Journey Through Eternity

I heard the news that my Aunt Lydia (my mother's eldest sister) already has died yesterday. I felt sad about it then suddenly I got terrified when I realized how time had flown so very fast and my thoughts reminded me about the reality of DEATH as I journey towards eternity future.

When we had started becoming conscious about our surroundings during our childhood years, we also had started knowing lots of people. First, our parents then our brothers and sisters, then our relatives and our grandparents, then our neighbors, then we started getting some childhood friends too, and then finally, we met lots and lots of people as we grew up. As the years went by and as we grew older, we noticed that slowly most of the people we know were dying. Some have died at young age, some have died during the peak of their career, and some have died at good old age. We can also observe how generations are being replaced through the years. During the time of our childhood years, it was the generation of our parents. But as we grow into adults, the generation of our parents starts being replaced by our own generation. And then suddenly, our generation shall be replaced by our children's generation and during this time, our old parents' generation has already been started fading as most of them shall face death in a short period of time. After our parents, it shall be our turn to fade also then eventually we will face death similar to what has happened to our parents and during this time it is already our grandchildren's generation. Whether we admit it or not, it is somehow terrifying that we really have to face DEATH as the word of God tells us...

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" - Hebrews 9:27 (KJV)

"This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead." - Ecclesiastes 9:3 (KJV)

Based on God's word, we can't really avoid physical DEATH and we don't have a control over it as "DEATH is an unavoidable appointment". But, do our life really ends there? If our life ends with our physical death then it does not matter anymore whether we believe in God or not. But God's word already had warned us that after our physical death there is a judgment.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" - Hebrews 9:27 (KJV)

The verse above is telling us the truth that right after our physical death, God will judge us.

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." - Ecclesiastes 12:14 (KJV)

If the judgment of God is at hand right after our physical death, then whatever we do in this present life shall surely has something to do on what could be our next journey after we faced God's judgment. Surely, we will be spending eternity. But are we going to spend eternity with God or not? You might ask, can we really know the answer? Yes, the word of God tells us...

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." - Romans 3:10-12 (KJV)

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" - Romans 3:23 (KJV)

"For the wages of sin is death;..." - Romans 6:23a (KJV)

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." - Revelation 20:11-14 (KJV)

You might ask again, are you saying that all of mankind are bound to hell? Yes, indeed and not just to hell but bound to the "lake of fire" as the word of God described it. This is a brutal truth that most people cannot accept. Many people had embossed the idea in their mind that God is the God of love and He cannot allow people to suffer terminal punishment. This is actually a partly-wrong notion. It is true that God is the God of love but, let us not forget that same God is also the God of judgment. And, God hates SIN so much.

"For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee." - Psalm 5:4

"God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked everyday." - Psalm 7:11

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;" - Romans 1:18 (KJV)

This is the reason why God judge sinners to be condemned for all eternity. And this condemnation is the ETERNAL DEATH or the so-called "second death" which we have already read (from Revelation 20:14).  As we have already seen on dying people that somehow it is very much painful to die.  Can you imagine dying for the rest of eternity?

However....., Thank God we are not hopeless. See how God Himself puts up a plan in saving us from that eternal damnation.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:16-17 (KJV)

God is truly the God of love. And because of God's love, God sent us His son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to save everyone who believe.  You might wonder how Jesus Christ is able to save us from eternal damnation by dying on the cross. Actually, it's through His blood.  Discussion shall be lengthy if I elaborate it more but below are some facts from God's word...

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." - Hebrews 9:22-26 (KJV)

"...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." - 1 John 1:7 (KJV)

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" - Colossians 1:14 (KJV)

"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." - Romans 5:9

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can be saved from the wrath of God which supposedly our ETERNAL DEATH.  And instead of eternal punishment, God has given us ETERNAL LIFE. And this ETERNAL LIFE is in His son, Jesus Christ.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:16-17 (KJV)

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23 (KJV)

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." - 1 John 5:11-13 (KJV)

If ETERNAL DEATH is spending eternity without God in the lake of fire, then on the other hand, ETERNAL LIFE is spending eternity with God in heaven. This life is in Jesus Christ. If we trust and receive Jesus Christ as our own personal Lord and Saviour then we are also receiving the gift of ETERNAL LIFE. And we only have to believe in this fact.

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." - Acts 16:31 (KJV)

If we don't believe this then we are already on our journey to an eternity without God and that is... ETERNAL DEATH.

