Entering Through the Narrow Gate

The author reflects on a passage from Matthew 7:13-14, expressing concern over the “few” who will find the narrow way to life compared to the many destined for destruction. They discuss the implications of this truth, emphasizing the urgency of sharing the Gospel, and contemplate the meanings of destruction and the challenges of faith in Christ.

Perhaps one should not dislike a passage in the Bible. Yet, I cannot like the message of what I am writing about today. It is good to know. It is a regrettable truth. I doubt that God is happy about it. The passage that I am speaking about comes from the mouth of Jesus toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. It says:

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)

The last word really bothers me, “few”. Few is a relative term. This indicates a minority when compared to those headed for destruction. If indeed that is what is being compared. The best I could hope for is that those saved are few compared to those who could be saved. The death of Jesus is enough for all mankind to be saved. No extra works are required, there just needs to be a connection made with Jesus. If 98% were saved, that could be construed as “few” compared to 100%. I really don’t think that is what is being said here, however.

Unfortunately it is way too easy to understand how you get to below 50%. Using the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8) as a model of understanding, many people end up being a hard path. Billions are confirmed adherents of other world religions that exclude Jesus from the role of savior. Access to the Gospel is not a problem. You can find it on the internet, hear it on the radio, come in contact with some Christian. But many have not had any real exposure to the Gospel. They do not seek what they do not know. That should bother us and motivate us to get the Word out there. It is likely that a large group will have their first real exposure to the Gospel in Sheol. I don’t have much information on this, but it aligns with Jesus’ apparent mission when he descends to Sheol after his death (1 Peter 3:18-20)https://afterdeathsite.com/2017/04/11/christs-descent-into-hell-part-5/

Other people will have plenty of exposure to the Gospel, but it is like seeds on a hardened path. They understand the concepts and it perhaps occupies their mind for a while, but the birds (Satan) snatches it away before it can take root. With those two groups alone, we are probably past 50%. Then there are the groups described as people who believe but are too shallow to have a resilient faith that can endure hardship or are those choked out by the cares of life, love of wealth, or love of the pleasures of life. With them we are probably way past 50% leaving only a relative few.

Another bothersome word in Matthew 7:13-14 is “destruction”. It is not a place name like Sheol or Gehenna. It is a description. I think “destruction” could describe either. Other descriptors for Sheol are “fire” and “worm” which are classic destroyers. If this is Sheol then it gives a dim hope. The hope is that the “many” enter the gates of Sheol but not necessarily the final judgment of Gehenna post-Judgement Day. But if I am honest, “destruction” sounds more like Gehenna. Little is said about Gehenna directly, but Jesus’ experience on the cross informs it. The spiritual punishment Jesus must endure under the Law is being forsaken. That will fall on the individual who is not connected to Christ.

When God completely pulls his presence from a place or person what should happen? Physics might suggest an increased rate of entropy at all levels. Does destruction come to an end when you are destroyed? Maybe. The Bible speaks of eternal punishment, but in what sense? Time needs to be understood as part of our reality and not transcending it. Time itself could be destroyed for the forsaken.

Finally, why describe the route to eternal life as “narrow” and “hard”? It is narrow because there is only one way to receive it, and that is Jesus. If Jesus were one choice among many, it would seem that the Father would have allowed Jesus to skip the misery of crucifixion, flogging, and forsakenness. But he did not. Those who don’t like the idea that Jesus is the only way deride it as a bigoted teaching. Unfortunately, I think it is a logical teaching that clearly is expressed in the Bible.

“Hard” seems out-of-place because we are saved by grace. We would not come to Jesus unless the Holy Spirit does the hard work of getting through to us with the Gospel. It is hard as humans to make the Gospel available to others. It was hard for Jesus to fulfill the Law and still suffer the ultimate punishment for sin. It is also hard to persevere in faith from the moment we are “in Christ” to the time of our death. As noted above, people fail to do so.

At the end of it all, what do you have? “Few”. The only consolation is that the relative few still constitutes millions if not billions of people.

Do You Feel Hopeless?

At some point in your life the future might have seemed full of possibilities. You had dreams and they seemed reachable. But as time ran on life got in the way. You had troubles. Things didn’t pan out. It became obvious that your vision of the future was not going to happen. Perhaps you can add to this your concerns about the world in general. The promise of unending human progress seems fenced in by unfixable problems.

It is hard to live when all you have is the routine, and the problems of life seem entrenched. Without hope it seems that life is not worth living. Too many people reach this point and then act on it. In fact, very few people live their dreams. There is only so much room to be famous athletes, entertainers, or great leaders. That doesn’t mean that only those people get to have hope. In fact, these roles aren’t as great as might think them. If this is your dream, then in some respects you are shooting too high and in others too low.

