The life after death- in the Bible

When we talk with other people -most of them although they claim they are Christians- they are completely hopeless when they hear about death.  But dying doesn't mean the end of life forever like many think. Those who don't have interest in searching the Bible may think that  there is no hope and that the future is unclear, uncertain. People would read every magazine they see that looks interesting or discloses secrets of a famous person, but there is a very little interest in reading the Bible. I wonder if a famous actress dug herself out of the grave and came back to a studio saying ; 'Guys I am back to life!,- every news would be talking about it. More- if she said 'Guys, I have something for immortality!'- wouldn't everybody want to know about it?

So why the fact about Jesus resurrection isn't speaking to people so much that they would hold on to hope of coming back to life manifested in Jesus?

The thing is most people are not really taught about it too much. There are lots of Christian churches that would only talk about Jesus as Him being born as a baby and then at Easter time- about Him crucified and risen again- without teaching what was the whole purpose of  it.

You would say; He was risen from the dead but what about me? I have no peace, no hope. I am trying to live my life in a good way but still I have no clue what will happen to me when I die. So we would rather avoid thinking about the whole story.

But if you  look into the  Bible , you would be surprised  how many great things are still possible in your future.

You can be sure you can have  life after coming to Jesus. And it is not about this life only but the life after you died. Life forever.

"Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in Me has eternal life." John 6;47

In order to be sure you have life you have to come to Jesus. Don't think about Him as a baby from the 'Christmas story'but accept Him as your powerful Lord and Savior.

You won't be sure about what will happen to you after you die, until you come to Jesus. 'Playing' the religious life without coming to the Son of God, won't bring you peace and hope.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. " John 5;39

You start with coming to Jesus, then you can read about the whole future the Bible is talking about. You will find out that Christ promised to come back and that there will be a time with  Him as a king on earth, time in which all those who belong to Him, will reign with Him for 1000 years.

You can see that you will be alive again  if you are to reign with Him during that time on earth.

The Bible says that if you – as a true believer in Christ- die before the return of Christ, you will be risen from the dead at His coming and you will receive the nature of what Christ received after His resurrection - He was the "firstborn from the dead" (Col.1, 18). The nature which Christ received, isn't subject to the death , it is as the nature of angels. Luke 20;36 talks about the 'righteous in Jesus' resurrected; " they can not die, because they are equal to the angels."

The body of Christ was transfigured - He could walk through the door, move through space (John.20, 26), He ate with His disciples (John.21, 13) - but He was not a ghost, but a person in a physical body.

 (John.20 , 27).

 In the Philippians we read, that "the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body." (Phil.3, 21)

You can be sure of your resurrection if you belong to Jesus;

“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8;11

We read about that also in Revelation (chapter 20), that talks about  two resurrections: the first one - when Christ returns to earth (v. 4), and the second one -after the 1000-year period of Christ reign on earth (v.13).

In the first (v. 6) case the reward for the righteous will be their immortal life that Jesus spoke about 

(Luke.20, 35-36).

“But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”

Paul also writes about that in 1 Corinthians 15; 23, the first resurrection is at the time of Christ's coming.

There is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

Not all people will have their share in the first resurrection ( at His coming). Those who are subject to God's judgement because they rejected Jesus who could save them- they won't see life.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." John 3;36

Jesus said;

"Whoever rejects me, and receives not my words has a judge: the word I preached,  will judge him in the last day" (John.12, 48). 

 

If you trusted Jesus as your Lord, you will not be judged into condemnation.

”Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5;24

Those who are subject to God's judgement will be resurrected after 1000 years of Christ reign on earth

 ( second resurrection).

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.”

"Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death." Revelation 20;14-15

"Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for thousand years."

                                       Christ 's Kingdom -1000 years of reign on earth

The period of 1000 years between the first and second resurrection will be a time of great blessing on the earth but before "God will be all in all" (v.28)-as Paul says in  1 Corinthians.15- Christ must "destroy all dominion authority and power; because He must reign, until He has put all His enemies under His feet "(v.24-25).  Finally, Christ's kingdom will cover the whole earth.

(Satan will be bound for a thousand years.) Christ will reign over the nations (mortal men), together with all the faithful (whom He will raise from the dead at his coming.  (1Corinthians.15, 23) 

 

"... they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him thousand years "

(Revelation 20:6). 

