God, the Creator, brought the world into being, even before the beginning of time itself. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." - Gen. 1:1 - God is the possessor of heaven. As used in physical sense, heaven is the expanse over the earth. Heaven is also the dwelling place of God. - Gen. 28:16-17; Rev. 12:7-8 - God will also bring the world to its ultimate conclusions, in accordance with His will and purpose. The Sacred Scripture /Holy Bible speaks of the eternity of God.

The scriptural/biblical concept of immortality [exemption from death; the state of living for ever] is rooted in man's creation in God image and likeness. God is spirit. So the reference in the book of Genesis is not to be bodily form but to spiritual nature. As the Eternal, God is immortal. God made man and woman to live for ever, physically and spiritually. At death the body returns to dust, but the spirit lives on.

God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.' God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. - Gen. 1:26-27 -

Yahweh God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being. - Gen. 2:7 -

With sweat on your brow shall you eat your bread, until you return to the soil, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall return. - Gen. 3:19 -

Therefore, immortality is an exemption from death; the state of living for ever. [Eternal Life] In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, the word immortality or eternal life refers primarily to the spirit, but is also used of the resurrected body. The ancient Hebrews believed in the survival of the spirit, although they thought of the afterlife as a shadowy existence. The understanding of a bodily resurrection gradually evolved. In Jesus' time the Pharisees believed in the bodily resurrection, while the Sadducees denied a bodily resurrection.

However, at least the tone of hope of immortality pervades the entire Old Testament, including the faith of the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - in God's promises. Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, to the Hebrews - as an act that involved faith in a bodily resurrection. Abraham was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so figuratively speaking, he was given back Issac from the dead. - Heb. 11:7-22 -

In Christ Jesus we have God's full revelation about immortality of both body and spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ bodily resurrection is proof of our immortality.

Martha said to Jesus, 'If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.' 'Your brother' said Jesus to her 'will rise again.' Martha said, 'I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said: I am the resurrection. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' 'Yes, Lord' she said 'I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.' - John 11:21-27 -

When God just judgments will be made known. He will repay each one as his works deserve. For those who sought renown and honor and immortality by always doing good there will be eternal life. - Rom. 2:6-7 -

This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News; and I have been named its herald, its apostle and its teacher. - 2 Tim. 1:10-11 -

Brothers, I [apostle Paul] want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you - believing anything else will not lead to anything.................. Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless;........................................

Someone may ask, 'How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?' They are stupid questions. Whatever you sow in the ground has to die before it is given new life and the thing that you sow is not what is going to come; you sow a bare grain, say of wheat or something like that, and then God gives it the sort of body that he has chosen: each sort of seed gets its own sort of body.............................

If soul has its own embodiment, so does the spirit have its own embodiment. The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit. The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven. And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.

Or else, brothers, put it this way: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: and the perishable cannot inherit what lasts for ever. I will tell you something that has been secret: that we are not all going to die, but we shall all be changed. This will be instantaneous, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. It will sound and the dead will be raised, imperishable, and we shall be changed as well because our present perishable nature must put on imperishability and this mortal nature must put on immortality.

When this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Never give in... - 1 Cor. 15:1-58 -

Christ's first coming was to save. "For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45 - The Lord Jesus Christ second coming will be primarily to judge. The Eschatology is a theological term that designates the study of what will happen at the end of history, particularly the event known as the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the end times, a basic order of judgment will prevail as the conflict between God and Satan comes to an end. There will be a time of great Tribulation - Matt. 24:4-26 - followed by the Second Coming - Matt. 24:27-31 - and the judgment of the nations. The Day of the Lord will reverse the curse upon the world by bringing judgment to all of God's enemies. The world will be judged by fire and all nations will be included in this judgment. When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the judgment of the people living at His arrival, He pictured humanity as sheep or goats who inherit either Eternal Life or everlasting punishment. This concept of separation is expressed also through the figures of reaping harvest, and sorting out the good and the bad catch from a fishing net.

For by fire will Yahweh execute judgment, and by his sword, against all mankind. The victims of Yahweh will be many. - Is. 66:16 - Ezek. 25:1-17 - Amos 1:3-2:16 -

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand, "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I am hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me." Then................................... And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life. - Matt. 25:31-46 -

The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subject of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears! - Matt. 13:38-43 - Matt. 13:47-50 -

Eternal life refers to the quality or character of our new existence in the Lord Jesus Christ as well as the unending character and attitude of this life. In another word, Eternal Life - a person's new and redeemed existence in the Lord Jesus Christ which is granted by God as a gift to all whom God loves.

Most of the references to eternal life in the New Testament are oriented to the future. the emphasis, however, is upon the blessed character of the life that will be enjoyed endlessly. But Saint John emphasizes eternal life as the present reality and the present possession of the Christian and of those whom God loves. Apostle John declares that the Christian has already begun to experience the blessings of the future even before their fullest expression:

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

Father, the hour has come:
glorify your Son
so that your Son may glorify you;
and, through the power over all mankind that you have given him,
let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him.
And eternal life is this:
to know you,
the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. - John 17;1-3 -

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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -