The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - PREHUMAN EXISTENCE

 Did you know that Jesus had a glorious existence long before he was born as human here on earth? The Bible informs us that he is God's "first-born" Son. This means that he was created before the other sons of God's family. He is also God's "only-begotten" Son in that he is the only one directly created by Jehovah God; all other things came into existence through him as God's Chief Agent. Thus, before being born on earth as a male child, he served in the heavens, where he was known as "the Word," God's spokesman. - JOHN 1:3, 10, 14; Colossians 1:15-17. 

Jesus could therefore properly say: "Before Abraham came into existence, I have been," and, I am the living bread that came down from heaven." (John 8:58; 6:51) Referring to the high position he had held in heaven, he prayed: "Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was." - JOHN 17:5. 

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - Jesus Christ, the One Through Whom God Blesses Mankind

 How loving the provision that Jehovah has made through his Son for blessing persons of all races and nations! He has promised deliverance from oppression, sin and death. What a glorious prospect! It is vital for us to appreciate, however, that these blessing will come to mankind only through Jesus Christ. For this reason God inspired the apostle Peter to say of Jesus: "There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved." (Acts 4:12) By gaining knowledge of this provision and by exercising faith in God's purpose in connection with Christ, you may put yourself in line for the grand blessings of eternal life. 

For thousands of years men of faith have awaited the fulfillment of this hope, and the promises that God gave them good reason doing so. To the Hebrew family head Abraham, Jehovah made the promise that "all nations of the earth" would be blessed through his "seed." That "seed" proved to be primarily Jesus Christ. (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:14-16, 28, 29) God also provided for a priesthood and sacrifices under the law given to Israel. These two pointed forward to Jesus. They directed attention to him as the great High Priest and to the sacrifice of his own human life as the means to take away sins forever and bring deliverance from death. (Galatians 3:24; Hebrews 9:11, 12; John 1:29) Furthermore, Jehovah foretold that the one whom eternal peace would come to humankind would be of King David's family line and would become the king God's Kingdom, ruler over the entire earth. The angel Gabriel, in announcing Jesus' human birth, said: "This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah Go will give him the throne of David his father." (Luke 1:32; see also Isaiah 9:6, 7; Daniel 7:13,14) Yes, the entire word of God focuses attention on Jesus Christ as the one through whom Jehovah will administer the blessings through to mankind. - LUKE 2:25-32; PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11. 

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WILL THE DEAD LIVE AGAIN?

 The Bible teaching on the true condition of the dead relieves one's mind of much unnecessary fear and worry regarding those who have died. To know that such ones are not suffering helps us to appreciate far more God's love, and his justice. Yet, one may still wonder, if a man dies and simply goes to the grave, what hope is there for the dead? The Bible reveals that there is such a wonderful hope, the hope of living again. 

During his earthly ministry Jesus Christ showed his power over death, actually bringing dead persons back to human life. (Luke7:16; John 11:39-44) He thus provided a preview of what he will do on a grand scale in God's new system of things. The heartwarming prospect is that then hell, mankind's common grave, will be emptied of its unconscious dead. (Revelation 20:13) Some received a resurrection to heavenly glory as spirit creatures, eve as Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:5) However, the vast majority of mankind will be brought back to enjoy life on a restored earthly paradise. - ACTS 24:15; LUKE 23:43.

In God's new system the resurrected dead, if they carry out God's righteous laws, will never need to die again.  (Isaiah 25:8) Certainly, this grand provision for blessing mankind is reason for us to take in more knowledge of Jehovah and His Son, Jesus Christ. Doing so can lead to our eternal life and blessing.

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - GEHENNA AND PURGATORY

 Perhaps someone may object and say that the Bible does not speak of "hell fire," (Matthew 5:22, AV, Dy) True, some versions use this expression, but in such cases the original Greek word here used for "hell" is Ge'henna, and not ha'des. Gehenna occurs 12 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures and refers to the valley of Hinnom outside the walls of Jerusalem. When Jesus was on earth this valley was used as a large garbage dump where fires were kept burning by adding brimston (sulfur) to burn up the refuse. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Volume I, explains: "It became the common lay-stall [garbage dump] of the city, where the dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals, and every other kind of filth was cast." 

So when Jesus said that persons would be thrown into Gehenna for their bad deeds, what did he mean? Not that they would be tormented forever, Jesus used that valley (Gehenna) of fire and brimstone as a proper symbol of everlasting destruction. That is what the first-century listeners understood it to mean. The "lake of fire" mentioned in Revelation has a similar meaning, not conscious torment, but "second death," everlasting death or destruction. It is evident that his "lake" is a symbol because death and hell (ha'des) are thrown into it. Such things cannot literally be burned but they can be done away with, or destroyed.  - REVELATION 20:14; 21:8.

What, then about purgatory? This is said to be a place where human souls are conscious and going through fiery purging after death. Since the Bible clearly shows that the dead are unconscious, how could God be tormenting anyone in such a place? (Psalm 146:4 [145:4, Dy] Actually, neither the word "purgatory" nor the idea of a "purgatory" occurs in the Bible.

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The Truty That Leads to Eternal Life - RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

 There is one place where ha'des occurs, however, that has caused some persons to believe that the Bible hell is a place of physical torment. That is where Jesus spoke of the rich men and Lazarus. and said that the rich man died, and in ha'des experiment torment.  (Luke 16:22, 31) Why is the use of ha'des here so different from its use in other places? Because Jesus was giving a parable or illustration and was not speaking of a literal place of torment. (Matthew 13:34) Consider: Is it reasonable or Scriptural to believe that man suffers torment because he is rich, wears good clothing and has plenty to eat? Is it Scriptural to believe that one is blessed and with heavenly life just because he is a beggar? Consider this too: Is hell literally within speaking distance of heaven so that an actual conversation could be carried on? Also, if the rich man were in a literal burning lake, how could Abram and Lazarus to cool his tongue with just a drop of water on the tip of his finger? What, then, was Jesus illustrating.

