One of the simple yet profound things taught in Scripture is that there are two worlds---this present world and the one to come. As it is with so many things in Scripture, there is a tension between two concepts or truths that are taught. On one hand, we have Peter writing about how we can "love life and see good days." (1 Peter 3:10.) On the other, we have Paul saying that he "desired to depart and be with Christ which is far better." (Phil. 1:23.) Christianity, by its very nature, puts these two worlds in greater tension than any other religion. Some minimize one in their over emphasis on the other. Christianity teaches the value and place of both, while readily speaking of the glory and greatness of the world to come.

Listen to the language of Scripture. Paul wrote that Jesus "gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world." (Gal. 1:4.) To Timothy, he said, "Bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." (1 Tim. 4:8.) Also, "For which cause we faint not, though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:16-18.) This is an important world-view that is taught in Scripture. We should embrace this view because it is the one Jesus taught and the apostles preached. We would not know what is to come if we did not have some revelation from God about life and that future world.

A significant story in the Old Testament is that of Moses going to the top of Mount Nebo. (Deuteronomy 34:1f.) He looked over Jordan toward the Promised Land. He was not permitted to enter it, but he saw if from afar. The Lord said to Moses, "This is the land which I sware unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused you to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither." (34:4.) "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord." (v. 5.) We are much like Moses of old in that we too stand on this side of that eternal world and see it by faith, but we must die on this side first.

Cannot know the meaning of life. Christianity presents a clear and unique message about the nature of this present world. It differs from those who think that it is not possible to know the purpose of life or what lies beyond. While most everyone admits that man has the capability to ponder his present life and the possibility of another world, some think that we are limited by our present surroundings. That is, we can say nothing for sure about the true meaning of life and its goal. Albert Einstein wrote a piece titled, "Strange is Our Situation Here Upon Earth." In that article he wrote:

"Strange is our situation here upon the earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. . .

"To ponder interminably over the reason for one’s own existence or the meaning of life in general seems to me, from an objective point of view, to be sheer folly. And yet everyone holds certain ideals by which he guides his aspiration and his judgment. . .

"To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms---this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong in the ranks of devout religious men.

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of the creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own---a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of this body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature." (Modern Religious Thought, edited by Jaroslav Pelikan, 202-205.)

This group (the existentialists) is content to just ponder man’s existence. They often deal with things out on the edge of life where suffering and death exists. Reaching this outer limit, they then look back upon life to see if they can find any meaning.

Christianity teaches that we can know much more than that about life. God has revealed to man his origin, nature, purpose, responsibility and destiny. Without this revelation, man would be pondering it forever and still not know. Many people are waiting on man to discover some answers on his own while rejecting the revelation of God. I have found it interesting and instructive that the very questions men ask about life are answered in Scripture. These answers are both sufficient and challenging.

Fatalism. Other groups approach this world and life in a fatalistic way. There are both religious and non-religious fatalists. A fatalist is one that believes that events are fixed in advance for all time in such a manner that human beings are powerless to change them. Non-religious people are greatly affected by fatalism. They may feel powerless in a tremendous universe where man seems like a speck of dust. They do not yet know the power that a believer possesses to control his life by the Spirit of God. They may feel helpless just from the burdens, temptations and problems of life. Some become afraid of life believing that there are unknown forces at work in the world against them. There are many phobias in the minds of people who know not God. For Christians, Paul wrote, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1:7.) "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18.)

Theological fatalists believe that everything happens by the sovereign will and decree of God. Calvin said, "Not a drop of rain falls from the heavens without the command of God." Man, therefore, can do nothing to change what God has decreed. World religions, like Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism, have doctrines which paralyze their lives and limit progress in their civilizations. These doctrines cause them to view this life as vain and futile. They desire to escape this life and enter into the next.

Muhammad taught his followers to be ready to abandon this life for the next. In the effort to glorify the world to come, they devalue and demean this life, in effect, saying that it is not worth living. Someone well described the Muslim view of life as through the eyes of one living in a desert. The person is alone in a vast, dry, barren land. Life is tough and God is seemingly far removed. It is best to die and leave this world behind. Muslims are often heard to say that if Allah wills it, there is nothing one can do. It is the harshest view of existence and of human life.

Yet Christians see this life as good and worth living. The apostle Peter wrote, "For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." (1 Peter 3:10-12.) It is true that Paul wrote, "For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better; nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." (Phil. 1:23-24.) Yet, this is not suicidal or cynical about the value and place for this present life. The future life with the Lord is better than this present world; yet Christians are taught to love all of life.