They will accompany Christ in the introduction of a new order when He returns. They have their share in so called 'the first resurrection'.

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert. " Isaiah 35;5-6

“Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
he work of their hands."             Isaiah 65;20-22

Eventually -after 1000 years -there will be perfect world, when the death will be totally destroyed.

                                          The Judgment of Satan

"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Revelation 20;7-10 

                                         A New Heaven and a New Earth

                                 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  Revelation 21;1-5

What keeps you from God?

What really takes place in the first  'experience' of God? For sure there is a peace and  joy  but  before that any comfortable feeling  there comes something disturbing, uprooting. Someone  noticed that before we 'experience'  peaceful  God's presence either in prayer or any other situation, God has to do some 'cleaning' in us. Comparing with His greatness we notice our 'miserable' heart. We are lead to the admitting the fact  that  our nature  is sinful.
Let's  look at Peter and his first encounter with Jesus' greatness;

"One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him  and listening to the word of God,
He saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then He sat down and taught the people
from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said;
 "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5;1-8
 Also when Isaiah entered the temple, God gave him such an experience of His holiness that the prophet cried out; 'Woe to me! for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."Isaiah 6;5
 This kind of ' disturbing' comes from the fact that God is holy and we are not. He is of a pure heart while ours is not. He is light that discloses any piece of 'dust' in our heart. That's why when we are approaching God  for the first time we have a feeling of us being ' unworthy', 'unclean'. We would rather hide and not lift up our face.

But God doesn't want to reject us. He wants to have fellowship with us and  wants to forgive you as soon as you admit you are a sinner. Then He wants to offer us a new life with a great ministry.
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up". James 4;10

And so happened to Peter. Jesus didn't answer, " Oh, you right Peter you better stay away from me as you are such a sinner." But Jesus' response was:
"Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men."

After Peter humbled himself before Jesus, He offered him a ministry! The same was with Isaiah.
We read that Isaiah' guilt was taken away and his sin atoned for.
 Isaiah says; "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6;8

God also offered a ministry to Isaiah.He was forgiven and  he was to bring God's message to the nation of Israel.

You can either humble yourself before the Lord and receive His forgiveness and   His righteousness

or you can keep your own righteousness and that  will keep you from God!

Jesus said ;"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5;32

Our righteousness surely keeps us from God. So was the reason the Pharisees were upset hearing Jesus speaking, as their own righteousness seemed fine and Jesus was simply disturbing their peace!

We have a great tendency of  seeing ourselves better than others. There are  always worst 'crimes; 'worst' sins. We can easily say in many situations ;" I am not like that guy, that woman. I am kind, I help the others, I am generous, what more should I be doing than I am doing now?" 

That's why so many people would rather have their 'own ' God  who doesn't 'disturb' them!
The one who says; it is ok what you are doing, you are a good person. No one is perfect. This type of God 'feels' very comfortable to be with at any moment..
But there  is  a different  situation when it comes to  the real God who created  heavens and  earth. The One who is Holy and just. The real One existing, not  the one created in our own mind.
We can easily create our own God if we don't come to Jesus as only He is the image of the  true invisible  God. Colossians 1;15
Any  'god' around, apart from coming through Jesus, is not a true God! No other gods will 'disturb' us, no other gods will 'shake' us.They can't accuse, they can't forgive, they can't do anything!
Facing the real holy God is what will change you.

Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. John 14;6
There is no other  way around.
And what keeps so many people from coming to Jesus? Knowing He offers life, more- He offers everlasting life.He can save you from God's coming judgement and He can wipe away your quilt.
What keeps then so many of people from Jesus?
As God is holy, so is His Son  and He will bring the same feeling in our hearts.  He will reveal the truth about us, He will help us to see the  truth about ourselves- sometimes might be a 'shocking truth', He will let us see our sinful nature.
He will let you see that' What you really think you are, you are not. What you do NOT  think you are , that is the real YOU. He turns you around.
If He is the Lord , the light in the midst of our darkness, He must show us the reality.
He says " Do not  commit murder; anyone who commits murder must be brought to judgement." Then I would think  "Oh I don't belong to those, I never killed anyone." Good, but
He  also says " Anyone who nurses  anger against his brother must be brought to judgement." After these words I would actually admit, I have nothing for my defense, I am  guilty as well.
The same would be true in other aspects of our life. Jesus would reveal the truth about us that we are in a deep trouble  We can't carry on like that  without the Savior!
The only hope is only in Him, so don't  stay away. You need Christ in your  life.

