Death is not only the result of sin, but we can also say that death is TIME that has run out! Each beat of the heart proves that your time on earth is running out and you’re one second nearer death. Someday your life span on earth will end only to find eternity beginning. Time is so short with the contrast of eternity being so long. How long is eternity? It can be defined as, “time without end.” There is only ONE eternity, but please remember that it has two destinies (Heaven for the redeemed and Hell for the unregenerate). Your next heartbeat could be your last. Whenever the last beat throbs in your chest, where will you spend the endless age of eternity?
“Why did God put me on earth? What is life really all about? What will happen to me after death?” These questions have a way of raising the human curiosity. We can only answer these questions with true satisfaction and inner peace through the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is God’s mouthpiece to man and the only divinely inspired Book that tells how to be prepared for the moment of death. God’s Written Word reveals the Living Word and is our road-map for living. Life is a journey, a pilgrimage, through this age of TIME. One thing that most people have in common is the crossing of death’s chilling waters. Where will you be one minute after death?
When God created man, He gave him a physical body of flesh for this world, but a spiritual body of soul and spirit for the world to come. God created Adam and Eve with the intention of them having fellowship with their Creator. After the first couple sinned in the garden, God provided a means of restoring fellowship with fallen man through animal sacrifice that prefigured the coming of Jesus Christ in substitutionary atonement. God promised that Jesus would be the Supreme Sacrifice for man's sin. John the Baptist verified this by saying of Jesus, “behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (Jh. 1:29).
Ever since Adam all mankind, except Christ Who was virgin born and God in human flesh, has inherited the same sinful nature. Believers in the Old Testament anticipated the coming of the Redeemer by shedding animal blood in sacrifice. Jesus was God’s human sacrifice Who became the Substitute in paying the penalty of our sin. The only way man can be restored to fellowship with His Creator and be saved from the penalty of sin for all eternity is by trusting Jesus Christ in child-like faith. We often refer to this as God’s plan of salvation. Head knowledge or intellectual belief is not enough to get you into Heaven. You must repent and trust Christ as Savior of soul and Lord of life, meaning that you commit to His Lordship in full surrender. We yield ourselves to Christ, when we realize that He takes up residence in our eternal soul. Only the Holy Spirit can conquer our sinful nature and transform us within.
If you have never found new life in Christ, if you have never been changed by the miracle working power of God’s grace, if unforgiven sin is keeping you from fellowship with God, then you have never found the meaning and purpose for living and you’re not ready to die. God has done all that is required to purchase your salvation. How you respond to Christ in this life will reflect were you will be ONE MINUTE AFTER DEATH! Will you be as Paul said, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (II Cor. 5:8), or will you be suffering the eternal torments of Hell? A person will not go to Hell because God is cruel, but because of man’s own unforgiven sin, stubbornness, and pride. After death, you will be with Jesus in Paradise only if you are truly converted through repentance of sin and personal transforming faith in Jesus Christ. The way to Heaven is not through creeds, customs, religion, family inheritance, or denominations, but only by God’s plan of salvation. Christianity is not a religion, but a personal relationship with Jesus Christ like Jesus told Nicodemus, “ye must be born again” (Jh. 3:1-15).
Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Every person has displeased God, no matter the bigness or littleness of the sin. Adam only ate a forbidden piece of fruit while King David committed adultery and murder. Both found forgiveness. The first step is confessing that you are a sinner, that your sin has separated you from Holy God, and that you need saving from the penalty of your sin.
Luke 13:3 reminds us that “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Repentance is a change of mind and only God can give you a repentant heart. This will cause you to be sorrowful for your sin and turn from the old deliberate and corrupt way of living. In conversion, Christ changes us and gives us a desire to please Him. As long as we are in fleshly bodies, we’ll never be perfect, but our daily goal is to resist the flesh, separate ourselves from sin, and grow spiritually in Christ.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” You will not go to Heaven because you’re good enough nor will you go to Hell because you’re bad. Salvation is a “gift” from God (Eph. 2:8-9). It cannot be earned. You must respond by “faith” to God’s free “gift” of “grace”. God loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die in your place on the cross. Three days after Jesus died, He arose to prove His deity. When you trust Him as your personal Savior, He credits His “righteousness” to your sinfully bankrupt account and guarantees you victory over sin, death, Hell, and the grave when you die.
Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We have all earned and deserve death because we’re born sinners by nature. Only God’s free “gift” of “grace” will pardon us from the consequences of our sin. Those who reject Christ will discover an eternity of separation from God. But the Christian will find himself in the eternal presence of the Lord, forgiven, freed from all temptation, sin, suffering, sickness, sadness, and sorrow. “Eternal life” can only be found in Christ. Remember, eternity is time without end and that means forever. Therefore, everyone faces either “eternal life” or eternal damnation.
Romans 10:9, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” There is no such thing as secret discipleship. Your commitment to Christ will be obvious. Genuine conversion will be evident (II Cor. 5:17). Heart belief is a surrender that produces a noticeable difference. To be truly saved from the penalty of sin will make one unashamed of the risen Christ and recognize Him as Lord of life.
Heb. 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Going to the church house on Sunday will NOT give you a license to enter Heaven. Many people with their names on church rolls will end up in Hell. Don’t look at the hypocrites or any other person for your example. Look to Jesus for in Him you will find no fault. The Bible teaches Christians to be baptized as an act of public testimony of their faith (Matt. 28:19-20) and to gather together for the study of God’s Word. The only way to become a victorious believer is to study and apply God’s Word to your daily living. Satan seeks to destroy a Christian’s witness, but the power of Christ alone can defeat the devil as you daily arm yourself by faith in the Word. Daily, we need to pray and read the Scriptures. Every Sunday, we ought to congregate with fellow believers for the teaching of God’s Word. Unless we take in physical nourishment, then we’ll become weak. The same is true spiritually. That’s why we need to feast upon the Word of God and be taught life changing truths that can make a difference in the way we live once we put those biblical principles into daily practice.
Only the Holy Spirit can give you a genuine hunger and thirst for Almighty God. Only God can convict you of sin, righteousness, and the judgment. He alone can give you faith to believe and a repentant heart with a disgust over your sin. Becoming a true Christian is trusting Jesus Christ as Savior of your soul and Lord of your life. Apart from Christ, you will never find life worth living and be ready to die! When death comes to you, where will you be when you take your last breath?
Covenant of Grace Ministries
2704 Fairway Drive
Greensboro, NC 27408
www.covenantofgraceministries.com