In it sinfully natural to want to set your own agenda for life. In the end, your personal agenda won’t count for much. God has a plan for each of us. This plan may not be recognized by other people. Currently, it may not be recognized by you. Rather it is recognized by God. It may not change the world as a whole, but it will definitely change a part of it. It may not be rewarded in this life with money and ease, but it will be rewarded on the Day.

God-given hope starts with something that we did not have the right to hope for. It is a whole tapestry of things that are the true meaning of life. It starts with the right to call the Creator of the all things, “Father”. Normal people are far too sinful to be this presumptuous. This relationship allows us to navigate any set of problems. It is true that aging and illness moves us closer to death, but even that isn’t negative. God’s grace to us moves into having a God-given role in life. We can count on having a purpose even when all health has failed us. We only have to be faithful in what prepares for us. We do not have to compete with the world. These things make some space for hope that life will remain purposeful and do-able, but the big payout is yet to come.

The gifts of God are heavily back-loaded. This life is important, but it is nothing compared to what comes after it. Without Jesus this would not be hopeful. God’s Law requires sinners to forever banished. When God forsakes a person all good things are gone and so is hope. Jesus get us past this Law. Because Jesus fulfills the requirements of the Law, and we can be connected to Jesus through faith and baptism, we have a promise of eternal life.

The Apostle Paul, who went through some serious stuff in life, says this:

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

Energizing hope comes from being able to see what is “unseen”. That means that God has had enough time to marinate you in His love and promises so that you have a clear grasp of what is coming to you when you leave this life connected to Christ. This blog is for sharing with you what God has shared about this through the Bible. It is exciting. Because of God’s Word and his action throughout history and in my life, I have hope. That hope will carry me through anything that may happen from today until my death. I can do anything because it all is temporary. I know that my life purpose will change, but it will always be something. After that the true living will commence.

Would I ever consider taking my own life. Nope. Not even to cut the corner and get to Heaven. I have things to do here for God. Do I get discouraged. Not really. It is short-term discouragement at best. In the end I know that I win.

Is this hope a form of self-delusion? When you consider that the whole construction of the universe down to the tiniest detail of life is clearly designed by a vast intelligence, no. When you consider the prophecies pointing to Jesus from deep in time, and the eye-witnesses of Jesus willing to suffer for their testimony, and the giant emergence of Christianity in an environment of persecution, there is plenty of evidence that this hope stands on fact.

I have also had plenty of experience of God teaching me and changing me, encouraging me through prayer and people, working through me in ways that I cannot take the credit, that tells me my hope is well placed.

Is this hope just for me and not for you? God loves the whole world. God wants all people to be saved and come the knowledge of the truth. God wants you. I have hope that He can reach you no matter of how far away you have been and no matter how hopeless you currently are. If you have lost hope, take a look at what the Bible has promised to people in general and to you specifically. Read through the other articles in this blog and get the lay of the land. It is a very hopeful message.

And This Is Eternal Life

Eternal life, as defined by Jesus, emphasizes knowing God and Him as essential to true life, beyond mere existence. Jesus’ sacrificial glory on the cross enables Him to grant eternal life to believers. This connection with God begins when faith is recognized and culminates in baptism, leading to a fulfilling existence in Heaven.

Eternal life can be seen as a conscious existence in an ideal place with an ideal body without end. Jesus, at the beginning of His “high priestly” prayer in John 17, gives a different perspective.

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 17:1b-3 (ESV)

While Jesus would speak later about the “glory” He had with the Father before the world existed and His desire to return to that, the glory He speaks of here is His victory on the cross. Being crucified and forsaken by God is about as inglorious as it comes, but in Jesus’ situation He is doing it out of love for the Father and for us and for obedience to the Father’s plan. There is great glory in that.

Jesus will do this because He has been given “authority over all flesh”. Jesus has ultimate right to judge all humanity. That is part of His authority. But here it is the authority to give eternal life. He is in position to be the sacrifice for sin and thus bestow eternal life because: He is human, He has been sinless, and the Father has chose Him for the role. At the time of this prayer, Jesus is ready to get it done.

Verse 3 is an enlightening observation. To have eternal life is to know the Father and Jesus. Eternal life is not just eternal existence or consciousness. Those who find themselves in the final punishment of Hell will also exist and be conscious. You can’t call that “life”. That is eternal death because you are forsaken by God at that point. Life is being in connection and relationship with God. All good things come from God. Any joy of living comes when you have some degree of knowing God.

