Yes! There is Good News! 12.7.18

What is it that you expect to be doing one thousand years from now? To tell you the truth, it is hard to see that far into the future, isn’t it? On this earth, the Bible tells us, we might expect to have 70 years of physical life. This is what it says in Psalm 90:10, “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty if we have the strength.”

There are many people in our little community that must have great strength for they have reached into their eighties and even into their nineties!! At some point though, we must die – as the old saying goes, “there are no survivors on this planet.” But then what?

If our names are written in the book of life, we wait for the resurrection from the dead. But then what? Whoa, let’s not go too fast here. What do I mean by no survivors?

In the book of Hebrews 9:27 it is written, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment ... ” Yes, all of us are given just this one opportunity to live a fleshly existence. And even though Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, says, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:51), those that do not “sleep” must shed this flesh and be clothed with a new body. Paul goes on to say, “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed, For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:52-53)

OK, so what do you expect to be doing one thousand years from now? Is your name written in God’s book of life?

The most famous scripture in the Bible is arguably 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.” It we are looking for good news, this is a very good place to start. (OK, if we are true to God’s word, we should start at Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” But that is a topic for another time!)

God gave us His only begotten Son that through His death, we may receive life. And that life is the life we are talking about – eternal life! That life is beyond our understanding, beyond our comprehension and beyond anything we might imagine!! It is a life spent with our Heavenly Father and with His Son. It is a life that will be filled with joy and peace. It is a life that will be spent experiencing the true glory of God – a glory that today is not available to us. “Then Moses said, ‘show me your glory.’ And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim my name, Yahovah ... But you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’” (Ex. 33:18-20) In that day we will be allowed to see what the Apostle John saw when he was “in the Spirit,” “At once I was in the Spirit and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow resembling an emerald, encircled the throne …. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder ….”

What an awesome experience!! And truly Good News! Stay tuned for more.