll and don’t want to stop until it’s done. Writing is something I have to get going on and once I get going, stay out of my way. But getting started on these other projects again has been a challenge. It might not be as much of a challenge if I had eternity in the front of my mind more frequently.
Do we have eternity stamped onto our eyeballs? The easiest way to answer that question is by how seriously we take witnessing. When I said the atheists know the Gospel better than we do, they understand the weight of Hell, but they see the Christians who claim to believe in this stuff not take it seriously. Do we take Hell seriously enough that we’d crawl on our knees upon broken glass if that is what it took to get someone to receive the message? If someone was standing on train tracks with a train barreling down upon them, do we gently caution them to get off the tracks, or do we tackle them if they won’t hear? One thing I admire about Ray Comfort is his true, genuine love for the lost, even those who constantly mock and ridicule him. While he’s got a very infamous reputation as the “Banana Man,” even most atheists recognize how genuine he is and how much he truly cares for them, despite thinking he is a fool and uneducated. He has eternity stamped on his eyeballs. If we did, we’d be living different lives than we are now.
All this series has been to lay down the foundation and get the basics underway. But Hebrews tells us to move on from these basic teachings – not to ignore them or forget them, but to build upon them and actually build a house upon that foundation. Let us truly learn these foundational doctrines and then build upon them the never ending and ever deeper teachings that are found in the person Jesus Christ. He is infinite and cannot be exhausted. Those who have sought to exhaust the knowledge of God lived such glorious lives, albeit with much pain and suffering, that I can only imagine it. Let us stop being spiritual babies who still need our diapers changes and let us grow into maturity, into men and women of God whom will be of use to His Kingdom.
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“The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)
This verse from Psalm 27 is the primary reason I wanted to write on this psalm; it has been a very encouraging verse at various times in my life. It reminds me (along with Romans 8:31) that even though the things of this world may cause me fear, I ultimately have nothing to fear when my trust is in Jesus.
This psalm is all about God’s presence with us. It can be easy to forget that He is always with us, since we’re surrounded by this material world. When we are consumed by the things we can see and touch, it’s easy to forget about God who is unseen. Psalms like this one remind us that He is always with us, and that when we don’t feel His presence, we should ask Him to remind us.
Verses 1-3 start out by proclaiming confidence in God’s presence. It’s clear that our confidence is not in what we can do, but in who the Lord is. He is our light, our salvation, and the stronghold of our lives! No one else can compare to Him in power. Even if armies come against us and war breaks out, the psalmist shares the confidence that God will be with him and help him (and us). It is the knowledge of God’s continual presence that gives the psalmist the confidence to know that he will be ultimately protected no matter what happens.
Verses 4-12 are overall a prayer for God’s presence, but verses 4-6 has a different mood than verses 7-12.
Verse 4 paints a beautiful picture: “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” This brings to my mind the song Better Is One Day, which is based on this verse. This is the ultimate goal of any follower of Christ, that we will ultimately dwell with Him forever. That is what we seek by living our lives to give Him glory - we want to be in His presence forever, and we have the assurance by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus that we will do that one day.
Verses 5-6 elaborate on this a bit more, explaining how God will keep us safe and continually exalt us above our enemies. Because of this, we will rejoice, praising Him with singing and music. When we’re rejoicing, we can’t be afraid, so praising God is another way that we can cast out fear from our lives and trust in God’s provision.
The mood changes in verses 7-10, and the focus is on seeking God. We may go through periods where we do not feel His presence, and that is when we should seek Him all the more earnestly. The repetition of multiple ways of saying the psalmist desires to seek God show the intensity of his searching and how great his desires is to experience God’s presence. The psalmist feels like God has abandoned him, but that just causes him to seek God all the more, because he knows that God has promised to always be with him. The same applies to us. Perhaps you’re at a place in life where things look desperate and it’s hard to see God working in your life. Pray these verses of this psalm along with the psalmist, knowing that God will answer your plea.
The psalmist’s prayer continues in verses 11-12, with requests for guidance and victory. He asks God to give him a “straight path,” which means a lack of obstacles in life. He knows that only God is powerful enough to remove obstacles or difficulties from his life. His second request is for victory over his oppressors. Even though his enemies are spreading falsehood about him, he knows that God is way more powerful and can provide victory over even that which looks hopeless from a worldly perspective.