Are you alive in that sense when you are physically alive on Earth but don’t have any connection to God? The Bible would say no:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked,

Ephesians 2:1-2a (ESV)

In this situation we are still physically alive on Earth, we are not forsaken by God, but we do not “know” Him either. The same is true for those in Sheol. They are not forsaken yet, but clearly they are not living. They merely exist.

Life truly starts when Jesus “connects” us to himself. I use the word “connect” for lack of a better term. The connection is not a cognitive belief, because people who are too young or brain damaged can have this connection. It is not something that you can will for yourself. God gives it. For people of normal cognition, this happens when God breaks through whatever barrier exists in the human mind and/or soul or spirit and gives us a recognition that the story of Jesus is real and that the promise of God to give eternal life is true and that we now trust it. The next step is baptism, which is where Jesus promises to make this connection. At this point we are “in Christ”. We also “know” Him at this point. The actual mechanics of this at God’s level are not explained to us.

This life will carry over seamlessly through death and into a conscious existence in Heaven, unless we somehow separate ourselves from Jesus.

Heaven and the New Earth will be characterized by many joys which are all the creation of God. Chief among these joys is our ongoing and expanded interaction with God. It will be life to speak to Jesus face-to-face. It will be life to experience every way that the Holy Spirit and the Father manifest themselves in us and in our space.

As a Christian you are alive right now. Greater levels of life will be evident once we get rid of our sin-damaged flesh. That is something to look forward to.

The Current Kingdom of God

John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of the “Kingdom of God,” which signifies God’s reign rather than a worldly kingdom. Jesus’ life and sacrifice shifted heavenly authority, breaking Satan’s hold over humanity. While some expect a political kingdom, a true reign of God exists in believers’ hearts, with a future establishment on Earth.

“The Kingdom of God is near”, that is what John of the Baptist declared. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”, that is what Jesus often said. Are they the same thing? What exactly is being referred to? What is “near”?

It would be nice is the Bible had a glossary. Then you could know for sure the meaning of every term. As it stands you largely have to depend on context to figure out certain terms.

So what context do we have? Let’s start with the definition of a “kingdom”. That is where a king reigns. When talking about Jesus, you might want to say that He reigns everywhere, since He has created the universe with the Spirit and His Father and has been given authority over all things; but the wording of the Bible suggests that Jesus isn’t the “King” of this world, at least not yet. The Bible speaks like Satan is more of the ruler here:

2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV)

Heaven is surely different. But when you look in the Old Testament for references about Satan, you find Him in Heaven. He may not be in charge, but He seems to have free rein. What is going on?

When John the Baptist or Jesus said the Kingdom of God is near, they were not being fast and loose with the definition of near. Within a few years there would be a major event that not only changed leadership in Heaven but it is also created a change of leadership within individuals on Earth. It did not create a worldly political kingdom, just yet. Jesus’ successful obedience to God’s Law all the way to death, and His subjection to being forsaken by His Father essentially broke the legal leverage that Satan held over all human beings. That “leverage” was the if Satan were damned for his disobedience, humanity would have to go with him. We were “captives” or better yet “hostages”. God didn’t want to damn all of humanity, nor is He the type of being to arbitrarily suspend His own Law. Having Jesus do the work and creating a means that we can be connected to Jesus, was God’s way of fulfilling His Law and saving people.

Jesus’ life and death changed the leadership in Heaven. Without the leverage mentioned above, it was just Satan’s power against God’s and Satan lost.

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

Revelation 12:7-10 (ESV)

Notice that when Satan and his angels are cast out of Heaven, only then the Kingdom of God and the authority of His chosen one (Christ) has come to Heaven, not before. This is why Jesus tells Pontius Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world.

For those who expect God’s kingdom to be an earthly, political entity this is disappointing, and they tend to deny that Jesus is the Christ. The benefits to people are far superior this way, however. First, we didn’t have a place in Heaven. There is not promise of our dwelling in Heaven ever in the Old Testament. This is a big add-on.

Also, God can now reign in us. We may still have a sinful nature that influences our will, but Satan has no internal influence. The Holy Spirit does. Satan must work with externals. In that situation, the Kingdom of God has come to us. It is what we pray to continue or to come to others when we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”

Will there ever be an earthly “political” kingdom of God? Yes. In due time. When God brings about Judgement Day and creates a New Earth, God will live and reign here. In this arrangement Jesus fulfills all of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah being a King and having a reign.

