Where do we come
from
and where will we go?
A schoolteacher asked the
students to write a brief history of their lives. One student wrote: “I was born.
I am alive. I will die.” That’s
really brief and it is also true.
If you ask an ordinary
person, “Where do you come from, meaning what is the origin of life?” he may
answer, “I don’t know.” Then you ask,
”Where will you be going after you die?
Again he may answer “I don’t know.”
Most people do not have any good answers to these questions.
If you know where you come
from, you will also know where you will be going. The Holy Bible has clear answers to these questions about man’s
origin and his future and final destination.
God created the first man
and woman in His own image (Gen. 1:26-27).
Man consists of three elements – body, spirit and soul (Gen. 2:7; 1
Thes. 5:23). After creating Adam and
Eve “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”
(Gen. 1:31) The Bible also informs us
where we will go after death. “And as it is appointed for men to die
once, but after this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27) “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit
will return to God who gave it.” (Ecc. 12:7)
The
saved righteous saints will have everlasting life in heaven and the unsaved
wicked persons will have everlasting punishment in hell (Mt. 25:46; Rev.
20:11-15).
False Concepts of Man’s Origin in the World’s other
Major Religions
Judaism, Christianity and
Islam believe in a Creator God and man is created as described in Genesis of
the Holy Bible.
Hinduism
has no concept of Creation and a Creator.
They believe life happens in repetitive cycles.
Buddhism
also teaches man’s life is a continuous cycle of existence in various forms
called reincarnation. A man’s previous
life before birth may be an ant, a frog or any animal, so strict Buddhists do
not kill any form of life at all. They
believe that if a man lives a good and virtuous life before he dies he will
have a better and more successful life in his next reincarnated life.
Japanese
Shintoism teach that all human life originates from their mythical god (kami)
named Amaterasu. They believe that
humans are Kami’s children.
The
New Age Movement has its roots in oriental religions.
Although
Evolutionism says it is a science but in reality it is a religion based on
assumptions.
Why is the Genesis Creation Truth important to Christians?
The Bible
states: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can
the righteous do?” (Psm. 11:3) If the foundation of the building is removed the whole
structure collapses. What is the
foundation of Christianity? The
Bible. And what is the foundation of
the Bible? Genesis. If you remove or misinterpret Genesis you
will have a false religion. Genesis sets
forth the creation of the heavens and the earth; the creation of man, the fall
of man and the entrance of sin into the world.
Almost every doctrine of major importance such as salvation, redemption,
promise of a Messiah-Savior, marriage, rules for living, obedience to God’s
commandments and the Seventh Day Sabbath have their roots in the book of
Genesis.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ accepted the book of Genesis as historically correct,
trustworthy and divinely inspired. “And
beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Lk. 24:27) Moses wrote the
first five books of the Holy Bible called
“Torah”. Jesus
said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me;
for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you
believe My words?” (Jn. 5:46-47) Why
did Jesus say that? It is because the
foundation of Christianity was laid in the writings of Moses’. God said to the serpent, “I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Gen. 3:15) Here in the book of Genesis is the first
prophecy and promise of God to send the Messiah and Savior who will destroy the
devil and his works.
According
to Genesis, God created Adam and Eve in His own image. Since God is perfect our first ancestors
were perfect when they were first created.
They were designed to live forever.
Death came as a result of sin.
Genesis 2:17 and Romans 5:12 explain how death came after man
sinned. Before sin, there was no death.
The
evolution theory of natural selection states that only the fittest of each
species were able to survive. Evolutionists claim the fossil records show there
were struggle, bloodshed, death and decay for billions of years long before
monkeys evolved into man. If death had
occurred before man sinned, then the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
becomes meaningless. Evolution destroys
the message of redemption; for if death has always been present. What significance does the death of Jesus
Christ have on the redemption of man if death is just a part of the life’s
process and has nothing to do with man’s sins?
Why would God manifest Himself in the flesh as Jesus Christ and became
the Savior and Redeemer of mankind?
Evolution negates the work of Jesus Christ who came to bear the sins of
mankind and shed His precious blood for the atonement of our sins. Evolution is a great lie of the devil that
must be rejected by Christians.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ affirms God’s Creation truth in His discourse on marriage
when He said, “Have
you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’
and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ‘So then, they are no longer two but one
flesh. Therefore what God has joined
together, let not man separate.” (Mt. 19:4-6)
Man did not evolve from the monkeys. God had created man and woman in His own
image. In our Lord’s statement there is
absolutely no place for a homosexual union, which is an abomination to God
(Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26-29).