Before you come to Him, you might think you  don't like your  'bad side' to be exposed.  Jesus seems too far disturbing. He wouldn't approve my love for the money, my dishonest thoughts.So  you feel more comfortable to stay away.
"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed" John 3;20
Nobody likes to be exposed. But if you like your ' darkness' you will keep from the light and you won't see God..

 That is what many people in the world choose. But  for whatever reason you hide before God, you will lost in the end.  Whatever you are trying to  gain in this life and you live without God, you will loose in the end.
Does it pay off to live without God? Definitely not! And rejecting the Savior is the worst decision  a person can make!

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation;
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."  Mark 8;36-38

Our life is really short comparing with all the eternity. In that short time of our existence on earth we are to find God. Whatever decision we make now,  it will decide about the place where we will spend eternity. 

 If you chose  the life with God, you made the best decision of your life, as He is to bring you abundant life. You saved yourselves  from the  trouble that is facing  eternal punishment.
 You inherited all the God's blessings that for His children. Offer your life to Him and He will guide you. His ways are always the best. He is the living God, He will surely make a difference in your life.

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" John 10;10
"Those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified." Romans 8;30
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33;3

..............................................................................................
We welcome any  questions and comments that can be sent to  study_b@rocketmail.com

How much do we care?

Do you know that most people who are perishing and going to hell are the ones who don't care?  Those who simply  don't care what will happen after they die.
Not  necessary the bad ones as lots of sinners in the time of Jesus repented and came to Him for forgiveness.  Also the  " apparently"  'good' ones are the most 'endangered'.  I say 'apparently' as they give all the impression of being good and  think  of themselves as good people.
Luke 18;11-14 talks about one example
"The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Bible says no one of us is good enough on our  own, and the 'righteous' to themselves need to see they also need a Savior. The other careless group of  people is the one  enjoying  only the present time and  for whom all the worldly things seem to take over. 
Happy as long as there is  a  good retirement plan, but what about the eternal plan of salvation ? Nobody said you will die at the age of 90 so you have time to wait, God can call you earlier at the age of 40 or 50  or any  other time. It might be  by surprise.
We read that those who don't know Christ will pay the price. A severe, terrible price. In referring to this price Jesus is talking in Matthew 24;38-20
"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
The parable is clear. A message of  judgement was proclaimed at the times of Noah as it is now. People didn't listen much at that time, people don't  care much in these days. People could be saved in Noah' s ark, people can be saved in Jesus now. There came  judgement of flood, next there will come the judgement of fire.
"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thessalonians 1;8-9

Whoever was to hide in the wooden ark was to be saved, whoever will hide in Jesus and His cross will be saved.
If God didn't give up  the judgement  in Noah's generation,  He is also  not going to give  it up at Christ's return. In both situations people had enough time to change and choose life with God Until Christ comes it is your time to get right with God. Don't put it off so you  wouldn't have to be taken by surprise.

"But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment." 2 Peter 3;10
The era of Noah was a sad one. People on earth did what God said was evil, and violence was everywhere.. Gen 6;11
Such rebellion was breaking God's heart. He even regretted creating it.
Only Noah and his family responded to His call and they and the animals were saved. Whoever responds to Christ's call will be saved also.
When the  door of the ark was closed and it started to rain- it was too late for anybody else. When Christ will come second time, the door will be closed as well.If you don't  know Him you will pay the severe price.

You would ask, why should I know Him? Are you sure there is such a place as hell? Isn't God love? How would He sent anybody there?
His justice and holiness requires the punishment of sin.
When Christ was teaching  thirteen percent of the  of His  teaching is about judgement and hell. More than half of His parables refer to God's  eternal judgement  of sinners. No one spoke of hell more than Christ did. He spoke about it so much to let you know where you don't  have to go if you put your trust in Him!
He is our high priest interceding for us. You need to be forgiven to be able to avoid God's eternal punishment. And that sin- forgiveness is only from Jesus.
God is giving everybody a chance, a chance to escape the horror of eternal hell, and if you choose to ignore it, there will be no mercy after Christ return.