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." - John 3:18 (KJV)

The Preaching of the Gospel

This video does not mean to scare everybody. Though it's just a conceptualized presentation, it imparts a message that is full of truth. Believers in Jesus Christ really need to tell their friends, families, and loved-ones about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I shamefully admit that I myself have many shortcomings for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ as there are still lots of friends and loved-ones around that I don't even have time to share the gospel with personally (I'm not proud of this but, through this blog, I would like to encourage every Christian including myself to win souls for Christ).

We, believers in Christ, are debtors to non-believers as it is our mandate before God to preach the gospel of Christ to them. As apostle Paul have said:

"Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith." - Romans 1:13-17 (KJV)

Our Lord Jesus Christ had given us the mandate through the church to preach the gospel to every creature for the reason that people need to hear the gospel to faithfully believe on Him.

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." - Mark 16:15-16 (KJV)

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" - Romans 10:13-14 (KJV)

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - Romans 10:17 (KJV)

I believe God had not only given me a career in information technology just to provide for my family. God had given me this career also to use it for the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the reason why I have started writing on this blog. With the knowledge I have in doing this, hopefully, I would be able to reach out more people through the internet.

People need to understand that all sinners shall be judged and are condemned already to face the wrath of God. To some people, this is just a joke, foolishness, and stupidity as they are not considering what shall be revealed unto them at the moment they died.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up, to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." - Romans 1:18-32 (KJV)

"For the wages of sin is death..." - Romans 6:23 (KJV)

People also need to know that the only hope of sinners before God is our Lord Jesus Christ.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 (KJV)

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." - John 14:6 (KJV)

Alright now, how about you? Is Jesus Christ your saviour now? If not, I would like to share this to you that you would have to believe that Jesus Christ is the one who can really save you from eternal damnation. Many people call Him saviour but they don't accept Him to be their personal Saviour. Will you accept Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Saviour? Please don't say, "no". Repent and accept Him as your personal Lord and Saviour today.

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." - Acts 16:31 (KJV)

"...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." - 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)

Inevitability of God's Word

It's been a year since my last post in this blog. I have to admit that it has been a busy year for me but now I have to continue on sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to everybody else who would happen to visit this site. I don't remember anymore how many times have I read the book of Genesis but lately, while I was sharing the story of God's creation to my household, it had come across my mind how powerful the word of God could be when He said, "Let there be light": and there was light (Genesis 1:3). The whole of the first chapter of the book of Genesis tells us how God speaks and everything was created just how he had spoken it. It's very amazing, isn't it?

"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." - Psalm 33:6 (KJV)

"For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." - Psalm 33:9 (KJV)

We see nature around us. Do we realize that everything exists because God had just commanded them to exist? Many people would not believe in this but this is the truth. It is a huge topic to discuss God's creation and I would just like to put more emphasis on the fact about the power of God's word because whatever He says and declares shall surely be carried out.

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" - Numbers 23:19 (KJV)

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him." - Ecclesiastes 3:14 (KJV)

God is perfect. He can only speak of pure truth. I remember one story in the New Testament when the Lord Jesus Christ rebuked His disciples because of their lack of faith and He stopped the storm by just saying "Peace, be still". Below was what the disciples had testified about Him:

"And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" - Mark 4:41 (KJV)

Whether you believe it or not, there is one truth that I would like to impart. And that is, God's word is an ultimate declaration of truth that we need to believe. For example, when the word of God declares that "For all have sinned" (Romans 3:23) then it is an absolute truth that all mankind are sinners for it is no different at all when God said "Let there be light" and the light stood fast as God commanded it. Do you perceive light? If yes, then all people in this world are also perceivable as sinners before God. If God said, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) then it shall be done that all sinners shall be condemned to eternal damnation. It's scary, isn't it? But, the word of God also declares that if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved from eternal damnation and we shall be given eternal life instead.

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." - Acts 16:31 (KJV)

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." - John 5:11-13

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." - John 3:16-18

The condemnation of sinners like us is inevitable because God had already declared it in His written word - the Holy Bible. This is the reason why the Lord Jesus Christ need to suffer and die to save us from that condemnation because His blood is the only thing that can cleanse us from all our sins. There are lots of declarations from the word of God about this matter and it would take me longer to write this if I'm gonna share them all with you. So, what are you waiting for? Believe on our Lord Jesus, accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior, and repent from all of your sins; then He will save you surely as God has said "Let there be light:" and there was light.

