“ Death is not the end; it is the beginning”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

ENCOURAGING WORD:

While death is no longer an enemy for a believer in Jesus Christ, it remains difficult for those who are dying and their loved ones. Death is the result of sin in the world, and without the hope of a Savior (Jesus) to forgive us for our sins, we would all be under the wrath of God.

But thanks be to God that He sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins and rise again to give believers eternal life in Jesus Christ John 3:16; While we still face the physical consequences of living in a fallen world, death, we can set our hope in the promises of God through Jesus Christ, and rest securely knowing heaven awaits those who die in Christ.

My hope is that the following Scriptural passages I share below will lift your spiritual eyes heavenward as you wait to go home to Jesus.

The Bible contains many verses about death, with themes ranging from the finality of physical death to the promise of eternal life. Key verses include; 

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,"  

What does it say, “Whoever” believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Flip to the other side of the coin and know this. Those that reject Gods provision for salvation will die and spend eternity in an environment that is so awful that it can’t even be described with our limited brain capacity. But here is a clue from Jesus,

Matthew 24:21; “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

This is talking about the tribulation; but the tribulation will be like a walk in the park compared to eternity in the Lake of Burning Fire, or hell as we are more accustomed too. Here is a glimpse of what hell might be like in the following Bible verses. 

Luke 16:23-24; “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’

This is the rich man from the story of Lazarous and the rich man. The rich man who descended into hell is begging Father Abraham who is in Abrahams Bosom (Paradise) asking Abraham to dip his figure in cool water to cool his (the rich mans) tongue. This only describes the excessive heat that will be with you for all eternity. Once unbelievers get cast into the lake of burning fire at the “White Throne Judgement” you will be under constant torment which will consist of torment and torture that will be unlike anything that we have ever seen. Think of all the ways people in our time have been tortured, hell will make that look like a walk through Disney World. Not a place that you want to be for all eternity. ”There has been a lot of evil in our world now, but nothing that we ever witnessed will compare to the torment that waits in hell for unbelievers.”

Here is a thought to ponder. There are grave yards filled with billions of people. When we view a cemetery, all we see are the grave stones or other markers to let us know there is a body buried below. What many of us fail to realize is this. Everybody that is buried has a soul and every soul of the deceased are in one of two places. No exceptions. According to the scriptures of the Bible, “Few people will be that find the way to salvation through Jesus Christ," which means that most of them are in hades waiting their final judgement. Hades is just a temporary dwelling for those that rejected Jesus Christ while they were alive as their Lord and Savior. They will remain in this dwelling until the “White Throne Judgement” where they will be judged for every sin that they ever committed and will be sentenced to eternity in the Lake of burning fire or eternal darkness to put it another way. This will be an eternity of suffering and torment. This is extremely sad considering nobody has to goes there. God provided a way for all to be saved from this eternal torment.   

John 3:16 is the most well-known verse about salvation through Jesus in the Bible, stating, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". Another key verse is Acts 4:12, which says that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which they must be saved.  

Here are four verses to know and understand about what God did to save us from eternal damnation.

John 3:16; "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". This verse highlights that salvation is a gift from God through faith in His Son. This is also evidence that we have free will and that we are not destined to heaven of hell. If you are a “whoever’ which we all are, we have a choice to make. We can choose to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and become Born again into the Holy Spirit, or we can reject this free gift of grace and be separated from Jeus for all eternity, where you will dwell in constant pain and agony.

However, God does know what choice that you will make. He knew this from the foundation of the world what your decision would be, but you are in no way predestined as to where you will spend eternity. Predestination is a very dangerous doctrine. If you believe that you are predestined, then you will feel that you can act anyway that you wish regardless of consequences. This is a doctrine of Satan; he wants us all to believe this false doctrine. You have the choice, so make the right one.

Acts 4:12; "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved". This verse emphasizes that Jesus is the only way to salvation. There is a popular believe that says all roads lead to heaven. That is another doctrine of Satran. If you believe that the Bible is the true and inherent Word of God, than this verse that I just read is crystal clear. If you don’t believe the Bible is the true and inherent Word of God, then you have much bigger problems than what roads lead to heaven because you aren’t going there anyways.  

Romans 10:9–10; "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved". This explains that salvation is a matter of both belief and confession. If you say that you believe in God and think that you are going to heaven as a result of that belief, read the following Bible verse. James 2:19; “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” Saying that you believe in God is a good place to start, but you need to become Born again and receive the Holy Spirit into your heart. There are a lot of people that will miss heaven by 18 inches, the distance between your heart and brain. You will have the knowledge of God, but it will never reach your heart. When it reaches your heart, you will live like Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. You won’t be saved by good works, but your goods will be evidence that you are saved. Remember, God judges the heart.  