Indifference to life. Man’s worse trait is indifference. Admittedly, there are many decisions to be made about life. There are many conflicts and seemingly contradictory things in our world. But we must think about it. We must not allow ourselves to stop asking and wondering and seeking. One writer expressed himself thus:

"I know not who sent me into the world, nor what the world is, nor what I myself am. I am terribly ignorant of everything. I know not what my body is, nor my senses, nor my soul and that part of me which thinks what I say, which reflects upon itself as well as upon all external things, and has no more knowledge of itself than of them. The Frenchmen, Pascal who died at only 39 years of age, described the indifference of man this way:

"I see the terrifying immensity of the universe which surrounds me, and find myself limited to one corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am set down here rather than elsewhere, nor why the brief period appointed for my life is assigned to me at this moment rather than another in all the eternity that has gone before and will come after me. On all sides I behold nothing but infinity, in which I am a mere atom, a mere passing shadow that returns no more. All I know is that I must soon die, but what I understand least of all is this very death which I cannot escape.

"As I know not whence I come, so I know not whither I go. . . From all this I conclude that I ought to spend every day of my life without seeking to know my fate. I might perhaps be able to find a solution to my doubts, but I cannot be bothered to do so, I will not take one step towards its discovery." (Quoted by Pascal in Pensees 29, Blaise Pascal, 11.)

Pascal could only regard such indifference as insane. Man’s condition ought to impel him to seek to discover whether there is a God and a solution to his predicament. But men preoccupy their time and their thoughts with trivialities and distractions, so as to avoid the despair, boredom, and anxiety that would inevitably result if those diversions were removed.

Pascal was right. Man cannot be bothered to think and ponder the meaning of life. Some say that such is too deep for them. It is too deep because we had rather spend our time on trivialities! We are more concerned about the mundane things of life rather than the dealing with the great questions of life. Are these questions deep and challenging? Yes, but we can think about them and we must. "Set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth." (Col. 3:2.)

Defeatism. Probably the most common response to this world is an acceptance of defeat. People are so ready to give up and to quit. Many are convinced that they cannot succeed in this game of life. They are over- whelmed by financial responsibilities, health concerns, high demands for academic success in school and college, social acceptance, and spiritual demands. How can I do all these things? How can I win in this battle of life?

Christianity has a powerful and wonderfully encouraging message to those who are thus struggling. That message is, "You can win!" God is for us, not against us. (Rom. 8:31.) Redemption is not dependent upon our ability to go up into heaven and bring Christ down or to go into the deep and bring him up from the dead. The word is nigh you, even in your mouth and in your heart. By faith we are justified. (Romans 5:1.) God provides salvation as a gift. (Rom. 5:15-17.) Jesus was criticized for eating with sinners. (Luke 15:1-2.) Afterwards, he told the stories about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost boy. The lowly may possess salvation as well as royalty. The servant is considered the highest in God’s order of things. The first are last, and the last are first. I read an article recently with the title, "Losers Can Be Winners!" God is willing to accept us, to cleanse us, and to receive as his own children. There is no greater message, no more encouraging message, than the Gospel. We are saved by hope. (Romans 8:24.) We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Rom. 8:37.) You not only can win; you can win with some to spare! Peter said that we can make it abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord. (2 Peter 1:11.)

(Sunday PM, February 17, 2002)

Some think of religion as relating to that which is far removed, even abstract and obtuse. They never see the bonds or links between the visible and the invisible, the seen and the unseen. Christianity does involve the spirit world and the world of the unseen. It includes a transcendent and invisible God. (Heb. 11:27.) But God has abundantly provided links or bonds to connect the visible with the invisible, the seen with the unseen.

Jesus often used parables in his teachings. That is, he laid down two things side by side for comparison, for an analogy. He showed the connecting points between the two, between the earthly and the heavenly. The seemingly great gulf between this world and the eternal world may not be as great as we imagine.

Without a revelation from God we could not know anything for sure about the world to come. But we have such! The Bible claims to be just that information for which man has sought. Paul wrote:

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God." (1 Cor. 2:9-11.)

"But I certify you brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. 1:11-12.)

Without God revealing Himself, the nature of man, the beginning by creation, the nature of this world and the world to come, we would not know what lies beyond. It would remain the Hadean world, or the unseen world. But now that world has been made known; that is, its reality and some specific things about it.

Robert Milligan wrote: "It is the Bible, fully authenticated by many infallible proofs, that reveals God to man, and man to himself. It is the Bible that makes known to us God’s plan of enlightening, justifying, sanctifying, and redeeming our poor fallen race; of making us holy here, and everlastingly happy hereafter. Let us cling to our Bibles as the wisdom of God and the power of God through Christ. They will guide us like a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, till having crossed the Jordan, we shall enter that blessed land, where we shall see as we are seen, and know even as we are known." (Reason and Revelation, Robert Milligan, 420-421.)