The Value of Man's Success

People define success in so many ways. Success is very subjective to all people who experience it. But, is there truly a real success in this life? If you'll ask a student --- "Why do you need to study?", then the answer you'll get might be simply... "Well, I would like to become a professional and have a successful career someday." If you'll ask a professional --- "Why do you need to work and keep your successful career?", then the answer you'll get is... "I would like to earn more so that I can make myself ready to raise a family." If you'll ask a successful family man --- "Why do you still need to work?" --- then you might get good laugh and an answer something like this... "Are you kidding? Of course! I need to work to earn more money so that I can provide to my children good education and someday I might also see them as successful as I am. And once they became successful, I don't have to worry for them anymore when I get old." And if you'll ask an old man --- "What else do you want to achieve if you'll already succeeded in achieving your goals in life?"

On the last question, we might realize that we have been doing things, which we thought, able to serve the purpose we defined in our lives and at the end we will be prompted with a question... "What else to achieve most especially when our earthly life is coming near to an end?"

In reality, there might be only few people who can claim that they have already seen the peak of their success or maybe no one else can. I have found an interesting fact from the word of God saying:

"This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead." - Ecclesiastes 9:3 (KJV)

It is actually a brutal fact to realize that our hearts are full of evil and madness while we live. And because of this, we always wanted more good things to come into our lives even if we have already achieved most of our goals. In other words, we will never be contented. The truth is, man's so-called success has no value at all under the sun. Let us be confronted by these facts:

1) Life's success has really no profit at all

"And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (KJV)

2) Life is full of envy

"Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit." - Ecclesiastes 4:4 (KJV)

3) Life is full of tragedies and is always given to unexpected circumstances

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." - Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 (KJV)

4) Life's purpose without God is just to eat, to drink, and to be merry

"Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 8:15 (KJV)

5) Life is full of discontentment and problems

"That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered." - Ecclesiastes 1:15 (KJV)

6) Life always suffers injustice

"All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life on his wickedness." - Ecclesiastes 7:15 (KJV)

Let us go back to this verse...

"This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead." - Ecclesiastes 9:3 (KJV)

We can never know what kind of evil will come and take away everything we have. Some problems or tragedies may arise that might cost us our success. Or, somebody will just do evil things against us because of too much envy. Imagine that we are toiling in all the days of our lives to become successful and then suddenly we died. Who will gain the fruit our labor? It might be comforting to know if our loved ones might be the ones to enjoy on our gain but what if somebody whom we don't really know or even our enemy takes our wealth? And how can we be so sure that our loved ones would follow our last will and testament after we have died? It's sad to realize that we do not have control over our wealth anymore after we have died. Isn't it?

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul?" - Matthew 16:26 (KJV)

The truth of the matter is that those things that man is achieving to make himself successful in this earthly life has no value at all when he arrives on his final destination which is DEATH. Death is the "one event unto all" because afterwards we shall all "go to the dead". There is one verse in the book of Hebrews that tells us the same thing.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" - Hebrews 9:27 (KJV)

The above verse would tell us that physical death is still not our end because there is still something after our physical death. And that is the "judgment". I will not talk about "judgment" on this article but let me tell you that this life we have is not hopeless after all. And I tell you that we can still find the real success and that is to have "eternal life" in Christ Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ is actually our only hope both in this life and after this life.

It is not bad if we become successful in this earthly life but we should also care about what will happen to us after we have already done in this life. Our success on this present world is only temporary. What lies ahead of us is something unimaginable and that is what we call "ETERNITY". What is 100 years compared to eternity? We can live successfully for 100 years but, can we confidently claim that we can still have that success after 1000 years or more? Do we already have eternal security in Christ Jesus? If we can not answer these questions, then I suggest that we should trust and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal Lord and Saviour. Many people might not believe this but I tell you... If the Bible is not telling the truth then I have just shared to you a fantasy and there's nothing wrong with that. But, what if the Bible is telling the truth? Then, please consider these things because we will always be miserable if we don't have Jesus Christ in our lives. Let me close this article with the following verses from the Bible:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 (KJV)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 (KJV)

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23 (KJV)

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. - I John 5:11-13 (KJV)

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:13 (KJV)

Will you now kneel in prayer, call upon the name of the Lord, and trust him to be your Lord and Saviour?