We all celebrate Easter, we all know what happened before Easter, we know Jesus had to go through lots of pain, cross and experience of separation from God.  If   God's judgement wasn't real and wasn't  terrible, Christ wouldn't have to worry about saving us from that. We would die for our sin, God would resurrect us and say, " I forgive you" and that's it. If God's Son experienced the separation from God and pain, surely will those who will die without Him.
Don't choose  the worldly things  to captivate your minds so  much and become careless person.
You might know Jesus ' dead'  only on the cross and you don't know  how much your life depends on Him. Get to know the real resurrected Christ who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

When John saw Jesus on the island of Patmos, he was amazed. John's encounter was far too different  from any in Galilee. The impression was so powerful that John was knocked out cold." When I saw Him I fell in a dead faint at his feet." Rev 1;17

John describes; "He was dressed in a long robe and had a gold band around His chest.". The significance of the robe  and band  is great. Jesus is wearing  the clothing of a priest who presents people to God and God to people. He is at the right hand of God interceding. Rom 8;34

He is the one who can wipe away your guilt. He is the one who doesn't want you to perish.

We also see absolute strength. "His feet were like bronze  that glows hot in a furnace" Rev 1;15 

He comes to you gentle.
"His voice like a noise of a flooding water." The sound of His voice soothes a soul.
 
"Coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword" Rev 1;16
The truth of His voice  pierces a soul.
He knows everything about you, He knows  your heart, every thought, every sin of yours and wants to wipe it away when you come to Him. "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrew 4;12

 He doesn't want you to experience judgement;
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5;24





He wants to give you life;John 10;10
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full"  John 10;10

He laid His life for you;
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" John 10;11



He is alive and He is definitely coming again;
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,
    and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen." Rev 1;7

All about salvation

 Who will be saved?
There is no universal salvation, some will be saved and others lost. The Bible says that  the day to separate one from the other will come for sure. This is the day to separate grain from the chaff, the good from the bad, the sheep from the goats. Each person will be classified into one or the other group. The Holy Bible  says that in many places. Therefore, I do not accept the thesis of universal salvation. The question is: Are you between the saved or the lost ones?

To emphasize the importance of this issue, I must refer to the parable of the wheat and the tares and the parable of the fishing. We do not  have to find our own  interpretation of these parables, the Lord  explained  them to us  clearly Himself. Wheat - says Jesus - symbolizes the children of God, and the tares - the children of Satan. The servants wanted to root out the tares and to leave the wheat , but Jesus said: "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
(Matt. 13: 30).

How long will they grow together? Until the harvest. When will be the harvest? When the Lord  says it is time for that. That means, while we are on this earth there will be wheat and tares, children of God and children of Satan. If we all  were to be saved,  the weeds  would have to be turned into the wheat. But the Bible says  the tares are tares, they are  not intended to be saved, but will be collected in bundles and burned.

The same lesson is in the parable about fishing. The fisherman catches the good and bad fish. In the sea there are also bad fish.The sea  is the Kingdom, the visible church - and it has also unbelievers ( or fake believers) in it  who are like bad  fish in a net. The separation does not take place earlier than at the end of the ages( whenever the Lord decides). Then the good will be separated from the bad. Not everyone will be saved.

"Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who commit iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear! (Matt. 13: 41-43).


"Angels shall come forth, and separate the wicked from the righteous" (Matt. 13: 49).
"And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world [...]. Then  He`shall say to those on his left hand, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels [...].
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
(Matthew 25: 32-34, 41, 46).

Our Lord says that the angels  will separate the sinful from the righteous, The sheep will be set on his right and the goats on the left. To ones He will say, "Come, ye blessed ones " to the others He will says : "Depart from me, ye cursed ones ." Thus, if there is a separation, not everyone will be saved.  The question is  are you between the saved or the lost ones?
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(Matthew 7: 13 - 14). So many are on the broad road and  not too many on the narrow.

"But, how  God of love - you would say - may take so many for  destruction?!
Let me ask you a question: Do you remember from the Bible when God allowed for so many to go to destruction? Yes, there was such a time. It was the time of the flood. Only eight people were saved, and all the others were killed. So many were lost in the waves of the flood.Their salvation was in the ark God told Noah to build but only Noah's family hid in there.