Matthew 1:21; "And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins". This verse directly connects the name Jesus Christ with the act of saving people from their sins. No other spiritual leader can make this claim. Only Jesus can save us from our sins, because Jesus is the only one that could pay for our sins. You can’t pay for your own sins, because you yourself are sinnful. See, you have a debt that you can’t pay, so God came to earth in the personage of Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of those that would believe on Him. There is no other way to be forgiven. No Pastor or Priest can forgive you for your sins, so when you confess your sins to a Priest, you are wasting your time. Jesus is the only mediator between God the Father and man.    

Romans 14:8, "whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord," which emphasize that for believers, death is not the end. Other verses, like Hebrews 9:27, state that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment," while 1 Corinthians 15:26 calls death "the last enemy to be destroyed". Since God cannot allow sin to enter His kingdom, those that die in their sins will be separated from Jesus for all eternity. Those that die in their sins will be cast into outer darkness for all eternity, those that receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will forever be in paradise with Him. I’ll never understand why this is such a hard choice to make. I guess it really boils down to this, you really do not take the Bible serious, which means you do not believe it teaches truth. If you say you believe, act like it!

Let me give you another example of what I am talking about. Lets say you have an opportunity to get hired at a business where you would be guaranteed one million dollars a year, but first you had to read and understand all the bylaws of being employed there. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that you would study that book day and night until you understood  everything in it. If you get the job and work there for many years, that is great, however, you will eventually pass away. Then every penny that you made will be worthless to you. God is offering a much better reward for those that read and study His book. If you read and understand the Wod of God, and live accordingly, you will be in an environment that will be better than anything that you could ever experience here on earth.  

Death is a universal experience that humans have pondered for millenniums. Discover what the Bible says about death in this collection of scriptures. In the Old Testament, death is often seen as a punishment for sin. For example, in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden after they disobey God. As a result, they were subject to death and suffering.

Just as Adam and Eve where banished from the Garden of Eden, we would all be banished from heaven as a result of the sin that they brought into the world, but because Jesus made a way for us to be saved, there is hope for all of us. However, the Old Testament also teaches that death is not the end. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet envisions a future where there will be no more death, sorrow, or pain;

Isaiah 25:8;  “He (Jesus) will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.”

This vision is fulfilled in the New Testament, where Jesus Christ defeats death and brings eternal life to those who believe in him;

John 11:25-26; “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

The verse that I just read is describing the death of the body, not the death of the Spirit. Here is a little pun for you to think about. If you are born once, you will die twice. If you are born twice, you will only die once. That’s what Jesus meant when He said we must be born again. Being born again is the second birth. That means we are born twice. If you don’t take part in the second birth, you will die twice. You die physically and then you die Spiritually. The spiritual death is the one that sends you to hell because you didn’t accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The second birth (Being Born Again) is what saves us for sin. We all die once, but unbelievers die twice. Ultimately, the Bible teaches that the death of believers is not the end, but a transition to a new and better life with God. Your last breath here on earth will be followed up by your next breath in heaven.

Here are a few Bible verses about death.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2: "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted."

I don’t believe that many people give any thought to the Bible verse that I just read. God knew every one of us before He ever created us. He knew the day that we would be born, and He knows the day that we will die. He even knew what babies would be aborted and who would be doing the aborting. The Bible is very clear that life begins at conception, so those of you that believe otherwise, you can take that up with Jesus when you stand in front of Him at the “White Throne Judgement” just before you get sentenced to eternity in the “Lake of Burning Fire”.

Here’s a thought. How would you feel if someone took and killed your children. Well, that is what we are doing when we abort a living soul in the womb. We are killing Gods children. These children that we say are just fetal tissue, are Gods unborn children. The inspiring news is this, every child that has been aborted is in heaven with Jesus. They didn’t have to go through this dreadful world like those of us that were born. They are happier than we could ever imagine, but for those that are doing the aborting, your future is about as gloomy as you can imagine unless you repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness.

While the Bible does not explicitly state "life begins at conception," several verses are interpreted to support this view, most notably Psalm 139:13-16; which describes God's intimate knowledge and formation of a person in the womb. 

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” 

Other verses like Jeremiah 1:5; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" and Luke 1:41; where the unborn John the Baptist "leaped in her womb" are also cited to support the personhood of an unborn child. “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe (John the Baptist) leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” If it was just a mass of tissue as many say today, then how could it leap in the womb.

My advice to you is this if you support abortion. There is still time to repent and ask God to forgive you, I can promise that He will forgive you and it will be as if you have never sinned. If you choose to go to your grave with sin accounted to you, you will be judged and sentenced to death in the lake of burning fire. There will be no hope for you.