Verses 13-14 conclude the psalm with further confidence in God’s presence: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” In spite of whatever difficulties the psalmist is facing, he knows he will see God’s goodness in his life. Even the worst situations are opportunities for God to be glorified and show His power in our lives.
While these concluding words were likely meant for the psalmist’s own benefit, they are also encouraging for all those who believe in God. We are all called to wait on the Lord. This word for “wait” in Hebrew also means “hope,” so we could also translate this as “Hope in the Lord.” We know that He is the only one who will never fail us, so hope in Him is not like hoping that something will be accomplished but knowing that it will and just waiting on His timing for it to happen.
We know that God is with us. Because of that, we have no reason to fear anyone else! When we seek God’s presence, we will find it. We can and should put our hope and our confidence in Him, because He truly is good. Rest in that promise this week.
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by Logan Ames
I once read a wonderfully written story called “Life After Birth." You can find a version of it here. The gist of the story is that two babies are in the womb and are having a conversation about whether there is life after delivery. One baby is sure there is nothing else out there, while the other baby hangs on to a belief that there is something more where they will actually get to meet “Mother." The story ends with the unbelieving one essentially mocking the believing one.
Since we are all living and breathing outside of our mothers’ wombs, we can say we know with certainty that there is life after birth. But I want to talk to you here about something that not everyone believes and for which there is not yet any irrefutable proof. I’m talking about life after death. The question of what happens after we die is one of the 7 questions that all worldviews have to answer. Christians are often ridiculed for the belief that we will be resurrected into eternal life with Jesus, and we’re told that it’s just something we’ve made up to make ourselves feel better about what we don’t know. This view, of course, ignores the evidence from Scripture.
Many of us first learned about life everlasting from the most popular Bible verse of all time. As children, most of us heard the King James Version of John 3:16 at some point: “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." The issue for many believers is not IF everlasting life exists, but more so what that life will look like. Some of you are probably completely freaked out by the concept of eternity. When I was a child, I always thought about how long of a time eternity is and what we’d be doing with it. I remember my mom once saying that we’d be worshiping God all the time. I equated worship with church at that time, so needless to say I wondered who in the world would want to be in church ALL the time. At that age, I didn’t even want to be there once a week! vThe truth is that if heaven were based on what “I” want, it wouldn’t be heaven at all. Bishop T.D. Jakes said, “As a Christian, Christ died so that we will have eternal life with him in heaven. What it looks like doesn’t matter, what it smells like doesn’t matter, as long as Christ is there it will be heaven to me." I think he’s right. We all have our mental pictures of what heaven “might” be like, but no one knows for sure. Since we all picture different things, the most important thing to know is that Jesus is present there.
It’s interesting when we start talking about the physical characteristics of heaven that we have traditionally come to expect. Those characteristics include “streets of gold” and “pearly gates." It’s interesting because those descriptors actually apply to another place and not heaven. The word heaven is first seen at the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1:1, but the Hebrew word used there is shamayim and is the same word translated as “sky” in Genesis 1:8. That’s because the Hebrew word basically just means “the waters above." Therefore, heaven is not a proper name, or a place you find on a map. It’s just a reference to the skies above and that’s why when it pours down rain, we say “the heavens opened up."
So, the logical question to ask then is why do we call the place where God dwells “heaven”? Quite simply, it’s because Jesus did and we follow him! In Matthew 6:9, as he teaches his disciples how to pray, he says, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name." Later, he called the place by a different name. As he responded to the criminal on the cross next to him in Luke 23:42-43, he referred to the place as “paradise." The word for “paradise” there, when translated back to the Hebrew, is the same word used for the Garden of Eden, or God’s idea of a perfect place. We don’t know much about the rebel on the cross next to Jesus. Scholars believe he was either a murderer, a thief, or both. Either way, this is the essence of everlasting life. That man, who had lived a mess of a life, at least to some extent up until that point, was now told by Jesus that he was about to have eternal life. Jesus knew his heart was sincere and if we think about it, it’s amazing that Jesus was willing to say this to the criminal despite the agonizing suffering Jesus was in, which would’ve made it painful just to speak and breathe.
The best descriptors of the place we have been taught to believe is “heaven” can be found in Revelation 21. In verses 1-5, we see that Christ is making everything new and the new city is coming down “out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." This tells us that the “city” we’re about to read about can’t be heaven because it’s clearly coming OUT OF heaven. Then in verses 9-27, the characteristics of this perfect “place” are mentioned. This is where we find references to the streets of gold and the pearly gates, among other descriptors. The crazy thing is that this section begins with an angel showing John “the bride, the wife of the Lamb… the Holy City, Jerusalem." Now, we know from Ephesians 5:32 that the bride of Christ is the Church, the universal body of believers.
