Bible Studies
Hope of Eternal Life
Eternal Life is a subject, which has been argued, debated, and thought about from people as high up as the Emperors of Rome to philosophers Plato and Aristotle, to Origen and Turtullian, to Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Barth, to the Prime Ministers and Presidents of our day, and every philosophy student in regular college or Bible College.
Eternal Life the statement, means to most, life after death.
This question of whether there is, or there isn’t, animates most religious fervor. It makes even the biggest skeptic of Religion cringe at its possibility.
Eternity is something no one but the most Religious has ever tried to explain. Normal nine to five people do not experience what Eternity is until they are faced with it.
My fundamental belief about Eternal Life hinges on one verse of Scripture. It’s simple and straightforward. One however, which makes you have to choose to believe the God of the Bible does truly exist.
The verse is found in the front of most Bibles. It is a simple description of how God formed then animated the first human being.
Here is the Biblical Foundation for Eternity;
Gen 2:7, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
This verse is one of the first glimpses into Eternity. Without this breath, all we are is dust and water. With this Life giving Breath we are animated; walking, thinking, breathing beings with free will.
For humans the most fundamental thing to realize is,we are absolutely nothing without God.
He is the one who gave us life. He is also the one who allowed us to have personality, intelligence, and free will to do as we chose.
When you think of your life, what makes you alive? Is it just a cosmic miracle of chance?
By a chance meeting, millions of years ago of two charged enzymes, which came together to form a new enzyme, and then met more, continuing on, until all these cells finally formed living things?
Or is it because, as the Bible says, a Supreme Loving Creator formed you, and then breathed life into you. I believe it is the latter, as the former is much harder to see, or quantify.
Lets look at this Breath then.
God breathed into Adam (Gen 2:19), the first human, and then he was a man. He was not a man until this Breath came into him.
Does this mean God breathed personality into him, or intelligence, or even preconceived dispositions?
I would say no, the life He gave, was simply that, life. The force to animate the thing God formed.
God in no way made us to be a robot, programmed for some Eternal purpose. He did make us perfectly however, and in this perfection, we were created with a capability to follow truth and find God (Gen 6:3, Rm. 1:20-21).
Our Hearts were created to recognize, and then believe truth, not programmed to follow.
This is like a software designer, who makes new games, or programs. He designs its normal functions with parameters. These are tied to its environment. This being computer language, which allows the computer to recognize what the software application wants to do.
It is simple in theory, difficult in reality to because a computer also has an interpretive capability, which few can master unless one is equated intimately with it’s language.
What this means is; the programmer, if he is good, can know exactly what the computer will recognize, how it can recognize the commands properly in order to make his program do what he wants.
I’m not talking about computer programming here, I’m referring to how God made us. He formed us with what was here in the Earth, and this makes us bound to the Earth’s limitations. Just like the computer programmer is bound to its system of restraints, so are we.
What we have as humans however, that is different from a computer program is God's very own Breath is what gave us life. He didn’t use an Earthly source of power to Animate us. This is critically important to understand
It wasn’t like the Frankenstein movie where the corpse was animated by an unknowing common bolt of electricity, and then somehow it worked.
This Breathe of Life came from our Creator, and was a part of Him, thus making the Breath, and in consequence us, Eternal.
Before God breathed into Humans, He only used Earthly things to Create and animate. This was the first mentioning of using something outside of Earth to cause Life. Another critically important thing to see.
God is an Eternal Being. By eternal here, I’m referring to His not being bound to our Earthly restrictions.
Most cannot explain what Eternity is, nor do I think we should try. What is important is to understand the fundamental truth; God is outside of time and Earthly constraints. He is not bound, nor can be bound, by His Creation.
Verses like the ones which state God inhabits Eternity (Isa. 57:10), or is timeless (Rev. 1:4), reflect an idea about God, which sheds light on what His Breath gave us. His Breath brought us, Earthly Created beings, outside of Earth in one respect; our Life is derived from an Eternal source.
With this Breath was the start of our Oneness with our Creator.
This breath gave us the means to be alive. It transformed our Earthly shell, into a vibrant, ready to go, system of life we own today.
I also submit that this Breath gives us a moral compass other creatures God made do not have. This is my conjecture of course as we do not have how God animated the other Creatures we see here, but we can see animals have only instincts, and intelligence relegated to that instinct. They do not have the capability of compassion or love, as humans know love.
In this Breath of Life we live, without it we are dead. This Breath is Eternal, and will return to its Creator. In this we can be sure.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 635 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Tim DeLaMatter or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 635 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.