What Is Your Life?

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What Is Your Life?

 

Were it not for the fact that we have a. revelation which we believe to be divinely inspired, we would not feel equal to the responsibility of discussing the question, What is Your Life?

 

Students of science state that “matter cannot exist and be operative without spirit.” As the basic principle in relation to life, we-are in agreement with that statement, for it is written in Job 34:14:

 

“If God (the Creator) gather unto Himself His Spirit and His Breath, all flesh shall perish and man shall turn again to dust.”

 

The essential point to consider is, by what, means did matter begin to exist and operate living form? If, as alleged by the atheist, a belief in creation by God requires: the exercise of a considerable amount of credulity, we are of opinion that a belief in evolution makes far greater demands on our reason. From a scientific point of view, the energising of matter happened during a period too remote to be now capable of demonstration. It, therefore, has become enshrouded in technical terms and explanations which the average mind is unable to follow, because only a comparatively few men know what science or philosophy teaches.

 

Faith far outshines philosophy. Many men have done by faith what they never would have done by philosophy. When, therefore, we are derided for preferring faith we do not mind, because we are convinced that the only authentic source of knowledge regarding the origin of life is the Scriptures, while the unproven assumptions of science are incomprehensible. Just compare the involved hypotheses of science with this simple statement contained in Genesis 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 soul.”

 

MAN’S CREATION

 

Let us critically examine this declaration. The original Hebrew words translated “the Lord God” refer to the power of the Great Original—the Creator. He is the first cause of life. We do not dispute that there may have been forms of life on this earth before our epoch but we are not concerned with the manner in which they were created. We have the record, however, that immediately prior to the creation of the things of our epoch, the earth was void and enshrouded in darkness When in God’s good pleasure He re-ordered the earth He formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

 

“The spirit of God is in my nostrils.” Chapter 27:3. We would have you particularly notice the Bible record of the operation of this ‘breath of life.’ Man became a living soul, that is, the inanimate clay form became a living organism.

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MAN’S NATURE

 

Around this record of the origin of human life rages the controversy of the nature of man and the question arises, “Was man endowed with an immortal soul because he was energised by the breath of life? If the answer be Yes! then we invite your attention to Genesis, 7th chapter. Herein is recorded the account of the flood at the time of Noah some 1600 years after the creation of Adam.

 

“And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth and every man; All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.”

 

We submit that the teaching of these verses is, that the “breath of life” is the energising force of, not only man, but also of cattle, beasts, fowl and every creeping thing, because they died when unable to breathe. If the breathing of the “breath of life” into man endowed him with an immortal soul, are we to understand that all forms of life that breathe, also have an immortal soul? It would be ridiculous to admit such a pro¬position, but how can one be accepted and the other rejected? The record in Gen 2: 7 states that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” But if the man be that which lives in the body—an invisible tenant capable of separation from the body and yet retaining consciousness—how are we to un¬derstand that he (the man) was made of dust? How can man return to dust again if he be not dust at all?

 

The whole of the facts and circumstances, surrounding the creation of man show him to be as Paul says in 1 Cor 15:47. “The first man is of the earth, earthy.”

 

We ask, how can man be of the earth, if he be, in reality not of the earth, but of heaven, heavenly? To say these things refer only to the body, is to support the Scripture, for the body, the man, is the subject of Gen 2:7. The power of speech and the faculty of reason do not, in themselves, warrant a belief in the idea that the mind, in some way, contains an immortal spark, which is spoken of by some as “the soul immortal.” It is significant that not once within the covers of the Bible is there a statement that man is immortal either in body or spirit. On the other hand, the word mortal is applied to man by several writers. For example: —

 

Romans 6:12—

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.”

 

1 Cor 15:53—

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.”

 

Ezekiel 18:4—

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

 

Job 4:17—

“Shall mortal man be more just than God.”

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BIBLE EVIDENCE OF MAN’S MORTALITY

 

In support of our belief that man is wholly a mortal air-breathing creature, we invite your attention to the following: —

 

Ecclesiastes 3:19—

“For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.”

 

Psalm 104: 29—

“Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust,”

 

Psalm 146:3-4—

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of men, in whom there: is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish.”