Where
do we come from? God created us through
the marital union of our parents therefore we must honor and respect the
institution of marriage (Heb. 13:4). It
is called holy matrimony.
We were chosen before the Foundation of the World
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us
to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure
of His will;” (Eph. 1:3-5)
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called,
these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Rom.
8:29-30)
God’s
foreknowledge of man’s fall is an indication His plan of salvation is not an
afterthought; it was settled before the foundation of the world. We are created for the purpose of
worshipping, serving and honoring God.
It gives us joy and comfort to know that God has always known us even
before we were born. God’s love for us
is eternal. His power and wisdom is
supreme. He will guide and protect us
until the day we stand in His presence.
Preservation of God and Perseverance of the
Saints
There
are two concepts in the doctrine of salvation that are held by Christians.
"Calvinism
teaches (1) the total depravity of man, (2) God's unconditional election (or predestination)
of certain ones to be saved and certain others to be lost, (3) that Christ died
only for the elect, not for every person, (4) that God's saving grace toward
the elect cannot be resisted, and (5) that once a person is saved, he can never
lose his salvation.
"Arminianism teaches something
different on each of these points: (1) Though born a sinner, mankind is given a
spark of divine grace that enables him to respond positively to God. (2) God
does not arbitrarily consign some people to eternal damnation; their willful
rejection of God's salvation makes them responsible. (3) Christ died for every
person, even though some refuse to accept the provision for their salvation.
(4) No person is forced against his or her will to become a Christian (5) One's
salvation can be lost through willful disobedience.
"Rather than the unconditional predestination of Calvinism, Arminianism
teaches conditional predestination. We are predestined to eternal life if we
accept God's provision of salvation.
There
are some biblical truths in both Calvinism and Arminianism. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught preservation as
well as the perseverance of the saints.
He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is
greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
(Jn. 10:27-29) Our
Lord had also given warnings to His disciples: “And you will be hated by
all for my name's sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt.
10:22; 24:13)
Concerning
preservation of the saints the apostle Paul prayed: “Now may the God of peace Himself
sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:23) Paul also
wrote: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling;” (Phil. 2:12)
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Salvation
is a free gift from God. We are saved
by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are “created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
(Eph. 2:8-10).
Where will we go when we die?
You may remember the science fiction movie “Cocoon”
that has the story of a group of old folks from a retirement home in
Florida. They had discovered the
cocoons that were left in a swimming pool by the aliens from outer space have
incredible restorative powers. They
were eagerly waiting for their extraterrestrial friends to take them in a
spaceship to another planet to live.
There are people who actually believe they can go to heaven in
spaceships. In March 1997 thirty nine
members of an U.F.O. cult called Heaven’s Gate committed suicide in Rancho
Santa Fe, (near San Diego) California.
They believed that by leaving their bodies behind they could join other
“older members” from “the next level above human” on an UFO supposedly hidden
behind the Hale-Bopp comet. These people were completely deceived. They are lost forever.
Our Lord
Jesus Christ prayed to the Father for His disciples:
“I have given them Your word; and the world
has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the
world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that
You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am
not of the world.” (Jn. 17:14-16) It
does not mean that Christians are extraterrestrials from outer space. It means their thoughts, behavior, actions,
speech and attitude do not conform to the world’s standards (Rom. 12:2; 1 Jn.
2:15). “For
our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ,” (Phil. 3:20)
Heaven is Real
1. Heaven
is the dwelling place of God. (1 Kng
8:30)
2. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said that He came down from heaven. (Jn 6:38)
3. Jesus
went up to heaven after His resurrection. (Mk 16:19)
4. He
said He was going to His Father’s mansion to prepare a place for us. (Jn
14:2-3)
5. God
is preparing a place in heaven too beautiful to describe for those who love
Him. (1 Cor. 2:9)
6. Jesus
ascended to heaven and He will return in the same manner (Acts 1:9 -11)
7. When
the Lord returns the dead in Christ will rise first, then those that are alive
will be caught up together with them to be with Jesus. (1 Thes. 4:15-17)
8. Our
bodies will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible and glorious bodies.
(1 Cor. 15:51-54; Phil. 3:20-21)
9. When
Jesus is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 Jn.
3:2)
10. In
heaven “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no
more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)
11. “Therefore
they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His
temple. And He who sits on the throne
will dwell among them. They shall
neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun will not strike them, nor
any heat. For the Lamb who is in the
midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of
waters. And God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes. (Rev. 7:15-17)
12. “And
there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it, and His servants shall serve Him.
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; They need
no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”
(Rev. 22:3-5)
May God bless
you
For
comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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