If God had already done so, is it difficult to accept that the judgement will happen again? Do you remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? How many people survived? Only three.  There were only three righteous people God led out of the city before He destroyed it. All the others were killed. If God judged the wicked ones for the second time, He will surely carry on His judgement  for the third time. Unfortunately  the vast majority is rejecting the only savior Jesus Christ and   so they will be lost.

Why today so many are  walking on that wide road that leads to destruction? The vast majority have no idea at all about the Gospel ...

Most people do not have Jesus Christ in their lives. And which group do you belong to?

 Many of those who expect to be saved- relying on their own righteousness, not on the God -  will be lost

This is the saddest fact, but some of those who confidently expect that they will be in heaven, they will be not there.
Those  who deceived themselves, were not looking for the truth  but were holding on to Satan's lies regarding their salvation. It is a faith that is rejecting God's grace, relying on your own righteousness, faith without Christ the Savior, when the doors of mercy are closed.

"Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then I tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness "(Matthew 7: 21-23).

Make sure you are building on the one foundation that is Jesus Christ.
Do you let yourself be deceived by false teachings that are not rooted in God's word. You might have been  listening to the Gospel all your life but never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You might have been raised in a Christian home, attending Bible classes and were active member of the church but never really received Jesus as your Savior. There is no salvation without Jesus.

" I was found by those who did not seek Me"

 "I was found by those who did not seek Me"
This time I thought it would be good to write down my testimony. How did I came to know the Lord?
It all started about 18 years ago. All my high school I was mainly interested in sport and science that was my favorite thing to do, jogging, javelin throwing and all that fun that had to do with light athletics.  At that time no interest for God, besides knowing that some God exists but I wasn't really thinking about Him. So I did athletics in my free time and I decided I will be PE teacher. Physics seemed to hard to study but doing sport all your life seemed fun. But when it came to applying to the college in that specific area of sport- I wasn't accepted because I did not do  to well  in swimming and gymnastics. I  remember I got C  in that while there were people who got A in all the parts of the exam.  I had to find somebody to blame for that...I wondered why God wouldn't let me do something I really liked. I wasn't happy at all at that time I thought I would  have to wait one more year to apply again to that school, but meanwhile a friend told me about a new German college to which exams were  in September.Then a thought came to me; let's study German for a year - to 'kill' the waiting time-and then I will go back to my sport!
And my journey started. On the first day at the new college  we were  all waiting  to take the German exam.
You would see the nervous students  reading their notes  and a girl  next to me  reading the Bible...! Well, I was reading my notes all stressed up, while that girl completely relaxed reading her book...I asked her
 'Does it help?' Then I heard all the lecture about Jesus. I  though I had never met in my life a person that religious!   All her story didn't seem to be interesting to me- I even thought she was really weird- crazy religious!  Then she shared with me two Bible verses, I have never heard before.
 They completely disturbed my peace!
 "Not everyone who says  to Me;Lord Lord shall  enter the Kingdom of Heaven but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Matthew 7;21
First of all I realized I might be one of those people since  I had  no clue whether I  was doing the will of the Father in heaven or not.
I  heard the right words  to notice that  a Christian is not about only attending a church once a while.
It is about doing God's will which is believing in the One He sent ( Jesus) and trusting His words. But because  God  seemed  so unknown  to me  at  that time  I thought  that living for Him was good  when  you are old  but not as a student who has completely different things on mind ..'How do you know when you will die?'  I heard the question. Then it will be too late. I  imagined myself  when  God is recalling  that day when I could   hear His words from the Bible  and I was rejecting them, I was rejecting Him and the life!
Then we read the following  verse;"He who rejects Me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him,the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." John 12;48
 I realized the words were telling the truth and if God says something it must be true.
How shocking it was for me to hear all these words, that I had to change my life, that Christian is a follower of Christ. It didn't seem  easy  'jumping' into ' following Christ' right away.
 I didn't want to. I had some other dreams  and thinking too much about God didn't seem too comfortable. I thought  God was too distant like  in church, with lots of pictures, statues, you pray but they never speak to you. Because I imagined God like that, I didn't have interest in thinking about Him
What was left it was  struggling with the thoughts 'I have to do God's will  to be saved'
 'Is reading the Bible for 15 minutes a day quite enough"?  I wandered. I was struggling like that  for half of the year, those 2 Bible verses  were following me everywhere.... my mind couldn't get rid of them. The only 'relief ' was giving lessons to the kids when I had to focus on teaching the language, but as soon as the lesson was over, the words from the Bible  came back and  the question' Have you made up your mind?"

