Meaning of Life

Part 11
Shall we be greater fools in Paradise than we are here? I asked this question some time back and no one has answered. Is there a Paradise be for us? Who has instructed us as to the life shortly beyond our existence, here? Some of these questions must be answered or we will never know until death is experienced the verity of Christ revelations. All of our information comes from one source, Christ. He came “to abolish death and bring life and immortality to light.” 2 Timothy 1:10 He came to become “Lord both of the dead and the living.” Romans 14:9 Is the intermediate state of the redeemed something we can know? Paul writes; “For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Philippians 2:23-24 Can we have any confidence in revelation if the source of the revelation is not validated? Are we going to be greater fools in Paradise than we are here??
If we are conscious of existing in Paradise when we are there, in what form will this consciousness take? Absent of the brain, for it is left in the body when buried, how will man be know? Science has made great strides convincing modern man how important the brain is and in the meantime, discounted the “I” to non-existence!! If we have a memory in Paradise what will we remember? Abraham said; “Son, remember”. Luke 16:25 Who gave us this account? Is His word trustworthy? Some might discount the second stage of our existence, but who are thy calling a liar? If man will always exist, that man will always BE, that it is our nature to BE; the “I” of which we are studying deserves a lot more attention. The “I” is the continuation of the same being that it was while it lived in the tabernacle of flesh while here!! If there is no conscious awareness after we leave the body who made up all this we have been referencing by scripture?
If there is no consciousness after this life, what meaneth the scripture; “But ye are come ….to the spirits of just men made perfect”? Hebrews 12:23 Are we not to look forward to a reunion and fellowship with kindred spirits? Who is this “family in heaven”? Ephesians 3:15 Has anyone actually ascended into Heaven? Can one ascend into Heaven without a body? If no one but Christ has ascended into Heaven, with whom shall we be and where? We, who have obeyed the gospel of Christ, have left our mortal bodies here on this earth!! If there are no spirits with whom we will fellowship, life after death would be a lonely existence like solitary confinement? Is punishment to the spirit here (loneliness) joy to the same spirit, there? It is not the pain of death that gives death its horror, some know NO pain, but that dread of the uncertain-unconscious-darkness-mysterious sleep–the tomb-the grave, the unknown, that man dreads. The scriptures teach us that life in the unseen Paradise will be with all the personality-inner feelings-individuality we have had here and we will be with a company of kindred spirits where loneliness is forgotten!! At the hour of our passing, Christ, the death Angel, will be waiting to welcome us and take us to Paradise.
We see three stages in our life history. First, the existence in this body, next the existence when this body is severed and the “I” continues, and finally the third stage, the final-the ending of ages. The Judgment-Heaven-Hell- stage that is still future for all humanity will only be a memory!! What death is to the physical, the Judgment is to the intermediate. Judgment Day is truly the end of the AGES of Man! Ageless, man will then be as AGELESS as the God who made him/her. This is all we should all be preparing!!!

 

Part 12
For all the years I have been trying to search the mind of God I never caught the total significance of the Judgment Day (maybe you think I still haven’t!). I knew that only the saints will be judged on that day, not for sins but for reward, I knew the sinner would not “stand in the judgment”, Psalms 1:5, and that this day will be the most terrible reprieve from punishment and anguish that only God could conjure. The sinner will be relieved of pain and anguish just to return to pain, NO day of relief will ever again be offered. I knew that Christ would use this day to glorify His Church with a “job well done” ceremony before all who had made light of us while on this earth; but as THE day to separate the earth-life and intermediate-life from eternal-life I had never imagined!! On this day everything changes that was ever known. Life will continue, as has been shown in the previous articles, but life will not be the same. The saint will live in the euphoric glory awaiting the glory we have looked, prayed, and anticipated for so many years of trials and dishonor while the sinner will finally get the payment for his/her deeds of disobedience. If the payment for service is the antithesis of payment for disobedience, the horrors of Hell, yet undescribed in scripture, reveal the “glory that shall be revealed in us”!! Just think, one day time will come to a complete stand-still. Earth-life as all mankind has experienced it will close as the Earth vaporizes in fire and smoke. The world crisis called the second advent will be on us. At this crisis the Lord places the dread drama of the Judgment on the souls of the redeemed. The sinner has to stand by in unbelievable horror and merely watch (probably hoping somehow, someway the God he/she disobeyed has changed His mind and allowed the second chance the Jehovah Witnesses’ have lied about to occur). The saints who are amongst the redeemed who “left their first love”, “put their hand to the plow and turned back”, or “forsaken Christ having loved the pleasures of the present world” are deciding by this time their previous sentence to the Hadean World after death was now finally a mistake and are resting rather comfortably among those who on the earth they were not too glad to accompany (and yet there is still an agonizing doubt)!! Time is non-existent, night will not come, events will continue. Although we are accustomed to day being ended by night, here, day continues. THEN, there comes a call from Christ and His Church proudly begins to assemble in rank and file around His Throne. THE GREAT SORTING OF HUMAN SOULS IS NOW BEING COMPLETED!! The future has become the present; all those who were resurrected with bodies are being sorted some to the right, some to the left!! NOW!!
Sheep go of their own accord following, as accustomed, the commands of the One on the Throne. Some begin to break rank creating chaos and confusion (they always wanted THEIR WAY) and bands of angels immediately separate them from the others. The Judgment of character (not citizenship), continued obedience (not whether they were baptized for the remission of sins), and conscience (the reason obedience was rendered or refused) has begun. It is a judgment of doom, Matthew 13:43, 7:21-22. It is a judgment of separation, Matthew 25. It is a judgment of retribution, Colossians 3:25 It is a judgment of finality. Mark 10:15 Now, the laughing and fun-making has all stopped, now, there is not ONE dry-eyed saint.
The next thing to which our attention will be drawn is the cry, unbelievably loud, unbelievably horrible, unbelievably surreal of those who had almost been forgotten who had been looking on while the events of the Judgment of the Church of Christ had been taking place. Oh! wait!!, some of the saints are joining them!!

