Immortality in the Coming Age: Are you getting ready for such a life?

God is love, and the only loving God is Jesus Christ. God is faithful to those who trust in him despite evil in the world. The Bible doesn't deny the existence of evil in this world, but it promises a time when God will bring justice to all those who live lovingly and peacefully. Jesus Christ has conquered suffering, death, and decay. He will return and give immortal resurrection bodies to those who believe in him and hold on to their faith despite adversities. After this, these immortal people will reign forever with King Jesus in this world, renewed and transformed into incorruptibility and perfection.

Only the people who suffer can know pain and can empathise with those who are in pain. Perhaps that is why God's only son also went through the intense pain of abandonment and rejection. Imagine the passionate intensity of the God who loved the people of this world so much that he gave his life on a cross in shame and disgrace to save them by his resurrection. Jesus' death is an act of love. He forgave those who nailed him to the cross because he saw in them a people forgiven and rising from the dead. Jesus took the painful death so that God's justice could complete its work. He took the punishment of all evil on behalf of sinful humanity.

However, he did not return hatred for hatred or curse for a curse. Jesus conquered people's hatred with his patient love, forgave his killers, and blessed them. When he comes again, he will raise from the dead all those who believe in him and give them a pain-free and guilt-free life forever. In this world, the believers have tribulations and sufferings, but in the age to come, they will reign with him. All the rewards God may give people in this age/world are temporary. They will perish with time or when the person dies. The everlasting reward –immortality– is in the coming age after Jesus returns in his full glory. We will reign with him in incorruptible, immortal, physical bodies, stewarding the creation in love.

Are you getting ready for such a life? Then, be faithful to Jesus by loving others, serving others, saving others, forgiving others, blessing others, and sharing your possessions generously. God bless you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Resurrection Day: The day God's love and justice defeated the devil's hatred and injustice

In a famous movie dialogue from Dabang, the heroine tells the Robinhood Police officer who proposes to her, "Thappad se darr nahi lagta sahib; pyar se lagta hai." (Sir, I am not scared of beatings. I fear love.) Love is the crucial ingredient of God's character that makes the devil tremble. Many of us assume that the devil fears holiness and loud rebukes. On the contrary, he is not scared of self-righteous people's holiness or loud rebukes of spirit-filled prophets. He fears love, genuine love. Jesus Christ defeated the devil's hatred expressed in people's rejection by his love. He came to his people, but they chose to disown him. Even so, he chose to love them more, so much more that they didn't know what he had accomplished for them upon the cross. Many people must have thought that God punished Jesus. They were right about this first aspect, but little did they know that God had laid their punishment upon him. Like sheep, they had wandered away, but, in...
Read more

Celebrate Jesus Christ, The Light of Life and Love, this Diwali

As we celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, let us remember that the most profound and irreversible darkness is death. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world (John 8:12).” Further, he declared, “I am the resurrection and life... He who believes in me will live even if he dies (John 11:25).” The light of the world came to reverse the darkness of death by his resurrection and a promise of future resurrection for all who believe in him. Resurrection is the only known cure for death. Homoeopathy, Allopathy,  or Ayurveda cannot reverse death. Only resurrection can reverse death. Jesus cured death. He also cured hatred with his love. That is why no religion or philosophy has defeated the gospel even after two thousand years of Jesus' advent. Martin Luther King Jr compared love to light and hatred to darkness. He said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  [1]   Love is light. Jesus is that loving ...
Read more

Empuraan: A Movie Review from a Hindu-Christian Perspective

Dear Empuraan, We love you. We know you intend to present something positive using negative Biblical characters. Love and justice are human needs. Perhaps it is because God created us in his image: love and justice. Your movie is successful. Your acting is superb, as always. People love your presence and presence of mind. Your message is justice through strength, that is, by punishing the wicked. Even so, the Bible says, "Delightful are the merciful. They shall receive mercy." I loved many of your quotations from the Holy books. For instance, "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it... for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you (Matthew 10:19-20)." However, the first 10-20 minutes of Empuraan are a biased depiction of historical facts to support one faction of Kerala's thoughts. Don't forget that the Gujarat riots have a cause. Muslim people burned a train in Godhra on 27 February 200...
Read more