The big question for many of us, then, is how does this impact our lives right now? Some people just want to be woken up when everlasting life gets here. But the reality of these passages is that they seem to indicate that the “city” made up of God’s people is actually what we often confuse for “heaven." Yet, the passage says the bride is “prepared." How do we prepare ourselves to meet the bridegroom, Jesus Christ? It just so happens that he does a good part of the preparing in us. Take a moment and read Mark 10:17-27. I was blown away when I read this passage with a renewed understanding. Jesus had just talked to his disciples about having faith like a child and in walks this man who does just the opposite. He has heard about everlasting life and wants Jesus to give him the bullet points of what he has to DO to inherit it. The truth is he had already done what is most necessary - he fell at Jesus’ feet. But as soon as he opened his mouth, it all went down hill for him. He called Jesus “good” and Jesus questioned this, not because he’s not good or not God, but because he wanted the man to understand that it doesn’t matter how many good things are done; no one is “good” except God. Therefore, to call Jesus “good” was to call him “God," and Jesus wanted to make sure there was no getting around it.
The problem for the man was that he was not asking Jesus to be his Savior. Rather, he was asking Jesus to tell him how he can be his own savior, which of course is impossible for any human being no matter how “good” they are. For us to be prepared to be part of the city that IS everlasting life with God, we have to be willing to admit our need for Jesus and get ourselves out of the way and let him do the preparing. This attitude is exemplified by Paul in Romans 7:24-25. The humility required to say I am wretched without Jesus but rescued with him is a prerequisite for getting prepared for everlasting life. Have you been trying to earn your way to everlasting life and getting frustrated because of your failures? Let Jesus change you. After that discussion with the rich young ruler, Jesus’ disciples were dumbfounded and wondered who the heck could possibly be saved. Jesus famously replied, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). If you haven’t already, surrender your life to Christ and allow him to begin to do the impossible in preparing you for the gift of life everlasting. Amen and so be it!
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This week, one of the topics Worldview Warriors is addressing is suicide. The taking of one’s own life is a great tragedy and happens for a variety of reasons. Some would suggest in certain circumstances, such as being about to be taken as a prisoner of war, that suicide rather than humiliation is a good thing. However, the vast majority of suicides come at a place of hopelessness and a lack of purpose. According to Wikipedia, in 2014 teen suicide was the #2 killer of young adults and #11 of all people age 10 and up. This is not including those who have attempted suicide and survived, let alone those who have thought about it.
There are many offered solutions to help stem the suicide rates. There is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline among other resources. Suicide is absolutely no laughing matter, and to make things worse, most who are struggling with the thoughts of suicide don’t have the courage to cry for help. If you who are reading this are facing thoughts of suicide, GET HELP! Do not face it alone. There is no shame in calling for help when you are in trouble, yet there is a fear of a social stigma for those who cry out for help, and often that stigma is truly there.
While counseling centers and suicide hotlines are good answers to the suicide problem, these are mostly for dealing with the problem after it has rooted. I would like to tackle just one of the reasons that brings up suicidal thoughts before it can take root. There are many others so please do not read what I am not saying, nor consider me the “expert” on all these issues. I am not a trained counselor, nor am I any professional in this field, however, I am not oblivious to the issues either. One of the reasons why suicide is considered is due to a culture of death.
We here in the U.S. live in a culture of death. Death is celebrated and encouraged in many different ways and it forms a cycle which grows more and more until it arrives. “Death is celebrated?” Yes, it is celebrated, either death itself or choices which lead to death. How so? Take a look at what our youth listens to: the rock bands, the rappers, “death metal.” The lyrics are horrific. They have “good beats,” but they lyrics are full of death, sex, murder, rage, and language. Look at the violent video games, where the players shoot and kill anything that moves and then everything “respawns.” Kids are not being taught the value of life nor the severity or permanency of death.
When I first really started to engage the issue about abortion, at that time, most people who had abortions have regretted doing so. Many still do. However, many are celebrating abortion, giving clinics awards for “saving women’s lives,” by killing fully functioning, perfectly healthy babies for the sake of convenience. Only 1.5% deal with rape or incest, according to the article linked. The extreme majority are out of pure convenience or deceptive counseling. Young mothers, especially of minority ethnic backgrounds where poverty levels are high, are highly encouraged to get abortions under many circumstances. Look at the abortion rates by ethnic groups here.
