Why do the sorrows of yesterday cloud the joys of tomorrow? Thousands die each day and thousands are newly born. Why do we dwell on the tragedies and failures of imperfect people? Choices of uncaring selfish people impact for evil and loving choices impact for good. Where is it written that we must squander today in the abysmal darkness of hopeless conflict? Some struggle to find the breath to see another day, some abound with vitality and vigor. Why do we even take the time to consider questions which have been answered time and time again? Life is hard and the rewards for enduring it are out of this world.
I hope this does not sound like a mixed message. It is not about good and evil. It is about the rewards of faithful efforts. It is about the assurance of a predefined future, predefined not predetermined. Why do we exist? Why do we ask why? Simply to have a platform from which to declare the greatest answer of joy the human heart can know. We desire to shout it from the mountain tops when our accomplishments and rewards exceed our expectations. We also crawl under the nearest soundproof rock when our efforts fail to meet the possible.
No one I know of (I’m sure someone will claim to be the exception) proclaims great joy at the prospect of expecting to exist for eternity in hell. Measuring success and short comings is normal for us.
What would it take for you to believe that millions of people would rather believe a lie rather than the truth? “Not much”, would be the answer I would anticipate. Adam and Eve did not believe God. Noah’s neighbors were absolutely certain they would never see something called rain. Pharaoh was convinced there would be no lasting consequences to confronting this God of Moses. And a million other stories of “this will never turn into that”. Are we just naïve or do we really want to ignore the reality because we are comfortable in our lies and fantasies? We want joy without sorrow, harvest without rain and profit without effort. We actually believe that each of these is possible. At least that is what our actions proclaim.
Death follows life. I just thought I would throw out at least one thing all of us could agree on. If you have not lived you cannot die. Dying is being separated from life. Yet Jesus declared that if you believe that He is the resurrection and the life, you would never die. For those who could believe, He was announcing the transition from one life to the next.
For the many who did not believe, He was pronouncing their future transition from death unto death. Separation from this life is physical. It involves the same physical functionalities for all living creatures. While you live, you heart beats, your lungs breathe and your brain processes electrical signals. You are declared dead when these functions cease. It is the same for all creatures on earth. We rejoice in births. We sorrow in deaths. Yet no death is without the birth.
In our nonphysical, spiritual lives the same is true. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. God the Spirit breathed His life breath into Adam and he became a living soul. They were spiritually alive. When they sinned in disobedience, they died spiritually. They were spiritually separated from God. Their children were born physically alive but spiritually dead or separated from God. And every soul since is in the same condition. God made a temporary covering for the penalty of their sin by shedding the blood of innocent animals to cover their sin. He also sent His Son to die for all mankind as a permanent payment for their restoration. If they as we, believe that Jesus died in our place and receive His sacrifice as full payment for our penalty, we are restored to full spiritual life.
This restoration can only happen while we are living. For when we die, the condition of our soul determines our dwelling place. Remember I said the future was predefined not predetermined. Your future is defined as an existence with the Lord forever in His presence or as one without Him, forever. You are the only one who can determine which future is yours. Either you believe He loves you so much that He set live and death before you and gave you the opportunity to choose Him, or you don’t. In either case, you choose, you determine. He made you for His good pleasure. He did not desire to be without you in eternity. So He died in your place so you might choose to live restored to full spiritual life with Him. It really is this simple. Death follows life. Spiritually dead souls enter into eternity separated from God forever. Spiritually revived souls enter into eternity in God’s presence, never to be separated.
You choose. You determine your future. You can know the truth and the truth shall set you free. You decide if the sorrows of yesterday block the joys of tomorrow. You choose whether to squander today in the abysmal darkness of hopeless conflict. Peace is obtainable. It is found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Or if you enjoy conflict, misery and despair you can choose to continue hanging out with the other guy’s tribe.