This became  a really heavy burden on my heart; how much is it enough to be a Christian? What is His will every day? How can I be sure I am saved? How much of reading  the Bible is enough to be called a Christian? Then I spontaneously prayed to God simply saying that I was tired of that burden that  I didn't know what His will was  but I wanted to do it and that  and that I wanted Him to be my Lord!
That was very unusual because after that simple prayer at home I started to have peace in my heart that I haven't had for a long time. Such a relief as if somebody took of a big load of something from my heart. It seemed to me like Somebody there above heard me!
I started testing myself, even saying that I was not interested in reading ' boring Bible' didn't take away my peace. Then I realized I actually have an interest to read it. As I read that day I came across these words; John 14;27 " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  Wow, that's exactly as if I was reading about myself; I just experienced  that peace! I  knew  the Bible is true, the words are telling the truth! God is real!
I felt like being born again, seeing everything in a new light, God didn't seem distant and unknown any more. My heart wasn't accusing me .Each time I read the Bible  it was confirming everything what I experienced. Jesus said;" You search the scriptures, for in them you think  you have eternal life; and these are they that testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me  that you may have life." John 5;39-40
So it was the same with me, reading  the Bible without coming to God didn't mean anything, I thought that  just by reading I would be a real believer  but  that wasn't giving me any peace until I prayed.  I decided to come to God like the above verse says. That is when God responded and I knew  I was saved. My favorite verse became John 5;24 " Most assuredly I say to you , he who hears my word and  and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life."  We have forgiveness of sin in Jesus, that's why by trusting Him we can have peace in our heart.
Now it is hard to imagine living without God.  "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10;10 That is what it means to live with God and have Him as your Lord. Second you have promise that you have eternal life. " I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." John 11;25
The Bible is full of so many great promises but if we don't have any access to them  or we decide to ignore them,we  choose to live a hopeless life. As it is said;" Man shall not live  by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
I finished my German college, I didn't care too much about coming back to sport, my interests changed and I went to the Bible school in Hungary  for 2 years. I remember my friends saying' I would find no job if I didn't finish my German degree( because I went to the Bible school) and then after I finished my Bible school - the job 'called me' offering the  job  as a teacher in one of the private language schools. So  meanwhile I  also finished my last 2 years of German to get my final degree. My worries weren't needed, God was in control;
 " Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all the things shall be added unto you." I 'experience' it all the time.

