Ensign: and the life everlasting.
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 1 October 2017
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Now this should be a no-brainer!
I mean, who among us doesn't want life everlasting (i.e. to live forever)? I just -- pardon my language -- hope to God it's not this one. Quite a bit of this got covered in my last post about "the resurrection of the body", the previous line of the Apostles' Creed. There are moments it's hard to not see our bodies and souls blended together, and it's even ingrained in our language with expressions like "body and soul", "heart and soul"; we can't avoid blending the physical with the spiritual.
Nor should we.
In Scripture, there are only three people who get to heaven without having to die first. Enoch who "walked with God: and he not; for God took him" from Genesis 4:24, Elijah the prophet "went up by a whirlwind into heaven" in 2 Kings 2:11, and Jesus (correction: He DID die on the cross, but He came back to life three days later -- otherwise, what would be the point of this entire conversation?) "while [His disciples] beheld, he was taken up ... out of their sight" in Acts 1:9.
Unlike the first two gentlemen, Jesus will be coming back.
And WHAT does this have to do with life everlasting? I'm so glad you asked! In our Bibles "everlasting" is often synonymous with "eternal" and "forever", so the big question is where you want to have this, with God the Father or without Him. We see in 2 Timothy, Paul's final recorded written letter that life for a follower of Jesus the Christ -- this wording works since Christ means "Anointed One" is not a perfect one.
For you. For me. For anybody.
2 Timothy 4:1-8 really goes into better detail than I will today ... but not by much. To watch in all things, to endure affliction, to do the work of an evangelist (which you don't have to be a minister! Just do the work), to make full proof of our ministry (which doesn't mean a 100% success rate is required! Just do the ministering) ... all that, and we'll always be ready to be offered and to offer ourselves to God and live that life everlasting.
Amen.
David
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 1 October 2017
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Now this should be a no-brainer!
I mean, who among us doesn't want life everlasting (i.e. to live forever)? I just -- pardon my language -- hope to God it's not this one. Quite a bit of this got covered in my last post about "the resurrection of the body", the previous line of the Apostles' Creed. There are moments it's hard to not see our bodies and souls blended together, and it's even ingrained in our language with expressions like "body and soul", "heart and soul"; we can't avoid blending the physical with the spiritual.
Nor should we.
In Scripture, there are only three people who get to heaven without having to die first. Enoch who "walked with God: and he not; for God took him" from Genesis 4:24, Elijah the prophet "went up by a whirlwind into heaven" in 2 Kings 2:11, and Jesus (correction: He DID die on the cross, but He came back to life three days later -- otherwise, what would be the point of this entire conversation?) "while [His disciples] beheld, he was taken up ... out of their sight" in Acts 1:9.
Unlike the first two gentlemen, Jesus will be coming back.
And WHAT does this have to do with life everlasting? I'm so glad you asked! In our Bibles "everlasting" is often synonymous with "eternal" and "forever", so the big question is where you want to have this, with God the Father or without Him. We see in 2 Timothy, Paul's final recorded written letter that life for a follower of Jesus the Christ -- this wording works since Christ means "Anointed One" is not a perfect one.
For you. For me. For anybody.
2 Timothy 4:1-8 really goes into better detail than I will today ... but not by much. To watch in all things, to endure affliction, to do the work of an evangelist (which you don't have to be a minister! Just do the work), to make full proof of our ministry (which doesn't mean a 100% success rate is required! Just do the ministering) ... all that, and we'll always be ready to be offered and to offer ourselves to God and live that life everlasting.
Amen.
David
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