 

If any believe that the soul be that part of man which loves and hates, is happy and can be sorrowful, read Ecclesiastes 9:5-6.

 

“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”

 

The apostles of Jesus were acquainted with these Old Testament writings and James, who held high authority in the early Christian Ecclesia, in his epistle, chapter 4, asks a question and supplies, the answer in ver. 14:

 

“For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.”

 

Compare with the following:

 

Job 3:13-22—

“For now I should have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; Or with princes that had gold who filled their, houses with silver; Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor the small and the great are there; and the servant is free from his master.”

 

Job 14:10-12—

“But man dieth and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; So man lieth down and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be ‘raised out of their sleep.”

 

Psalms 6:5—

“For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”

 

Isaiah 38:18-19—

“For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth.”

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LIFE IN CHRIST

 

In his first epistle to the Corinthians (chap. 15, verse 19), the apostle Paul writes: —

 

“If in this life only (that is, our present state), we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable,” and our remarks concerning life in the natural sense would, indeed, convey a cold, cheerless and discouraging outlook, were it not for the fact that there is another life—the Divine gift of eternal life—which can be ours through Christ Jesus our Redeemer. When He who is our life shall appear, it is then that we shall be like Him (Col 3:4). While our natural life is as a vapour that passeth away in death, the gospel of the Kingdom of God offers mankind a life that knows no ending. It places before us the opportunity of attaining to a nature that is immortal and to a body that is incorruptible. As the apostle Paul puts it in Romans 2:7: “To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, honour, immortality, eternal life.”

 

By what means? It was Jesus himself, who said to Nicodemus (John 3): “Verily Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” As natural earthy creatures, we have no right to immortality. It is external to us and can be obtained only under the conditions laid down in the Gospel. The reader-does well to consider this. All who desire a life beyond the grave must conform to the requirements ordained of God, which will ensure that life. Jesus went on to say to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, ‘Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.’ “Born of water signifies a covering in and a coming out of water. This is illustrated in the case of the Eunuch (Acts 8:27), who on hearing the Gospel from the lips of Philip, “went down into the water and was baptised; coming up out of the water, he went on his way rejoicing in the knowledge that, having been baptised into Christ he was related to a new life—a new order of living—that promised life throughout eternity.

 

In writing to the Corinthians of this new state, the apostle Paul remarks (2 Cor. 5:17) — “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are become new.”

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THE PROSPECT OF A FUTURE LIFE

Instead of being related only to death such an one becomes connected with the things that are eternal and that fade not away. Adam sinned and brought death into the world, but Jesus, by obedience, brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim 1:10. If then we be risen with Christ (from the waters of baptism), we have put off the old or natural man (the thinking of the flesh) and have put on the new or spiritual man (the Christ life). Having the same spirit of faith as our Master, we know, and are sure, that He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus (see 2 Cor. 4:14). In the life that awaits the faithful in the future age, they will triumph over death, for did not the Master give the assurance that “they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that, world and the resurrection from the dead cannot die any more for they are equal unto the angels and are the children of God being the children of the resurrection.”

Jesus asked, “For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Matthew 16:26. That question, is submitted to the reader. You have a soul to lose. Yes! when death terminates your life, what then? Ask yourself, “Is this present existence all that I want or do I desire’ also a future life?” Well then, have you considered these words of Jesus?

Mark 16:16— “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Revelation, 22:12— “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.”

Our present life is largely what we make it, but what of a life after death? That too, depends on our action. John says (1:12), “But as many as receive him (Jesus Christ) to them gave He power to become the sons of God; even to them that believe on His name.”

Our Father in Heaven offers believers the gift of immortality and a place in His Kingdom when it is established upon the earth. The opportunity is yours to accept that offer and this booklet is presented to you with the hope that you may see the wisdom of making the decision and then waiting for Christ, who is our life to appear, for then the worthy shall appear with Him in Glory (Col 3:4).

Author Not Noted

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Published by
Christadelphian Central Standing Committee-Regent Hall,
Regent Street, Sydney
Clyde Press, Printers, 608 High St., Thornbury. Melbourne. Vic.

What Is Your Life.pdf