Christ- the One in charge

“Christ- the One in charge”
As` we study the Bible we  read that Jesus Christ is the subject of  this book  from Genesis 3;15 to Revelation 22;21
This Jesus of Nazareth has been the object of more speculation than any other person in the history of man. The name of Jesus Christ  springs spontaneously  from the lips of all kind of people, from the priest to the any upset person that is using His name to curse. “Even when Jesus is rejected as an object of faith, he is chosen as an object of derision.”
Why it is like that?
The battle is truly spiritual – it is about discovering or suppressing  His true identity. The battle with high stakes for mankind. Finding His true identity allows us to come to Him and trust Him and acknowledge Him as our Lord, which results in being saved from God’s judgement. Having  His false identity  -will keep us away from Him and His word  and  from trusting Him  It will keep us away from receiving His forgiveness and the truth that we can be saved.  ” Most assuredly I say to you , he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall  not come  into judgement , but has passed from death into life.”
It is a great promise but by many  Jesus is  still  under appreciated. A  man that died on the cross and that is the end of the story. No power no meaning for your life.  But He is much more than this. We will find out in this study- what the Bible says  He is  and what does it mean to know His true  identity. How much do we know Him and realize all the greatness? Are you able to see Him for whom he is? Let your knowledge about Jesus Christ not limit itself only  to His earthly life. We should  also be aware  of  His glorious exaltation by God and the authority over all things  that Father gave Him.
Let’s have a  quick Bible’s overlook;
Jesus Christ as the One in charge over everything;
“Jesus came and spoke to them; All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28;18
The Bible says that  Father  put Jesus in charge over everything. That means all what the Father would be doing, Jesus is in charge doing.
He gave Him authority  as a judge;
 John 5;22 ” For the Father judges no one but committed all  judgement to the Son.”  v.27 “  And has given Him authority to execute judgement also because He is the Son of Man.”
The only mediator to God, the way of communication with God; ultimate representative of God;
Hebrews 1;1-2a “God spoke at various times  and  in various ways to the fathers  by the prophets, has in the last days spoken to us by His Son.”
People wish they would see God, but it is not about seeing how He looks like, the same way it is not enough to know somebody by seeing only his/her picture.  God wants us to  know His character, His heart and nature, and that nature was manifested  all in His Son. God’s heart and will was manifested  in his Son’s life in everything  that He  said  and did.  He was saying and doing what God himself would be saying or doing, that way ( when one of his disciples said; ‘show us the Father’) Jesus  could say; ‘ Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.” John 14;9
He could also say the following;
” The Father who dwells in Me does His works”  John 14;10
” All that the Father has is mine”   John 12;45
” Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself , but what He sees the Father doing,  for whatever He does, the Son also does in likewise.” John 5;19
He has the authority to be honored as the Father;  John 5;23
” That all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father.”
The One who has the power to raise the dead ones; John 5; 21
“For as the Father raises the dead  and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
v.28  ” (…) for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves  will hear His voice.”
John 6.44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6;47″  Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, has everlasting life.”
The only way to God:  John 6;45
“It is written in the prophets ‘ And they shall all be taught by God’ . Therefore everyone who has heard  and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”
John 14;6 ” I am the way, the true and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The One with the authority to forgive  sin;  Luke 5;24
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the man who was paralyzed ; ‘ I say to you , arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
The One as the image of the invisible God; Colossians 1;15
Hebrews 1;3a ” The Son is reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint  of God’s very  being and He sustains all things by his powerful word.”
Exalted above all name;
Philippians 2;9  “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name  which is above every name.”
Authority to be worshiped  ” That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,and that every tongue should confess  that Jesus Christ is  Lord to the glory of God the Father.”  
Heir of all things, all things created through Him and for Him;
(..) whom He has appointed as heir of all things, through whom  also He made the worlds.” Hebrews 1;2
“For by Him all things were created  that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones  or dominions or principalities  or powers.
All things were created through Him  and for Him.” Colossians1;16   
Jesus wanted people to find His true identity by coming to God. He wasn’t yelling  out; Do you know who I am? I am a Son of God! This was not the way to know Him.  To truly know Him always depended on coming to God, so that God Himself would reveal Jesus  to us.
One time Jesus asked His disciples; “And who do  believe I am?” and Peter  said ” You are the Son of the living God.”  Not only was it a correct answer but Jesus also said that it  is the Father in heaven  who revealed it to Peter.”
And who  is Jesus   for you?
And if you think that people can use His name as a curse and keep rejecting Him and get away with it; the Bible has the answer to that.
John 12;48 ” He who rejects Me, and does nor receive my words, has that which judges him, the word that I have spoken  will judge him in the last day.”
You can choose to serve the great Lord and have everlasting life in Him.  The battle is spiritual, you can win it- by accepting  Jesus as your Lord and Savior! He doesn’t have to be an unknown historical hero but your real mighty Lord.