Abortion brought forth one major thing: life is determined only by whether it is wanted or not. If your parent decides they don’t want you and you are not yet born, your life is forfeited today. Families today in general do not talk about producing life, nor do they talk about their kids being their precious offspring. Many do, but by and large this culture does not do this. How can I say that? School is getting out and many parents are dreading it. The attitude for many parents, especially come August, is that school is a place to get the kid out of the house to give mom and dad some peace. Parents treat school as glorified day care, and public schools in particular have been happy to oblige. That’s not a compliment. Children are being treated as an inconvenience for our enjoyment and are raised to only be necessary to provide for society for the next generation.
Society as a whole treats each person as only as valuable as they are producing for that society. If society does not see the potential the person can bring to them, he is discarded. Once the person’s use is exhausted, then society would prefer to “euthanize” the elderly because they are consuming so many resources which could be sent elsewhere.
The value of life has been reduced to monetary value and level of pleasure in the immediate here and now. What other ways are there to measure the value? According to this world, they have nothing else. Why does the world have no other answers? Because it rejects the Word of God and how God values life. Evolution has played a very subtle yet major role in this transition from valuing of life to devaluing life. Under Evolution, you have no value, because you are nothing more than just another highly evolved animal where any purpose or reason for your existence is determined by what you make out of it. And many are searching and searching and not finding it. Under Creation, each person is uniquely created in the image of God and each person has value, including the handicapped.
It’s not just abortion or Evolution. Look at the lifestyles being offered and praised. The U.S. is the most drug-crazed nation in the world. Drug cartels are so lucrative because we have the money and we are demanding these drugs, yet it’s killing us. Drunk driving deaths each year are comparable to major wars. Sex choices are being made completely on a pleasure basis, yet what abortion centers, sex ed classes, and “safe sex” tips do not tell people is that sexual immorality is often lethal, via STDS, cancer, or other issues. The world wants to live in paradise without God and all that is going to result in is death.
What is the solution? The only solution that is even remotely capable of working is the Gospel. Surrender yourself and let God be God in our lives. God is able to take this culture of death, kill it without killing us, and bring life in and out of it. When we let God do his job in our lives, he will give us the hope and the purpose to go through our difficult times. He will give us the strength to hold on to the very end and not give up. God never lets a single drop of his saints’ blood go to waste.
God is able to get out of the messes we put ourselves into. He is able to rescue us to the utmost. He can take the mainline drug addict and deliver him from the demand of the drug. He can take murderer and rescue him from the lust for blood. He can take the sex pervert and restore his sex drive to its original function. However, to be freed from sin requires renouncing it. God will not save if we have a continual desire to go back to our sin.
Suicide is a terrible tragedy. Between the social, familiar, political, emotional, let alone spiritual pressures of life, those who do not know Christ can find it easy to give up. Satan goes after the precious life. When David Wilkerson preached this sermon, “The Hunter from Hell,” I got a whole new perspective on how to see the downtrodden. The kid who is the “black sheep” is frequently the one God is able to use the most. He became the “black sheep” because the enemy went after him to keep him from being used. If you are down and weak and feeling suicide may be your only out, God not only can rescue you, but he has something specially planned for how to use you. The enemy has been out to mess you up so that you cannot reach your true potential if God were to use you. There is hope, there is a purpose, even if you cannot see it now. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. There is a way out. Don’t listen to this culture of death. Choose life. Last year, Ray Comfort put out a video called Exit, and it is one of the very few sources I have seen which addresses the issue of suicide, provides more than just coping skills, and actually provides an answer. It is a MUST see if you are contemplating suicide or if you know someone who is.
This culture wants you to be independent of authorities and to sever ties with parents, preachers, and anyone who can help steer you on the correct path. They know if you are alone and unprotected, you are easy prey, easy to use and abuse and easy to discard. Just look at how the world treats the broken; it’s never good. Yet, if you turn to God, even if you don’t have parents who protect you and guide you or a church to help you, he is sufficient. You are not meant to be alone. No man is an island. Get with God and if you have a bond with Jesus Christ, you will be hard to take down. Build that relationship with him because he will not let you down as long as you trust him and obey him. He will NEVER let you down and will always be with you. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Choose life.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