 

Part 13
In the ages of the far future through stern discipline and punishment for sin, all men shall at length be restored, redeemed, made holy and happy. This is the doctrine of Universal Redemption. The only trouble with this doctrine is it is a lie from Hell!
That all souls who fail of the grace of God, eternal life shall be punished, not by eternal torment, but annihilation, complete loss not only of God and Heaven, but “I” will NOT cease to exist. Ceasing to be, forever and ever, man will never know the FULL anguish, eternal misery. Complete destruction of body and soul will end what began in non-existence. Nothing is lost or harmed. The “I” will become non-existent. It must have taken A long TIME to think up this lie. It is more complicated than the previous lie and soothes the sinner into a deeper sleep in the mire of degradation
All who die in sin shall be banished from God’s presence and exist in a state of conscious suffering for all of Eternity. This concurs with the teaching of the Scriptures for the future life: the man who is redeemed will live gloriously well with the good from all ages of existence while the damned shall live in an unutterably painful existence with the evil; with the garbage of mankind. Malignity of sin will mean misery and ruin to the impenitent, irretrievable ruin. The fatal, irrevocable result of unrepented sin surrounds three words. Damned, Hell, and Everlasting.
The word damn is heard often. Every time it is heard it is spoken by those who give it no consideration. It means to condemn, to judge adversely. “Woman, neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.” John 8:11 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16 “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Romans 13:2
Hell, the Greek word Gehenna, is used 18 times in the New Testament. Once it is translated from the word tartarus, 2 Peter 2:4, five times from the Greek word Hades, the unseen realm, twelve times from the word gehenna a word that was a metaphor from Hinnon, a valley outside Jerusalem where garbage, debris, dead bodies of animals and unclaimed humanity were pitched. In this valley a constant fire burnt, we are told. Hinnon had previously been the place the Jews offered their children to the god Moloch.
Everlasting is from the Greek word aionios. It means all of the period to which it refers. If it refers to time, it is not limited. If it refers to timelessness, it is infinite. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on then that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
So horrible is the punishment of the wicked, God used figures of speech to describe it, not words. To misuse the teaching about this place is to cause it to lose its power as a deterrent.
Then, there is Heaven. To the finite mind, Heaven is inconceivable. No experience man can have will prepare him for this Place. It is impossible to realize. As the spiritual body is analogous to the earthly, as the oak is the result of the acorn, as the Lily is the result of a bulb, and the flower of the seed; so Heaven is end of the righteous!! Heaven is supreme joy. Heaven is to be a condition as much as a place. There must be a Heaven somewhere, no other conclusion befits a benevolent Creator!!

 