A Master Designer of our universe

A Master Designer of our universe

Taking any book about how our universe came to life, we would find typical explanation;
"Long time ago there was completely nothing. Nothing was for such a long time that it finally decided to become ‘something’ and exploded.." of course it sounds   ridiculous.  But that is what the evolutionary theory offers us to believe. Isn’t it foolish? All what we have around is even older that the beginnings, but somehow nothing explodes to create any other form of matter. Second,the explosion  is usually  chemicals transforming    into the other and we tend to believe that             nothing + time = matter    ( that came from a massive  explosion called  BIG BANG)
But this is what some people believe about  our vast  and orderly universe .All of the energy and matter  was crammed together into a big ball. Somehow this huge ball exploded, which caused the planets, stars and galaxies to emerge. Yet even renowned scientists admit that no one really knows how stars originated.  Abraham Loeb of the Harward University Center for Astrophysics says    ” The truth is that we don’t understand star formation at a fundamental level.”    
How can we explain that both Uranus and Venus rotate backward compared to all the other planets?!!   If we go deeper into details we will see that all the   BIG BANG theory violates  natural laws including the First and Second Laws of  Thermodynamics.
Why are the disk galaxies shaped like a disk? Astronomers say there is no explanation for what could place stars into that galactic  structural pattern. It surely is beautiful  with the globular clusters outside the disk, hanging in space like chandeliers, but how could random motions produce such balanced artistic harmony? Each galaxy, with all its stars, is moving together in a certain direction, yet the corporate velocities within the galaxy should gravitationally unbind  the stars within it, yet it does not happen.
We see so much perfection  and  sign of    ‘design’  in all the universe.    Saturn has 17 moons yet non of them ever collide  with the rings.    The farthest out is Phoebe, which revolves in a motion opposite  to Saturn and its rings. How could that happen? Talking about big things and the small ones that we can’t even see with our eyes, yet still on a excellent level of perfection; like atoms that would fall apart if the mass of the neutron didn’t exceed that of the proton.   If the mass of the proton were only slightly larger, the added weight could cause it to quickly become unstable  and decay into a neutron, positron and neutrino. This would destroy hydrogen the dominant element  in the universe. A Master Designer planned that the proton’s mass  would be slightly smaller than that of the neutron. Otherwise the universe would collapse.
 How foolish is it to believe that this perfect universe created itself.   Truth and knowledge about creation can only  originate with God.
No-one  would believe  that your perfect computer  created itself- it was just a matter of billions of years and bum…here it is, first as  smoke then millions of years after – a  piece of a wire, then more millions of years a keyboard and the screen and  then more billions of years after that we have  a finger touch tablet!  Of course it sounds ridiculous but what about our brain  that is like a computer? Evolutionary theory claims it was evolving and evolving …first from the single cell…ok,we better stop. Every perfect creation  needs a designer, needs a maker!!! But we may chose to believe in a fairy telly. A green frog turning into a prince? That is actually ‘possible’….just wait billions and billions of years till the frog goes through all the stages of evolutionary development and the final outcome will be a human being! A prince!
Part 1
A Designer who created the past, holds the present and knows the future.
So if all the works point you to the Maker of this world, why are we so reluctant  getting to know him?
We would rather put our trust in human unsupported theories or philosophies and ignore the witness of Him shown in all the perfect  creation. Evidence of the all knowing Master is also  in the Bible. It contains  hundreds of prophecies to show you that the Creator of this universe knows  everything that has ever happened and knows the future.  One fascinating  prophecy is that the Jewish people  would be called together as a nation. The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in  A.D. 70  and the Jewish people scattered  from their homeland. What were the chances that the people without the country could survive as a nation? Every other nation since then has disappeared into oblivion. But in 1948  the Jewish people reestablished their  homeland in Israel. The odds are astronomical of that happening  after nearly two millennium. God’s prophecies are 100  percent accurate because he not only knows the future, he also controls it.  Other great prophecies are about Jesus which all came true within the smallest detail; see more in  the post” The greatest work done in Jerusalem.”
Why would we  believe in the ‘nothingness’  rather than in God?  Some claim that because they have no answer where God came from. But do we have the answer where the    ‘nothing’ came from to become something?     This is not the answer.
The reason we run away from Him  is because we don’t like the truth.  By acknowledging God we realize we are accountable to him.
We can  try to  hide behind our own philosophies which do not give us hope, no explanation or use the Bible to look for  the truth. It will tell you that because of our sin we died spiritually and need to be born again in order to have fellowship with God. And the reliable source which is the Bible tells you that it is through Jesus and believing in him. We  have evidence of God in a perfect creation, we have evidence of God in his word fulfilled  about the things that he said before, we can keep him at his word regarding  our future!!
” I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying  and trusts the One who sent me, has eternal life, that is, he will not come up for judgement  but has already crossed over from death to life” John 5;24
The other thing  is; if we  are rejecting Jesus- we are rejecting life; John 3;36
“Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life,  but whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God’s wrath.”
This is the simple truth, yet ignored by many.  You can chose to believe in unsupported  human theories regarding the past, or hold on to the reliable source in the Bible regarding your future. The choice is yours, to believe in nothingness or acknowledging