"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) A warning gone unheeded. They ate of the tree and, to this day, death has come to visit the souls of this earth. We all die.
Abel was the first to taste death. Adam who had sinned and Cain who had murdered weren’t the first. It was Abel who was righteous. God heard Abel’s blood cry unto him. (Genesis 4:10) And the men of the earth were wicked. Were it not for Noah finding grace in the eyes of God (Genesis 6:8) this world would have been destroyed because of sin.
God must love mankind very much. He, our great God, could no longer walk with man because of sin. So he devised a plan. A plan to save all who would believe on him. It was a plan to conquer death. Yes, we die. It is certain. It visits the rich and the poor, men and women, the young and the old, the good and the bad. No one is left out. Even as Abel who should not have tasted death, all of us will enter into that unknown experience. The last breath with no idea of what happens next.
As early as Isaiah, the prophet, God’s plan was at work. Isaiah who lived 800 years before Christ, spoke of death being swallowed up in victory. (Isaiah 25:8) Imagine, even then the promise of a life with no death was being spread to anyone who would listen. Today, 2800 years later the message is even more real.
We live on this side of the cross. We know the story of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. God made his Bible available to all of us. We have the entire history in our hands. He only wants us to do the right thing.
Our lives matter. Christ died for them. The value of our lives don’t lie in the things that we possess, where we’ve been, or what our personal successes are. Our value lies in the fact that we are important to God. He cares for us.
Death is our enemy. We don’t know when it will come or what lies beyond. The devil is a very real foe. He was the one that tempted Adam. And even today he is still at work to steal our souls. He’s vividly portrayed in Job 2 about what he wants to do to believers. A reading of Job 7 is an account of what man’s days are like on this earth.
Christ is the embodiment of eternal life--life without end--no more death. And it’s spelled out in Revelation 21:4, “...and there shall be no more death.” Death will be swallowed up in victory. Victory for all those who love God, believe his Word and follow after him. It’s really quite simple.
Abel was the first to taste death. Adam who had sinned and Cain who had murdered weren’t the first. It was Abel who was righteous. God heard Abel’s blood cry unto him. (Genesis 4:10) And the men of the earth were wicked. Were it not for Noah finding grace in the eyes of God (Genesis 6:8) this world would have been destroyed because of sin.
God must love mankind very much. He, our great God, could no longer walk with man because of sin. So he devised a plan. A plan to save all who would believe on him. It was a plan to conquer death. Yes, we die. It is certain. It visits the rich and the poor, men and women, the young and the old, the good and the bad. No one is left out. Even as Abel who should not have tasted death, all of us will enter into that unknown experience. The last breath with no idea of what happens next.
As early as Isaiah, the prophet, God’s plan was at work. Isaiah who lived 800 years before Christ, spoke of death being swallowed up in victory. (Isaiah 25:8) Imagine, even then the promise of a life with no death was being spread to anyone who would listen. Today, 2800 years later the message is even more real.
We live on this side of the cross. We know the story of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. God made his Bible available to all of us. We have the entire history in our hands. He only wants us to do the right thing.
Our lives matter. Christ died for them. The value of our lives don’t lie in the things that we possess, where we’ve been, or what our personal successes are. Our value lies in the fact that we are important to God. He cares for us.
Death is our enemy. We don’t know when it will come or what lies beyond. The devil is a very real foe. He was the one that tempted Adam. And even today he is still at work to steal our souls. He’s vividly portrayed in Job 2 about what he wants to do to believers. A reading of Job 7 is an account of what man’s days are like on this earth.
Christ is the embodiment of eternal life--life without end--no more death. And it’s spelled out in Revelation 21:4, “...and there shall be no more death.” Death will be swallowed up in victory. Victory for all those who love God, believe his Word and follow after him. It’s really quite simple.