Exploring Bioengineering for Immortality: A Biblical Perspective

The author reflects on recent New York Times articles about immortality through bioengineering, questioning whether this pursuit is valid. They highlight biblical accounts of long lifespans and suggest that death stems from sin. Ultimately, they express a desire for a healthy life, emphasizing faith in God’s promises over the pursuit of artificial longevity.

Recent articles in the New York Times about the pursuit of immortality through bioengineering have caught my attention. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/magazine/eternal-life-longevity-world-leaders.html The very rich have invested large sums into longevity research to try to beat or at least delay the great equalizer–death. Is this a fool’s errand or could it produce some fruit?

I would first like to point out that the Bible records some incredible lifespans for people who lived before Noah’s flood: Adam 930 years, Seth 912, Enosh 905, Kenan 910, Jared 962, the record holder Methuselah 969. People scoff at this and attribute it as myth. That is only because we rarely break 100 years and then usually in bad health, but something was very different in that era.

God did not create humans to die. Death is the product of sin. Not just as a sentence. It is the by-product of Adam and Eve breaking the only command they had–don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (referred to just as “the tree” from now on). Now this sounds very mythy. I don’t think it is. Jesus acknowledges Genesis as truth, and I feel strongly about Jesus being historically who He claims to be, and that is provable. Consequently, could there have been an actual tree that acted as a biological agent of some kind? The Bible speaks of our “sinful nature”. “Nature” refers to the product of our DNA. It has been verified that our DNA is programmed to eventually fail (like designed obsolescence in a consumer product). It can only replicate a limited number of times. The epigenetics, molecules that attach to our DNA to turn genes on and off, also eventually fail to work or come off.

God is not a bad designer. An eternally living body is not only buildable, one is promised to us at our death in Christ and again at our resurrection. The tree knocked people back from eternal to living nearly a millennium. God knocked us back further:

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

Genesis 6:3 (ESV)

And that has been our potential ever since. Disease or violence usually shortens it much further. Living to the average of 80 is just 2/3 of the current potential. Did God just make a proclamation that He enforces in the verse above or did He build modifications into the human genome once He knocked the population back to just the family of Noah? It interesting that the 120 limit seems to phase in after Noah. It isn’t 120 immediately but it gets there. Within a few hundred years people were lucky to live to 45.

Two questions jump out of the New York Times articles to me. Can people figure out what was modified and undo it? Do we really want to?

If you have no faith in the original designer or in the promises extended to mankind through Jesus, then bioengineering or the even weirder idea of digitizing your consciousness and placing it either in a robot or a clone are your best bets. Perhaps it can be done or at least partially done. Maybe Jeff Bezos could live to be 900. How many marriages could you get into that period of time? With a population of 8 billion, this obviously will not be a resource for the common man.

I would love to live a healthy and vital life for whole time that God has plans for me here.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

That could be 80 to 90 years. After that the purpose will need to be pretty good. I have no ambition to be 120. If I could be healthy, complete my work, then quickly achieve the goal of having this sinful body break down and die so that I can swap it out for my heavenly body, that would be ideal. https://afterdeathsite.com/2019/03/25/do-you-get-a-body-in-heaven/

It will be more than a change in body, it will be a change in environment. I realize that Bezos, Putin, Xi, Altman, Johnson, Thiel and their like, are probably enjoying this world (called the Great Tribulation in Revelation 7:14) as much as one can and would welcome greater longevity. I already have better digs and a superior body arranged.

Dying Well: The Stewardship of Our Health and Time in Our Final Years

The post discusses the inevitability of death and its acceptance as part of God’s mission. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining a connection with Jesus for eternal life, the stewardship of one’s body, and living a life dedicated to God’s work. Balance is crucial, as is navigating decisions around health and end-of-life care thoughtfully.

It is tough to accept that dying is something we have to do. I would go so far as to call it part of my God-given mission. God has kept me on this planet for a long list of things that He wants to do through me. Eventually it will be enough, and the remainder of God’s mission will be carried on by other people. All I have to do at that point is to let this sin damaged body go to the grave.

If I have my sins forgiven by God, then my destiny at death is eternal life with Him starting in Heaven. That is a great thing for me. I can have that only by being connected to Jesus.

The connection to Jesus is something only God can do. Jesus made it the way to eternal life by fulfilling God’s Law and paying the spiritual punishment of my sin by being forsaken by God on the cross. The connection to this is done by God too. Only He can get through to a person and make the connection usually through baptism. Once connected (saved) priority one is remaining connected. Keep feeding the faith by Word and Sacrament, surround yourself with other supportive believers, be a person who knows God through prayer, always have your radar on opportunities to do the work of the Kingdom of God. That is what you can do. God will keep you from falling.