Let’s move on to another Bible verse.

Psalm 90:10; "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

For those of you that wonder how long a generation is, this verse is very clear. A generation in these days in which we live is 70 years. Now that doesn’t mean that everybody is going to die at 70 years old. Some live much fewer years and some live much older, but once again, God Knows the exact day in which you will pass on to the next life, which is also your decision. You will end up where you choose. God will never send anybody to hell; He will just honor your choice. He paid for all of our sins through the life and death of Jesus Christ on the cross and all we have to do is accept His free gift of Grace. If you choose to deny His gift of grace, you will not be forgiven of any of your sins, and God cannot allow sinful man to enter heaven. He did everything that He could for us, so we would not have to go to the lake of burning fire. Oh, and by the way, your Priest cannot forgive you your sins. Only God can forgive sins. That proof is in the following Bible verse.

1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"

Everything that the Catholics believe about this truth are manmade to fit the narrative of the Catholic faith. Your Priest cannot forgive you of your sins, so if you are banking on that being the case, you will be very disappointed when you stand before Jesus at the final judgement. It’s very clear that only through Jesus can sins be forgiven. So, if you do not end your payer with “In Jesus Name we Pray” your sins are not heard.

Several Bible verses support praying through Jesus, including; 

John 14:13-14, which states, "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son,"

John 16:23-24, which says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full". 

Also, 1 Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus". 

Do you believe that the Bible is true and inherent or not. If you believe the Bible is true and internet, then why do you fellowship with certain religious sects that blatantly go against God’s Word? You will be held accountable for what you believe, and you won’t be able to blame in on your Pastor or Priest because God gave us His Word in the scriptures of the Bible so that we could know the truth. When Jesus sent out His disciples to share the Gospel, He said;

Mark 16:15; “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

I can’t read anywhere in the Bible where Jesus said to go and build big buildings  and appoint man to determine what the Bible teaches. Religions are man’s way of reaching God, true Christianity is God reaching down to man. Churches are all tied up in putting together programs and trying to find ways to reach God. God knows your heart; He will call those that He knew would follow Him. God knew from the foundation of the world who would receive Him and who would reject Him. The Holy Spirit is in the process of calling certain people to share the gospel. Today’s churches are not sharing the truth of the Gospel; they have fallen away from the truth of the Gospel and have turned to fables and lies concocted by a few evil men. Let me share this following Bibel verse again;

2 Timothy 4:3-4; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will gather up for

themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” We are there!

Let me give you an example of grace and salvation. If someone offered you a free trip to Hawaii and you declined it, then you would not be welcome to go on that trip. You have refused the offer. The same way, God offered all of us a free trip to heaven through grace, if you decline His offer, you will not be admitted into heaven. Pretty simple! We need to understand this; there are only two locations where we will spend eternity. Purgatory is not one of them and paradise with 70 virgins is not going to happen. You die; you go to heaven or hell immediately. Sorry Islam, if you want a virgin, you better find one now.

So, with all this being said, now you know that death is not the end, death is the beginning of where you will spend eternity forever. We are now in a world of all kinds of evil. We have one real purpose in this life and that is to serve Jeus Christ while we are here. This life is for us to choose where we want to spend eternity. Keep this in mind for those of you that think life would be boring serving Jesus Christ. Hear what the Bible says about that.

John 10:10; “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

The phrase "have life and have it more abundantly" comes from John 10:10, a Bible verse where Jesus contrasts his mission with that of a "thief". The "thief" (Satan) comes to steal, kill, and destroy, while Jesus came so people could have a life that is more meaningful, joyful, purposeful, and complete. This abundant life is received by believing in Jesus, and it can involve a deeper spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being during one's time on Earth.

Jesus' purpose: Jesus stated that the thief's goal is destruction, but His purpose is to give life that is "more abundantly" or "exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure". If you choose your own path, you will not benefit from what God created for you. God wants you to have an abundant life, but if you choose to live a life of sin, the abundance that God wants you to have will not happen.

Source of this life: This life is a gift received through belief in Jesus' sacrifice, which is meant to bring both eternal life and a more fulfilling life on Earth.

Characteristics of this life: Abundant life is described as being full of purpose, joy, and peace, and it is intended to be far beyond what a person could achieve on their own.

How to experience it: Living this abundant life involves a commitment to following Christ, which can include seeking spiritual discipline, nurturing relationships, and living according to scripture.

Resisting destruction: Recognizing the adversary's attempts to steal, kill, and destroy helps people to resist these influences and choose the abundant life Jesus offers. 

So, you have choices to make, and those choices will have consequences. When life on this earth is over for you, you will Reep the choices that you made, you will have no one to blame but yourself for where you spend eternity.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.”

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”