This Life And One More

I seem to be finding myself thinking a lot about life.  Not just life now but life later.  Why?  Well, I would guess that there are several reasons.  First, it is something we all think about.  Secondly, it is because I am very interested in both the life here and the one to come.  Thirdly, it is because as I said to a group I was asked to share ministry encouragement, that as I looked out and they were the age of our kids and some our grandkids.  My remark was that I recognized I was the oldest person in the room.  I thought about the football analogy and life relating to the 4 quarters of the game.  I noted some of them were probably still in the first quarter of life.  Others in the second or even third quarter.  There were a couple who were probably in the fourth quarter.  However, I told them I was in sudden death overtime.  I thought it was honest, and it was something they even laughed about because that is what I wanted to see happen.

The Bible says in the first past of Psalm 90:10 NKJV-

¹⁰ The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,…

Today that is a common average age for man.  Now we know that in the Old Testament they lived much longer than 80 years.  Adam lived 930 years. Seth lived 912 years. Enosh lived 905 years.  Kenan lived 910 years.  Mahalalel lived 895 years.  Jared lived 962 years.  Enoch lived 365 years before God took him.  Lamech lived 777 years. The records show that Noah lived 950 years.  But the oldest man in the Bible, outliving all the rest, is a man named Methuselah who lived 969 years.

So, I think you get where I am thinking about life.  Not only here but life later.  When you think about life, this is the only one we have ever known.  We have no memory or reflection of a time before.  We are born, and then as we grow, we can start at some point to have memories of things in our past. 

I can remember that as a child probably 2-3 years old of being on a walk in my stroller one evening with my parents.  I remember looking up at the moon and declaring to them if they “see the moon?”  Now of course Elaine will certainly say that these are things I have forgotten, and she is certainly right on that, but we all forget things.  That is not necessarily a problem, rather as people we forget things.

So, as you are trying to remember something from your childhood, please note that there is a life beyond this one.  I have said it, and I am sure others you have read or heard have said some similarly, we are all going to die.  That is what we call the end of life, death.  I would be remiss here if I did not qualify that- unless Jesus comes back first.

So, as my dad used to say, this life and one more.  Now I am one who is interested in what the next life will be, and you may be, too.  We really don’t have much to know about it because God in His infinite wisdom has chosen not to tell us.  If we simply consider that the Bible teaches there will be a new earth, what can we conclude?  That the new earth may not necessarily be one that is not this earth.  It could be this earth as God intended from the creation.  Complete and undefiled by sin and even more beautiful and colorful than today.

Our church many years ago did mission trips to Alaska.  I remember one of the men coming back and commenting that how can anyone not believe in God after seeing Alaska. I agree because it truly is a beautiful place.  We have been there many times and done mission trips.  We have also traveled personally on cruises and trains. If you haven’t, let me highly recommend it to you.

Now though, as we look around us in our communities, states, country and world we don’t see much beauty.  That is because of sin.  Sin is what separates man from God.  The only way to remove that separation is through Jesus Christ.  You know that and probably have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.  Something that everyone needs to do.

Even though I am saved through Jesus Christ, I still must experience all that is occurring in this world.  There is such hatred today and the lack of what might simply be called common sense.  There are a lot of people with a degree that don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain.

We have lost and it seems to be getting even more prevalent in the acknowledgement of the difference between good and evil.  There are many today that don’t recognize that there are things in society which are wrong.  Beyond their own belief, even to deny truth as we know it to be.  You can and many do deny truth but that does not change the truth from being truth.

Merriman-Webster defines truth as the body of real things, events, and facts. Real things, events and facts prove that gravity is real.  You can deny it however it is going to be what it is regardless of what you believe.

There has always been in the history of man a denial of truth depending on the truth that is being considered.  It doesn’t change the truth, yet there may be some who deny the truth.  There are some things that most all agree are wrong yet there are those that may want to deny that truth.

I made this comment in a recent message that if you don’t know what you believe you, will fall for anything.  That is exactly where we are today.  People don’t really know what they believe because they may not want to be seen as on the side of someone that they disagree with.  So, they deny the truth so as not to have to be seen agreeing with someone else.  How foolish. 

It seems to be very clear that there is too much denial of truth in our world today.  As a country, there are truths that have been part of who we are as nation since our beginning.  Who we are has made us a beacon of hope for many.  Unfortunately, it has also been a beacon for those who do not accept those truths.  That becomes the problem of this day and the future if we do not change course and correct the mistakes.

The same is true of the church.  Now when I say church I mean born again believers.  Now, even in that, there can be some issues to be dealt with, but the church is the overreaching word we use.

It is better to speak of truth as believers from the perspective of Scripture and any accepted tradition than from a general and unclear church.  I have always believed that if you are going to error, then error on the side of caution.  I am afraid that the church has fallen prey to not erroring on the side of caution. 

Too much has been added and subtracted which has brought us to this place today.  It not only affects our churches but even as bad our society.  For we have lost in many areas our belief in what is right and wrong.  Compromise and sloppy theology have brought us to a place where if we don’t correct it now, we will have missed what we should as believers be about.  Others seeing Christ in us and doing as He directs us in how we deal with one another and the world around us.

In God’s Grace,

Elbert Nasworthy

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