When you finally physically grind down to the point where you can die, it will be an emotional balance between wanting to do more, but knowing you’re done, and being eager for what comes next. Dying well, means looking forward:

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

How should we manage “grinding down”/”wasting away”? There is the stewardship of our bodies to consider. On the one hand, I want to get out of here. This life on Earth doesn’t compare favorably to Heaven. On the other, the work of the Kingdom of God is a good thing in a place that really needs it and I want to be of service. With this tension in mind, I believe we do our best to a point.

To be considered good stewards of the body, we definitely don’t cut corners to hasten our death: no suicide, no medical non-compliance, no clearly bad habits, no unnecessarily risky behavior. There could be situations where we risk martyrdom, but we don’t go looking for it.

We are not asked to extraordinary things that prolong our lives into an artificially extended period where we will be of little use. I knew one man whose lungs were severely damaged by COVID. It was determined that he could never get off of a vent, so he stopped it, and died. I support that decision. That isn’t suicide.

Sometimes the decision isn’t so black and white. Family discussions and family prayer are necessary then. People tend to error on the side of doing too much, because they are not ready to grieve. You are not doing the person a favor, if they are in Christ.

Now I am going to really meddle. What about diet and exercise? If you have a clear medical diagnosis, like diabetes, where you need to be strict about diet. I would consider that to be not just a personal but also a spiritual obligation. We can all follow theories about how best to eat or care for our bodies, but the fact is that many extreme regimens often prove to be wrong in the end. I think the best stewardship of the body at any point in our lives is moderation in everything. If you follow conscience on this, you are doing well.

You may say that God determines the day of our death, and there is nothing we can do to change it; but the Bible says God knows the day of our death. Its date is not pre-determined, it is contingent. God just knows everything. With this in play it is possible to miss out on some of what God plans for us.

0 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

Living, aging, and dying well is to complete that which God has prepared beforehand for us. He doesn’t give us a printout so that we can be prepared or look ahead. We can only be formed for service and ready to do it until the end.

How Old Will We Appear In Eternity?

The passage reflects on the process of aging and the nature of bodies in both Heaven and the New Earth. It suggests we will have bodies that differ from Earth’s and speculates about their characteristics. While acknowledging the mystery of God’s plans, it emphasizes the importance of faith in Jesus for eternal life and encourages spiritual growth and stewardship.

We are used to the process of aging. We start as little babies, somewhere we hit our maximum as far as strength, health, and appearance, maybe intelligence peaks at another time, and then comes the long downgrade until death. Unless we die early, that is the course of it. In other articles in this blog I make the case that we will have a body of some sort in whatever place we end up. There is a Heavenly body, there is a resurrected Earthly body, there is likely a body for Sheol, there is some form in Hell. We are never “naked” as Paul calls it in 2 Corinthians 5, unless we are naked in Hell.

There is precious little information about the body we will have in Heaven. We can say that it is without a sinful nature, it is beyond the curse, we can presume it is recognizable to others, it isn’t a radical departure from our current body plan, but that is about it. Is there an age equivalency to changes we go through here?

The only thing that might be construed as speaking to our question is Isaiah 65 which expressly speaks of the New Earth and may have some real interpretive issues that go with it.

No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
    and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

Isaiah 65:20 (ESV)

Because this speaks of death, some have interpreted this as referring to a millennial earthly kingdom. The text expressly says “a New Earth”, so I don’t think that is the solution. Eternal life is eternal. We can say that from many other parts of Scripture. What is up with this?

This passage is likely a figure of speech. It contrasts eternity to the painful and unpredictable pattern of our world. Could it literally suggest a life process in the New Earth where you are born, grow up, replicate, grow to maturity, and then start over? We will find out, won’t we? There are creatures on Earth that do this today. If we were without sin and the curse, each phase of life would present its own unique pleasures. Maybe the New Earth is like this. That doesn’t mean that Heaven is the same.

There is plenty of mystery about what God has planned for us. Even the situation of having an “eternal” body in Heaven, as well as, a resurrected “spiritual” body on the New Earth and how those work together is a complete unknown. But I like to try to imagine it anyway.

How about this? When we die in Christ we find ourselves in a uniquely beautiful Heavenly body with some new capacities like instant recognition of others, the ability to travel long distances instantly or nearly so, and maybe more. Sort of an enhanced 25 year old forever. Then post-judgment day a body for this time-space continuum which interfaces with the Heavenly body. Maybe this body experiences the joys of aging. I could be a kid in the New Earth and then transition to an optimized adult in Heaven and back. Does that appeal?