Like all things that connect two different things, it must bear characteristics of both. The Bible has earthly human traits as well as divine. It bears the marks of both God and man, the seen and the unseen. It is historical, relating to real events in time. Yet it speaks beyond the human voice in that it speaks of things which man cannot see and know unaided. Our President Thomas Jefferson made a serious mistake in dealing with the Bible. He separated these two parts. He kept only the earthly practical things of the Bible that relate to this life. He cut out the miraculous, the things that point to another world. If man is serious about wanting to know what lies beyond, he should at the very least, consider the message of the Bible carefully. It pretends to do just what man ponders. It purposes to tell us about the world beyond human sight. By means of the Bible, the seen and the unseen join hands. The Bible is the voice that speaks to us from beyond this world.

Jesus is the perfect bond or link between this world and the world beyond. Jesus said, "I came forth from the Father and am come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father." (John 16:28.) Earlier John wrote, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. . . . And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-3, 14.)

The Bible declares this about Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said, "Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou, Show us the Father?" (John 14:9.) He is "the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person."" (Heb. 1:3.) He is "the image of the invisible God." (Col. 1:15.) "For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:9.) "For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." (Heb. 7:26.)

"Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:6-11.)

In addition to the Scriptures, we have God coming down to earth in the form of a man. The life of Jesus of Nazareth provides a real link between this world and the world to come. I believe in a better life beyond because of the life of Jesus Christ. The Muslims, who reject the divinity of Jesus, make the same mistake that unbelievers do in regard to the Bible. That is, they point out only the human or earthly traits of Jesus. What we affirm about Jesus is that he possessed both traits of the divine and the human. We do not deny that he bore the image of the earthly.

David wrote that man "is fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14.) Paul asked, "Who knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him?" (1 Cor. 2:11.) There have been many and huge volumes written contemplating the nature of man. I believe that man has much evidence within his own nature of his connection to things beyond this world. Man has the unique ability to consider his own life and world. He can meditate, contemplate, evaluate and look beyond the physical. What we can consider and conclude is affirmed by Scripture. While the Bible instructs man, man himself has the ability to consider and weigh the message of the Bible. We interact with the Bible and with God. Several books of the Bible and many individual passages express that interaction. Books like the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Job are much about man’s response to life and to God.

Man is able to consider things on a lofty, spiritual level. He has not only a physical consciousness, but also a conscience that is in-tune with spiritual, moral, ethical conduct. There is something within man that sits in judgment on his own deeds and words, as if there is an outside judge who sits on a bench above man. Man bears the image of both the earth and heaven. He is a part of his physical world, yet also maintains citizenship in another land. When the Bible describes the nature of man, we can consider and confirm the truthfulness of those words. What is says about us matches our experiences in life.

There is a sacredness, a wonder about human life. Man is made in the image of God. One thing that has been written about Alexander Campbell is that he had a great awe and respect for fellow humans. He was almost reverent when in the presence of others. We should respect one another and human life because it is of God. To dishonor human beings is to dishonor God who created man. The Bible teaches that God counts our actions toward one another as if they are directed toward him. (1 John 4:20, Matt. 25:45, Acts 9:4.)

Man stands as a link between this world and the eternal world, between the visible and the invisible. This is so because man is made after God’s likeness, man possesses a spirit that is eternal, and man of all creatures on earth is the only one that will live eternally. There exists within us a longing that this world can never satisfy. As long as we live in this present state, this hunger will never go away. Man seeks to fulfill it in many ways without fully realizing what causes the hunger. He tries to satisfy it with pleasure, money, drugs and even work---anything to fill the void. Augustine wrote that man will never be at peace until he is at home with God. This may be what Solomon wrote about God "setting eternity in the heart of man." (Eccl. 3:11.)

Man is able to worship, to meditate upon God, to offer praise and adoration to a Divine Being. Man is capable of faith, even desires it naturally. That is, faith is a natural part of man since he is made of body and spirit. He is a spiritual being as well as a physical one. The Hebrew writer described faith as "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." (11:1.) "Things hoped for" as above in heaven. Faith is something exercised by one on earth looking upward and heavenward. "Evidence of things not seen" is the earthly expression and possession of unseen things. It makes them real down on earth in the human heart. In saying various things about the faith of the great patriarchs, the writer penned this about Moses: "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the King; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." (11:27.) By faith man is able to "see" God who is invisible to human sight.

In the resurrection, our connection between this present world and the world to come will be made complete. Paul presented this information to the Corinthians by revelation from God that man will bear the image of the heavenly just as he has borne the image of the earthly. (1 Cor. 15:46-49.) This one is yet future for us, yet the image of Adam and Christ have already been demonstrated on earth for all to consider. Adam and Christ form the eternal link between this life and the one to come.