In this illustration the rich man stood for the class of religious leaders who rejected and later killed Jesus. Lazarus pictured the common people who accepted God's Son. The Bible shows that death can be used as a powerful symbol, representing a great change in someone's life or course of action. (Compare Romans 6:2, 11-13;  7:4-6.) A death, or change from former conditions, happened when Jesus fed the Lazarus class spiritually, and they thus came into the favor of Abraham, Jehovah God. At the same time, the false religious leaders "died" with respect to having God's favor. Being cast off, the suffered torments when Christ's followers after Pentecost forcefully exposed their evil works. (Acts 7:51-57) So this illustration does not teach that some dead persons are torments in a literal fiery hell. 

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WHAT IS HELL?

  Is hell a hot place? Do sheol' and ha'des refer to some place where the wickedafter death?  It is plain that they do not, for we have already seen that the dead are not conscious and therefore cannot suffer. The Bible does not contradict itself with regard to the condition of those in hell. This is proved by the fact that the Bible says that Jesus was in hell. (Acts 2:31, AV, Dy) When the apostle Peter stated this on the day of Pentecost, he clearly meant that Jesus had been in the grave, not in a place of fiery torment. (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4) In saying this the apostle quoted from Psalm 16:10 [15:10, Dy]. Hence the Hebrew word sheol' was used and at Acts 2:31 this word is translated by the Greek word ha'des. This shows that sheol' and ha'des refer to the same thing. The Bible "hell" is actually mankind's grave. 

As further proof of this, consider the case of Job, a righteous servant of God:  "Who will grant me this, that thou mayest protect me in hell [sheol'; the grave, AV], and hide me a time when thou will remember and appoint me a time when thou will remember me. (Job 14:13, Dy] How unreasonable to think that job desired protection in hell if is a fiery-hot place! Clearly, this "hell" is simply the grave, and Job decided to go there so that his sufferings might end. Good people as well as bad people go to the Bible "hell," the common grave of all mankind. 

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WHAT IS HELL?

Many religious organizations teach that the wicked are tormented endlessly in a hellfire. But is this belief taught in God's Word? You may know the meaning that your own particular church organization gives to "hell," but have you ever investigated to see the meaning given in the Scriptures? What is hell according to the Bible?

In the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible ethe word "hell" is translated from the Hebrew word sheol'.  This word occurs 65 times in all.  The King James Version of the Bible, however, translates sheol' 31 times as "hell,' 31 times as "grave," and 3 times as "pit." The Catholic Douay Version of the Bible translates  sheol" has "hell" 63 times is sometimes translated from the Greek word ha'des and as "pit" and once as "death" once.  In the Christian Greek Scriptures the word "hell" is sometimes translated from the Greek word ha'des. Both the King James and Douay versions translate ha'des as "hell" in each of its ten occurrences. 

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN LIVING CREATURES? - Conclusion

 Since God is the Giver of life, his Word says that when a person dies "the dust returns to the earth just as it happened to be and the spirit itself returns to the true God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7) At death the life force eventually leaves all the body cells and the body begins to decay. All conscious thought and actions end. (Psalm 104:29 [103:29, Dy]) How, then, does the spirit 'return to God who gave it'?  Does the life force literally leave the earth and travel through space to God's presence? No, but it returns to God in the sense that now the future life prospects of the person rests entirely on God. Only God can restore the spirit causing the person to live again. 

Some people live in fear of the dead and make offerings to appease dead ancestors. But we can find comfort in knowing that, since the dead are unconscious, it not possible for them to harm the living. And though one person must have loved very much some person who died, God's Word shows that one cannot benefit the dead person by having religious acts or ceremonies performed for such one, perhaps at great expense to the survivors. (2 Samuel 12:21-23) The knowledge of the true condition of the dead also protects us against the practice of trying to speak with the dead. The Bible warns that those who claim to speak with the dead are really getting in touch with demons, wicked spirits that falsely pretend to be the one who has died.  - DEUTERONOMY 18:10-12. 

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN LIVING CREATURES - Continue

 This spirit or life force is found in all living creatures, being passed on from parents to offspring at the time of conception. This, God told Noah that he would cause a flood of waters "to bring ruin to all flesh, in which the active force [ru'ahh, spirit] of life is," both of animals and men. - GENESIS 6:17, margin, 1953 edition; see also 7:15, 22, AV, marginal reading. 

Because they all have this same life force or spirit, man and the animals die in a similar manner. For that reason, Ecclesiastes3:19, 20 says: "There is an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality: As the one dies; and they all have but one spirit [ru'ahh] . . .All are going to one place. They all came from the dust." 

Next time: The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN LIVING CREATURES?  -Conclusion

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The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN LIVING CREATURES?

 This was similar to the case of certain newborn babies. Although there is life in the baby when born, it sometimes does not begin to breathe right after birth. The doctor finds it necessary to spank the child to make it start breathing, for without breath the child would soon die. So, too, the life in Adam's body cells had to be sustained by the breathing process in order for Adam to carry on the activities of a breathing person. 

Whereas the human soul is the living person himself, the spirit is simply the life force that enables the person to be alive. The spirit has no personality, nor can it do the things a person can do. It cannot think, speak, hear, see, or feel. In that respect, it might be likened to the electric current of a car's battery. That current can ignite the fuel to make the engine produce power, cause the headlights to shine, sound the horn, or cause the car's radio, to produce voices and music. But without the engine, headlights, or horn or radio, could that battery current do any of these things by itself? No, for it is merely the force that enables the equipment to perform and do such things. 

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