Part 14
Is Heaven real or is it the result of the fertile imagination of a man mocking mankind? Heaven is to be IF eternity has a purpose since it is THE expression of LOVE of one Deity to another, It is the final revelation!! Interestingly, Heaven is not described as is Hell. Man needed to know what to avoid but not what God has in store for “them that love Him”. Heaven is also somewhere. I am not sure it is as much an address as a situation or maybe both. It seems it is always used as such in scripture; all we can be sure about is that Heaven will be where those who possess the nature of God are.
Another interesting thing about the situation or place called Heaven is that it is always associated with Joy, Happiness, and Fulfillment!! It is the ultimate adoration expressed for anyone, anytime. Here, the “redeemed from all the earth” will be busily engaged for all eternity. Here, there is no thing as SIN. Here, the chief cause of sorrow and separation will not be. Here, no curse or result of sin will be. Never in Heaven will imperfection be nor there a dead level of existence! Some have chided the saint with the perceived boredom they think Heaven will have. As God has made us to always achieve, improve, learn, grow, and think, how would Heaven not be but a sped up version of all the above? How would anyone ever be “bored”? (It has always been my personal opinion that anyone who could consider Heaven boredom need not consider going to this glorious place!!) Here, the best, most obedient, best improved, highest attained, fondest associates will live. How could that create boredom?? If it is, I would like a little of this special boredom, AND I will take all you want to miss!! Here, all the characteristics of personality are explained and glorified. We will then know WHY we were as we were, understand WHAT we were to God, and see the PURPOSE for His plan. There will never be any un-employment. Life (as we know and define it) means growth, activity, learning, and improving. Unlike life on this planet, labor that does not weary the soul will be ours. Disappointment will never mar the placidity of that society and with all of this our picture is still marred with illimitable imagination that will be far short and inadequate for God’s expression of Love to all who labored for Him and His Son, here!! They who hope to enter this wonderful existence MUST begin by doing God’s Will here, for that is ALL THAT WILL OR CAN BE DONE, THERE!! Anything you don’t like about God, here, you had better get fixed. God said; “I change Not” so don’t think Heaven will be made up of a society of the “do nots” and the “me-ocrats”. If you don’t do His will here, how can you expect to convince Him His will is not important, there??
Just for one moment consider the majesty of such a place. We all have seen the fine attainments of man’s architecture, imagine, there!! We do have a small comparison. Compare a man-made church with the Church of Christ. The purchase price of the Church of Christ with the price man or men have paid to establish, theirs! Imagine what man would have come up with IF Christ had not given His church for them to make a damning copy.
How will it be in Heaven? There is no language allowed man to describe the realm of the spiritual. As the “natural body” is not the explanation of the “spiritual body”, what can explain to man what God has not revealed??!! Jesus sought not to indulge His people with elaborate descriptions of the life beyond, all He said is, “I go to prepare a place .. that where I am you may be also”. For those who live in the true purpose of this life, death is a graduation into “the life that is life, indeed.”

Part 15
We are still looking for the “I” that is the lord of the soul and spirit of man. Everything involved in conscious personality is related to the brain, but not originated by it. The brain can be the seat of thought without being the source of it!! “I” not only uses the brain, but “I” educate and fit it for its work!! The brain itself has no knowledge or thought-no power to originate either. The difference between the brain of a baboon and a man is in the being behind it. It is not the brain that thinks, remembers, wills, obeys, or intends. If one could dissect the brain all they would find was a mass of cells, nerve centers suffused with blood. If the same brain is dissected when this individual dies, one would find the same mass of cells, nerve centers suffused with blood!! What learned, what grew, what became more wise?? ‘I’ do not die, cease, where does the “I” go?? “I” am not the brain and the brain is not the “I” that is me, in fact “I” control, possess, and use the brain as though it belongs to me (as I do my right hand or arm while “I” am in the body) for it is mine, but I am not the brain!!
The “I” is not thought, feelings or emotions, either!! No, the real “I” is the conscious person behind all I do, is greater than my earthly tabernacle, and cannot be produced by mankind (and he has tried). All that is of my tabernacle is mine. “I” have been allowed to use, abuse, or destroy what God prepared me. If ‘I’ think, ‘I’ feel, if ‘I’ desire, ‘I’ plan, if ‘I’ want, ‘I’ make plans to obtain, yet the “I” remains the permanent thing behind everything. Though my body constantly changes “I” constantly fuel my life as though I own it!! This “self” that is within me has conviction, opinions, duties, and desires. It knows, has a consciousness of right wrong stored in it that allows “me” to make proper decisions!! The “I” is a permanent-behind –the scenes, separate pre-existent totality who wanted a place to belong!! This self has conviction: “I” will always be, live forever, and if ‘I’ claim the right Lord, ‘I’ will spend eternity with my one true friend, from whom “I” began. Paul writes about “a law written in our hearts” Romans 2:15, and the apostle John calls this “I” the light in every man. John 1:9 ‘I’ am not of this Earth, ‘I’ am from above!
The “I” is not the Soul! Adam became a living soul. Instead of saying I have a soul, I should say I am a soul, a living soul. The Supreme Spirit touched with His finger the body of Adam and the true Adam began to be. As an electric spark flashing into his body, Adam becomes a living soul. I know the soul is not the “I” for “I” can lose it!! “For what is a man profited; if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26 Gaining the world loses the “I”. “I” am the invisible immortal being clothed in a material body in this stage of existence on the planet Earth. “I” am the emanation from God’s nature intended to live in harmony with Deity for “I” was born to serve the Lord!
Can the “I” be destroyed? If “I” have survived the rigors of physical child birth, emergencies untold, and sustained all subsequent changes of every part of the body-will the “I” not survive the putting away of the whole body at death?? You, “I” must live forever and ever-whether exalted or degraded in character or station, you or the “I” are forever, never can we get away from Life. Let the soul feel its own dignity, measure its own worth, and know its importance for look what God did to show its value, He gave His only begotten Son!! He created it, stamped it with His own image; redeemed it by the incarnation and death of Christ. Just what is the “I” that it means so much to God? God’s value which He set on the soul is without comparison. Who, what am “I”?