Recently my son Isaac said to me, “Turns out the death rate is 100%.” You know, he’s not wrong. Since every one of us is guaranteed to die, let’s have an honest conversation about life, death, Heaven, and Hell. Okay?
Let’s just look at what the Bible has to say about this subject. If you don’t believe in the authenticity of the bible, or are questioning if the bible is legit, you may want to take the time to read, “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel, or “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowel. Or, if you trust me, then let me simply tell you that the Bible is the most historically accurate ancient document on the face of the planet bar none. Nothing else even comes close.
The Bible is a collection of 66 books written in 3 languages on 3 continents by over 30 authors over a span of 1500 years and yet it is completely and totally in agreement with itself from beginning to end. There is no other work of literature like it on earth. So, it is safer to err on the side of trusting the Bible than not trusting it.
The Bible is very clear about life, death and eternity. In the book of Psalms (116:15) it says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints.” In the Bible, everyone who is a genuine follower of Jesus is called a Saint.
In Luke 20:38 Jesus said, “to Him (God the Father) all are alive”.
That means every single human being that has ever existed is still alive from God’s perspective. If that’s true, where are they? There are only three places that a person can be. 1) They can be in the paradise of God; alive on the Earth or; in the eternal punishment of hell.
If the Bible is true then human beings are Eternal Souls that will never cease to exist from the moment they are conceived. In Psalm 139:24 King David asked God to lead him so he could attain everlasting life. But we all have a problem. We are all eternal souls born with a sinful condition that needs to be fixed. King David said, (Psalm 51:5) “I was sinful from my mother’s womb, sinful from the time I was conceived.” So he knew that he was an eternal human being who already possessed a sin nature from the moment he was conceived.
Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This means that every single person who was ever born, or ever will be born, is unable to attain God’s standard of perfection. In other words, God is perfect but none of us are perfect. Therefore, we do NOT have access to God on our own!
Psalm 14:3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. You see, if God is totally good, and totally perfect but not one single human is good, then we will need a mediator between God and us in order to gain access to Him. That mediator is the Man Jesus Christ.
Then Romans 3:10-12 quotes this verse saying it this way: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” So, according to this verse, every single person who ever was or will be born, isn’t good and doesn’t do good. Therefore, if we aren’t good, but God is good, then we need someone to intercede for us in order to get God to look at us as good so we can enter His perfect dwelling place.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” This verse is crystal clear that our sin will lead to a reward of death. And that is not just a one-time death. It is an eternal, everlasting, neverending death! And that is a hopeless situation! Yet there is hope of finding eternal life in Christ Jesus alone! He offers eternal life to all who accept HIM as Lord and Savior. NOT because of how good we are, but because of how perfect He is!
The only solution to our sin problem is made perfectly clear in 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Matthew 20:28 says it this way. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Notice that it says “many” not “all”. The many that He will save will ONLY be those who receive Him as their Lord and Savior. Those who trust in Him and rely on Him and depend upon Him will make up the many that will be ransomed.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Every single person is born with the wrath of God ON THEM! This means that every single person is doomed to perish from the moment they are conceived! This isn’t because of what good or bad things they have done or not done, it’s because of the sin condition we are all born with.
And Jesus is not “A” way to get to God. HE IS THE ONLY WAY! In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s a pretty bold statement. He is saying that if a person wants to get to heaven, they must go through Him and if they don’t come through Him, they can’t get to Heaven! That’s as serious as it gets!
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” Here again we see that, according to the Bible, eternal life in Heaven is gained through Jesus only. There is no other way.
Some people think that after this life they will just cease to exist. They think they will be just a worm feast. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible tells us that “what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18) That means that there is an unseen world of angels and demons, Heaven and Hell, that is infinitely more permanent than this visible, physical world that we exist in today. To me, that’s a sobering thought.
This world and its desires are going to pass away (1 John 2:27) and these dying bodies that we live in are part of this world and are also going to pass away. Bodies that come to an end don’t belong in a world that will never end.
After this life, we all will receive an eternal body that cannot die. Then we will enter into our eternal situation. That will either be in a lake of fire or in the Paradise of God. The choice is left up to each one of us.
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:42 that we are going to receive an Eternal Body that cannot perish and cannot get sick and cannot grow old. “It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.” Now, an eternal body is given to every single person who dies whether they go to be with God in Heaven or not. That’s why people in the lake of fire never die. It’s because they’ve been given a body that cannot die.
John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. In this passage, Jesus goes on to say, “flesh gives birth to flesh but the spirit gives birth to Spirit.” This means that we are all born by means of a human, fleshly birth. But we are NOT all born of the Spirit! To be born of the Spirit, we must be willing to let the life in the flesh die! The natural life of the flesh has to die to make room for the new life that is dominated by the spirit of God to have access and free reign.
John 1:12-13 “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”, Do you see how clear this is? We were all born into a human family. But in order to become a child of God it’s essential that a person is “born again” into God’s family.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” See no one can earn salvation. It’s just a gift from God that we can either accept or reject. Then, after we receive that free gift, God has a specific “to do list” for each of us to accomplish as we follow him as His children.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Isn’t it great to know that Jesus didn’t wait for us to get ourselves all perfect and cleaned up before He saved us. Instead, He saw the hopeless mess we were in and He lovingly chose to provide a way out for us.
Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” So this salvation and eternal life is available not because people are good but because God is good and He lovingly chose to offer us a lifeline.
John 3:16 says, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” In this verse, the word “believe” means to trust in, rely on and be devoted to. It does not mean to simply believe that He exists. Even demons believe that He exists.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT we read, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Do you see what this is saying? People who belong to Jesus look the same and sound the same, but they are NOT the same! The person who was born from a woman has to die in order to make way for the new person (born of the Spirit) to live.
Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” By living a perfect, sinless life and then willingly laying down His life and dying for our sins, He rescued everyone who receives Him from the effects of sin which is eternity in a lake of fire and by rising from the dead, He defeated death and freely offers eternal life to all who will receive Him as their Lord and Saviour.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ This is crazy if you think about it! There are no people on earth who call Jesus “Lord”, except for Christians! Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, Hindus, and all other religions do NOT call Jesus ‘Lord.’ So Jesus must be speaking of religious christians who don’t really know Him. Does that describe you? Do you call yourself a christian but you don’t really know Jesus? If so, please don’t wait another minute before you receive Him as your Lord and saviour! All waiting does is to increase your chances of missing heaven and landing in hell! Please don’t let this happen to you! Tell Jesus that you repent of your sin and that you receive Him as your Lord and Savior right now! What do you have to gain by putting that off?
Luke 14:33 says, “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
Jesus claimed to be the ONLY way to get to Heaven and eternal life! He also only had one kind of follower. Those were His disciples! It may surprise you to know that there is no such thing in the Bible as a Christian who is not a disciple! In the New Testament, people are either disciples of Jesus, or they are LOST people! There are no Christians who aren’t disciples in the Bible.
So, to summarize all of this, every person is a sinner born with a sin condition that cannot be cured except by receiving Jesus Christ. The first gospel message Jesus preached is found in Mark 1 where Jesus said, “The time has come. The Kingdom of Heaven is near. Repent of your sins and believe the good news.”
What will you do with what you’ve just read? Will you continue on as you are, or will you tell Jesus that you repent of your sin nature and your sins. Will you believe the good news that He is offering you the free gift of eternal life and that He is THE ONLY WAY? If you do that, you will become a child of God “born again” into the family of God today. I hope you will receive Jesus today! I’m looking forward to spending eternity with you.
Questions or comments Call Kurt Olson @ 1-920-915-4386