Is there sex? Maybe. The reasoning to exclude it is presumptive. Maybe there is much better than sex. Will we remain the same gender? If so, there will be no negativity associated with it. Are we species fixed? There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that you could spend a week as a salamander. Sorry.

One faulty idea that you don’t have to worry about is that you are the same age that you die at on Earth. If you are old when you die, then you are old in Heaven. That is a weird idea but I have heard it.

Get ready for something great–however it works. We gain access to this only because of Jesus. We shouldn’t even delude ourselves about gaining this by default, or being “good enough”, or traveling a different path to Heaven. The Bible is very emphatic and clear about this. It makes sense too. If there were multiple paths, then Jesus would have been spared His suffering for us. Jesus won the right for us to inherit this. It is offered to us as a gift. When we are connected to Christ through faith and baptism, we are ready to go.

Complete your course of this life with good stewardship of what you have, seeking your God-given purpose, protecting your connection to Christ with God’s Word, the Lord’s Supper, the fellowship of other Christians, growing in Christ’s qualities. Always keep your eyes on the unseen prize.

The Bible’s Bad News

The text discusses the dual nature of the Bible, presenting both bad and good news. It argues that all humans are born with a sinful nature leading to eternal separation from God, but offers hope through Jesus Christ. Belief in Him is essential for salvation and eternal life, forming the crux of the Christian faith.

Before we are exposed to the Bible, a person’s view of themselves and probably of other people is that we are basically good. Similarly, most people want to believe in existence after physical death. We also want it to be good. So many passively believe that there is some sort of Heaven or other favorable existence awaiting them. It is very natural. I want to believe it too.

The Bible is meant to be extremely good news, but getting to the good news first requires hearing and accepting some very bad news that we don’t want to be true. The problem is that the proof of the bad news is all around us. The bad news is this: every human being is born with a distorted, sinful nature that did not come from God. That nature is probably resident in our DNA. It came from our common ancestors, so everyone is impacted. The distorted coding of our DNA produces a body, in particular a brain, that cannot believe the words of God on its own, it does not retain the ability to know and communicate with God that we had, it produces a personality that basically selfish, it creates desires for things and actions that God forbids, it creates a tendency to follow the ways of its designer and the designer is Satan.

Who wants to believe that? I don’t. The bad news gets worse. The condition of having a sinful nature, if unchecked, produces a sinful live that can be wildly dysfunctional and short.

Worse than that is the news about the default, eternal destiny of a human being. Sinners who do not and naturally cannot keep God’s laws perfectly will be permanently cut off from God and will suffer a horrible existence permanently. That is certainly something I would rather reject as unthinkable and false.

Then I look at humanity’s track record. It isn’t pretty. I look deeply at myself, and even though I was saved in my infancy, I see it. I see selfishness. I see the difficulty of believing God’s Word. I see the tendency to sin. I can’t argue against the accusation. I also am cornered into believing that the Bible’s presentation of the default destiny of a human is true.

The Bible, however, isn’t done after the presentation of the bad news. It is good news. The news is that God foresaw the problem we would have and produced a plan to counter it before the problem actually came to be. Objectively, it is a strange plan. Many are not inclined to believe it. There seems to be simpler ways to go about it. In a way it seems too good to be true. It is counter just about every other way the world works.

God will follow His demand for perfection. He does not deviate from His original requirements. That is how He is, so there is no “easier” route. He creates instead a way for naturally imperfect humans to have perfection.

This is what Jesus is for. The proof of Jesus’ historicity is strong. There are clear, specific prophecies about Him that can be shown to have existed before His birth. He did a slew of clearly miraculous things before eye witnesses who later went to their premature deaths as believers and vocal witnesses. He won over His own brother who initially did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the one prophesied about (who would?). He appeared to and won over a sworn enemy in Saul/ Paul. Outside of the biblical evidence are mentions of Christ and Christians dating to the first century. You have to want the narrative of the Bible to be untrue to write this stuff off.

The good news is this:

6 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:16-18, Jesus speaking (ESV)

It works out this way. We can’t keep God’s demands perfectly, so Jesus (the incarnated as a human Son of God)keeps the Law without error. He isn’t born with the same genetic sinful nature because of His unusual, virgin birth. Then, for the legal condemnation that we have earned, He voluntarily dies on the cross during which He is forsaken by the Father (i.e. damned) temporarily, probably three and one half hours. This fulfills half (the big half) of God’s requirements for sinners. The other half is that we physically must die. It is our only “contribution”.

