The living know they shall die. That sentence is self-explanatory isn't it? I'm alive and I know that I will die eventually. I know my grandparents and parents have all died already. They knew they would die, their parents and grandparents before them had all died. People are born, they live and then they die- we know this. As we grow up we become aware of this as a fact of life, an unpleasant fact of life. No one would dispute that this is the way of things. There doesn't exist a single person recently who has lived past 117 years old. In 1997 a woman died at 122 years old. We just don't have a very long life expectancy in the grand scheme of things. Factually the living know they shall die- it's inevitable. The Bible says-
… For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6)
The living know they shall die- we believe this. The dead know not anything- we need to believe this. We were not created live outside of our flesh bodies. We were not given a spirit form that can be altered at will- such as that of angels. We all know our Bibles tell us about angels as men visiting various people. We all know our Bibles tell us that angels can be invisible, and or visible to man. We were not created in this manner- to be invisible. We were given flesh created from the dust of the ground, the same dust of the ground we return to after our death. We were not given a part of us cognizant without our bodies. Our bodies were created and our minds were a part and parcel of those bodies. The flesh of our minds, our brain matter is subject to death it does not go on thinking after death. Our thoughts perish with us in death.
Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
This is truth. When our bodies no longer have breath and we begin the process of death- decaying, our thought perish. I'm not talking about those who have been kept breathing artificially after they stop breathing, technically as long as they are still breathing the possibility - depending upon brain function- exists for them to still have thoughts. Without any artificial means of breathing for the unbreathing it doesn't take very long for those thoughts to perish, to cease. No amount of wishful thinking can force a person whose brain has died - to think again. How often people have to make the awful decision to terminate artificial means of keeping someone alive so their bodies can join their minds in death. They've devised ways to measure brain activity and therefore they can test and know when there is no brain activity taking place. Without activity in the brain- there are no thoughts. After studying a bit on what it means to be declared brain dead (you can study it as well) it is clear no one believes a person is capable of thought at the point they are declared brain dead. A living brain has a lot of activity going on, even during sleep.
We can believe the word of God when we are told that when a person dies their thoughts die as well.
The Bible you would imagine would go into great detail if a person at death was given a new form of existence, complete with their ability to keep thinking- as we comprehend the ability to think. I'm thinking right now, and if I died a minute from now and my thoughts were transferred from my brain of flesh into something else entirely so that I never miss a beat in my thinking- this is a huge deal! Why would God tell us that our thoughts perish upon death if they don't? Wouldn't God tell us that our thoughts live on in our new form?
We are told this--
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first
The DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP.
The trumpet shall sound and THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE.
The dead - those whose thoughts have perished will be raised and when they are raised they are raised with bodies that are incorruptible- no longer subject to death.
Please someone, anyone, please tell me why the dead need to be raised when Christ returns if they are already risen and have new forms and are thinking beings?
Raising the dead- there is no need to raise any dead if they've already been awaken from death's sleep, right?
Let's talk a moment about Enoch--
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Why was it necessary for Enoch to be translated to heaven in his flesh body- not seeing death- IF he had a better body awaiting him after death- a special spirit body with his brain? Enoch was translated and spared death- because death isn't some wonderful transformation into a new thought-filled existence outside of our bodies of flesh. He was given this miraculous blessing of being taken to heaven and never having to face death, and therefore never having to wait for the resurrection day.
And if Enoch was given this miraculous translation why weren't all of God's chosen men and woman given this miracle? Because it was an exception to the rule of fallen humanity.
Read this-
Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Those men and women of God all had a good report through faith. They believed the promise of salvation and subsequent resurrection, the promise of eternal life, but had NOT received this promise.
Act 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Act 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption
Nothing about David being in heaven, not a word.
They hadn't received the promise! They will NOT receive the promise without us.
Their bodies are long decayed in their graves, their thoughts perished, the hope they have is in the resurrection when Christ will call all of them from their graves into new life incorruptible. Throughout all the entire earth those who died, those whose thoughts perished, those who had the promise of eternal life yet had not received it will be brought to life once more. They will rise into the air and meet their Savior there! By the grace of God may we be living as Enoch was living and translated, or if we should die may we be resurrected by our Lord and Savior, brought to life once again as the humans we were created and meant to be. Our Savior was resurrected in flesh incorruptible, we too shall be resurrected in flesh incorruptible, or given changed flesh if we are still living. Our flesh that is subject to decay will no longer be, no sickness, no imperfections, no flaws, nothing that reeks of sin's touch will mar us newly resurrected or newly changed.
There is NOTHING in the word of our GOD about us living on right after we die, as if death is nothing but a mere transformation. There are a lot of lies, a lot of Satan's idol gods who have fabricated such lies and the masses have been deceived as those who are supposedly God's incorporate the lies into the truth in order to deceive unsuspectingly those who desire to remain blind to truth, preferring lies. May we NOT be deceived! May we know only God's TRUTH.
Help us, Lord to be YOURS, wholly YOURS in all truth!
All through Your amazing love, Savior, Jesus Christ, our LORD now and forever!!!!!!!
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