Man, the image bearer!
The Bible truthfully presents God as the Creator, who created all that surrounds us. It is stated in the first verse of the book of Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then it describes how He created all by the power of His word, and finally, at the epitome of all, He created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. (vs 27). Man is different from animals because he is created in God’s image, and God wanted him to be His representative and His image bearer on earth.
man- material and immaterial parts.
Chapter 2 gives a detailed account of how man was created by God. When all else was created by the power of His word, man was created differently. It says in 2:7, “then the LORD formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Make a note of the material and immaterial parts in him from the very creation. He was formed by God out of dust from the ground, and he also has an immaterial part, because God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Man is dependent on God for the breath of life on a continuous basis. This is the immaterial part of God in man’s existence and continuity, that dust/ground or nothing from earth or the universe can provide. Life originated from God and continues to be divine and heavenly.
Therefore, man has material and immaterial parts- the dust out of which he was made and the spirit that God gave to him. When life ends, or death occurs, the Bible says, “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7. Death, in essence, is the separation of spirit from body. The material part returns to earth, and the immaterial part goes to God who gave it.
Who should I really fear?
Jesus said, and it is recorded in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” God decides, at the end of life, where man’s spirit goes. Do not fear those who can kill only your body, but love and fear God, who can destroy both soul and spirit in hell.
An Example provided by Jesus!
Jesus attested the truth with the example of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, by saying the soul of Lazarus went to the place of comfort, which really meant heaven; however, the rich man’s soul ended up in the place of torment, which is the horrible place of agony in fire (vs. 24).
Macro structure attests the truth!
The macro structure of the Bible, if thoroughly analyzed, reveals this -Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah according to the promises of God, from the pages of Old Testament scriptures, and he is the long-awaited seed of the woman (Gen 3:15), through whom the “worldwide blessings of salvation” are expected to come to all people everywhere (Genesis 12:3), who was meant to be the lamb that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and the fulfillment of all the Old Testament animal sacrifices in his person and work, and specifically the Passover lamb whose blood was applied on the door posts and lintels for the redemption of the Israelites, who would bruise the serpent who is the devil from the beginning, who deceived our first parents in Eden, and continued to deceive his posterity throughout the history.
The conqueror who conquered and fulfilled the promise!
Christ, the Messiah, fulfilled the first and other several hundreds of promises of God when He died, buried and rose again for the sins, and there-by bruised Devils’ head. The Bible graphically illustrated the defeat of the devil in Colossians 2:14-15 when it said what the promised Messiah did on the cross – “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
death swallowed up in victory.
The great Apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 15:54, “Death is swallowed up in victory”. Yes, your death can also be swallowed up in victory. The sting of death is the power of sin that alienates people from God, and the power of sin is the Law. But listen how he concludes that section by saying this – “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Provided you come to Christ Jesus, the God’s promised Messiah for your salvation and eternal life, and accept him as your savior who only can save you, then assuredly, you have the victory over death because in a moment at the time of death, you will be in heaven, the place of all comfort, as happened to Lazarus, and will not end up in the place of torment and agony. The Bible promises, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1.
Friend, are you in Christ? do you want to be found in Christ, when the life comes to an end here? Jesus said, “God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Mark- “whoever believes in Him (Christ Jesus) shall never, never perish, but have everlasting life – they possess eternal life in them as they live here on earth. At the moment of death, heaven and eternal life becomes reality for them.
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