The way that Jesus’ accomplishments get applied to an individual is not God just declaring it so. It isn’t even that we believe God’s promise and God takes note of it and writes our name in a book, though that happens too. It is that God somehow unites us with Jesus through something He does in the background when we are baptized in the name of Jesus. The fulfillment of the Law, the required getting through our sinful nature to create faith, and the uniting us with Christ is all done as a gift to us–a very valuable and costly gift. It is complex. It is different from “you get what you deserve or pay for”, which is the general rule of how the world works. It does seem too good to be true, because this mechanism can theoretically forgive even some terrible sinners. It depends on God getting through to them somehow.

Another thing that I would rather not believe is that the majority of mankind won’t benefit from this historical and generous opportunity.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)

That means that some pretty nice people will still die in their sins because they rejected Jesus. Please don’t be one of them. Please don’t be a part of the “”many. Be a part of the “few”. The eternity spelled out for us that I have tried to describe in this blog is both terrible and beautiful. Jesus is the key to being a part of the beautiful. I know that the number of the few will be a large number of people. That is good. It can be more.

Your Eternal Self

The post explores the concept of eternity through a theological lens, comparing God to a geometric line that exists infinitely. It discusses the nature of the spirit and body, eternal life, and the implications of sin on existence. It emphasizes God’s desire to recreate believers in a form suited for eternal life.

It is admittedly hard to conceptualize what “eternal” means. We can think of a long time, but not eternal. I sometimes use a math concept to get people to understand what they are. It helps.

God is like a line in geometry. I line goes infinitely in both directions. When Moses encountered God in the burning bush, he asked for God’s name:

14 God said to Moses, “Yahweh” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘Yahweh has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14

Yahweh is a verb form of “to be” not found in English. God always was, is, and always will be, is what is means. He is the whole line. People who don’t believe in eternal life think we are a segment. A clear beginning and a clear end in death. God has made us to be a ray. We do have a beginning at our conception. We do not pre-exist this except that God knows us. But we will have no end.

Our bodies clearly have an end. The body you have is a segment. You may feel the terminal point creeping up on you right now. We are more complicated than just a body. We are for now this body, our spirit, and the interface between the two, our soul.

Having a spirit is clearly a part of being created in the image of God. It is not cognition, intelligence, emotion, or imagination. It is something not properly a part of this universe. Our spirit is coupled with this body through a mechanism that has not been revealed to us. It is probably something on a very small scale, perhaps the micro-tubules found on our neurons.

What faculties are resident in our spirit? I’m not sure. It does become hard to sort. Things like memory, reason, consciousness, even senses can all be associated with parts of the brain which belongs to the body, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are resident there. They may just interact with the body there. People having a Near Death Experience (NDE) can have all of the above without use of the body.

One thing I can say with certainty is a part of body and not the spirit is our sinful nature. The genetic damage we have all inherited that builds our body to be unreceptive to God and inclined to sin is cooked into the flesh. That is why we need to physically die. We need to get rid of this body when it is time.

Can our spirit simply float around without a body for long? Paul suggests that this wouldn’t be desirable:

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (ESV)

Being “unclothed” in verse 4 is being a spirit without a body. You really don’t want that. You want to be “further clothed”: to get rid of your current body/tent and upgrade to a body built for Heaven (v.1). I would assume that our spirit will interface with that body either through a similar means or something completely different.

Don’t think that you are done. God is very determined not to lose in the struggle for this time-space continuum. While your body for here is damaged and will die, He wants to remake this universe and remake a body for you for this universe.

How would that work? Now we are pushing a bit into a mystery. We don’t know how that will work. At the time of Judgment Day, Christ’s visible return, and the making of a New Heaven and Earth, there will a resurrection of the dead. Will God recycle what remains of earthly bodies? Not sure. I doubt it. He will make something that is uniquely us. Do we still have the “(body) eternal in the Heavens?” I would assume from the word “eternal” used in 1 Corinthians 5:1 that the answer is “yes”. I will be a spirit connected to a body or bodies at that time and forever.

Can I mess this up? Until we get rid of our sin-damaged body the answer is “yes”. We are saved completely by God’s action. Jesus kept the Law. Jesus absorbed the eternal punishment for our sin by being forsaken on the cross. The Holy Spirit has connected us (if we are connected) to Jesus. Normally, through the process of baptism. We can throw this away. The biblically listed methods of doing this are: distorting the Gospel (Gal. 5:2-4), being unrepentant despite the pleas of the Spirit (numerous verses), neglecting God’s means of keeping our connection viable (Parable of the Sower), refusing to forgive (Lord’s Prayer/Matthew 6). After our death, there is nothing to suggest the possibility of undoing our salvation. Isaiah 65:20 is meant to be rhetorical.

