John 5:25-32 Everlasting Life Contrasted With Everlasting Contempt

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;  and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.  “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.  There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

The biggest problem to the human race is our belief that once we die, we are dead.  This is the kind of reasoning employed in Connecticut recently when a man slaughtered 26 people and then killed himself.  It was his conviction that if he killed his physical self that he could avoid judgment for his deeds.  But understand this, all humans were created not with finite life, but infinite life.  Our physical being is only a temporary part of our everlasting life.  The soul of a person cannot be put to death, either for better or for worse.  The soul continues its existence until it rejoins its physical body once again and is resurrected.  The grounds of the Christian doctrine is that Jesus, although He was crucified and put to death in the flesh, arose again and was witnessed my many before His ascension.  And He teaches us that whatever He does, so we will do.  We also, at the appointed time will raise from the dead.  Those who believed in Jesus Christ will arise to everlasting life and union with God with determined reward, but those who rejected the Son, also rejected God who sent Him.  To those, they will raise again, but to everlasting contempt and regret and will not be forgiven in their life to come.  So we now have a choice.  We can choose life through Jesus and union with God or a life of profound regret.

Daily Prayer:  Lord, there is a song that is titled “Open the eyes of my heart.”  In that song, it is a plea for You to intervene in the life of the dull in spirit to become aware of their destiny.  Once saved, we will always be saved, but one rejected, they remain rejected.  For this reason, enlighten all of us to be aware of the choices presented to us and their everlasting nature.  In Your holy name I pray