Is a damned person eternal? Their resurrected body doesn’t seem to be:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 4:1-3 (ESV)

They won’t need a body for the New Earth because they won’t be staying.

46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:46 (ESV)

Saying What You Need to Say Before You Die

This blog concerns itself mostly with what happens after death. I say “mostly” because what happens after death does have major implications on what should happen before death. There are a number of things we should talk about with people who matter to us. In that list I would include that we should be reconciled with those from whom we are estranged, communicate our love to people, and communicate the Gospel to them in the most honest and vulnerable way possible.

Sometimes people just feel they need to communicate about financial matters and personal wishes. This belies a very sterile view of our priorities and pretty much screams, “when we’re dead, we are gone.” These things do matter, but that is what a will and perhaps one printed page would take of. The other things are far more important and perhaps scary, so we are inclined to procrastinate. You might even be afraid of blowback or failure. I get it, but you will regret not being brave. Perhaps speaking about such deep, emotional, and serious matters is something you have avoided all your life.

Let’s start with reconciliation. If you are estranged, a victory isn’t necessarily suddenly becoming close. A victory is mutual understanding, forgiveness, and peace in your relationship. Obviously there are lots of relationships and situations that can end in estrangement. I can only speak in general terms here.

If reconciliation matters to you, then you initiate the contact. Face-to-face is best for this, but not always possible. You might get a stiff arm from the person at first. They might be coping with the situation by avoidance and perhaps denial of their own culpability. Be persistent. It might seem annoying to the other person, but it also demonstrates sincerity on your part.

If you do get a chance to communicate, be sure that you understand why they are estranged from you. You may have your own reasons, but you may not know how they feel. Ask them for their take on the situation. Don’t look for reasons to disagree. Look for reasons for you to take some responsibility for the situation. Own your part and let them know it first. Then ask if you may share how you feel. Don’t be angry, but be matter-of-fact and humble. They may be defensive. Let them know that you just want to be understood. This is how you feel. If you can say, “I used to feel that way, but I now want the matter to be water under the bridge”, then let them know that.

Sometimes it is better to be wronged than to harbor anger and to leave this world unreconciled. Are there corrective actions that you can take? Be the bigger person. Let the other person decide to act for their part. God is judge.

Bringing another person around to some form of repentance often takes time. Don’t wait to start the process until you are at death’s door. Maybe you can ask to speak about it again in the near future.

Reconciliation does not always work. But it does feel good to know that you tried.

Saying that you love someone shouldn’t be that hard. Maybe your family culture has not included using the word “love”. Use the word “love”. To love isn’t necessarily the same as enjoying someone. To love is to want the very best for them. To love is to mean that they matter deeply to you. Explain what you mean when you say, “I love you.” Maybe such statements as, “I pray for you every day”, or “I want us to have a continued (or better) relationship in Heaven”, or “I am proud of you”. These can matter a great deal to a person. They can feel strangely awkward for some, but it is liberating to say.

Then there is the matter of sharing the Gospel. Maybe religion has been a divisive topic for you. Sharing the Gospel should begin with loving the person. You may need to restate that first.

Do they know what you believe? Rehearse a short explanation of why you think talking about Jesus matters:

“I want you to know (or I know you know) that I believe the Jesus is a real person. Not a fiction. I also believe that I am a sinful human being. My hope for eternal life is that Jesus lived the perfect life I could not live, and that Jesus absorbed the sentence that I earned by being sinful. That included His death and being damned/forsaken on the cross. It is my only hope.”

If you don’t know, ask them what they believe about God and eternal life. look for points in common. If you can articulate why you believe what you believe then share it without evoking a debate. Give it in a FYI (for your information) manner. That is not threatening or contrarian. You do not argue somebody into the Kingdom of God, you expose them. The Spirit works where He can work through the exposure.

Expose them to your love for them. “I do disagree with your idea of God, but I truly love you. I want you to be with me in eternity. That is why I am talking to you about Jesus. I want to do all I can. I can’t make you believe. I can show you Jesus.”

You may not get the satisfaction of seeing the person confess their faith or be baptized. At minimum you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you did what you could. That matters. I expect it will also matter in Heaven, no matter the result.

If you are nearing death and actually planning your funeral. Consider including either a read statement or video clip of expressing your love and explaining Jesus. It can be very powerful coming from you posthumously. A pastor can do it, but you would be better. Too many funerals are just eulogies. You want a funeral to work for you. You want impact.