Eternal Destiny
By Ron Graham
“It is astonishing how many millions of
seemingly intelligent people are willing to risk their eternal destiny upon less
evidence than they would require for buying a refrigerator or TV. Whatever
expectations people entertain of life after death, such beliefs are generally
categorized as part of their religion. Another word for religion is “faith”, and
by definition there are many “faiths” in the world. There is nothing more
important than having a solid factual and rational basis for one’s faith. The
Holy Bible is God’s Word given to man, and within those pages we are given the
basis for our faith.”
Dave Hunt – An Urgent
Call to a Serious Faith
The Apostle Peter tells us why we should
believe the word of God. “For
we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his
majesty.”
II Peter 1:16
You see, Peter and the other
Apostles, less Judas, were eye witnesses to the fact that Jesus rose from the
grave, not to mention His death and burial. The Holy Spirit led and empowered
these men to write down what we read in the Bible. When we were in school we
read in our American history books about the accounts of the Pilgrims coming to
the new country and colonizing it. We read our history books about the first
President of the United
States of America, George Washington. We read
how Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed at Fords Theater. These were eye
witnessed and written accounts of what happened in those days. God chose men for
writing the Old Testament and He chose men for the New Testament. Some of those
men were eye witnesses of what happened in the days when Jesus the Christ walked
the shores of Galilee. The Apostle John tells
us, “It was written so we might believe.”
“The uncertainty of life and the
inevitability of death are two of the most basic elements of human existence.
Logically, then, what may lie after death deserves at least some serious
attention and planning before it may be forever too late. And it is only
reasonable that prior to that awesome moment of death, which overtakes all in
its own time and without discrimination, one should be absolutely certain what
death will bring and exactly why.”
Dave Hunt – An Urgent
Call to a Serious Faith
The Bible is true, it is completely and undeniably
God’s inerrant word. But many will dispute this fact; we see so many falsehoods
being taught today, that it can actually boggle the mind.
“But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who
privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
II Peter 2:1.
In our culture
today, if a scientist has a PhD after their name they are revered as
accomplished and highly educated individuals. So when a PhD scientist says that
everything evolved from pond scum, via a big bang out in space some 18 billion
years ago, he can’t be wrong. Or can he? Paul the Apostle tells us,
“For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own
craftiness.” I Corinthians 3:19
The Holy Bible has been scrutinized page by page
by some of these very same PhD scientists trying to disprove its accuracy, and
yet all they have done is prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Bible is
true. (We’ll never hear about their discoveries on our local or network news
channels.) Many of these same PhD scientists have been converted to Christianity
because of their diligence in seeking the truth about the Bible. Most people
remain ignorant of the truth which is on every page of God’s word.
We learn from the Bible that we have only been
here on this planet for about six thousand years. Many PhD scientists, those who
are of the creation science persuasion, have confirmed this. All scientists use
the same evidence, (fossils, artifacts, rock layers, etc.). It’s just that
evolution scientists, who have their own presuppositions and their own agendas
to accomplish, add millions and even billions of years to what God created in
six days. They vigorously battle against anyone who makes the assertion that
God’s Creation came about just six thousand years ago.
Do we then, as intelligent people, put our eternal
destiny in the hands of men with PhD’s after their names, who by their
presuppositions and through their own religion, tell us there is no God? If you
believe in the theory of evolution, that is your basis of faith because there is
no proof of that theory. What you have done is you’ve placed your faith in and
accepted the word of fallible man over that of our infallible God. “And
many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth
shall be evil spoken of.” II Peter
2:2.
“Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.”
John 14:6. This statement was made by
our Creator God; no one can go to Heaven unless they have first come to know the
Lord Jesus Christ. The world, (those who are perishing) will tell you
differently. The world (the lost) wants to remain in darkness, to remain in
their sins. The light has come into the world in the personage of Jesus Christ,
but men’s hearts are evil and desperately wicked, and they seek the darkness
instead of the light.
Are there other paths that lead to Heaven? Not
according to the Word of God. But many will tell you that Christianity is too
exclusive. “We must be open-minded about the idea of Heaven. If you’re basically
a good person that’s good enough for God or if you aren’t comfortable with
believing in the deity of Jesus Christ you can still go to Heaven when you die.”
Jesus’ response to this statement is, “I
said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not
that I am [he], ye shall die in your sins,”
John 8:24.
“How shall we escape, if we
neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard [him]”
Hebrews 2:3.
We’re all sinners
and in need of salvation. Sin entered into this world via man’s rebellion to
God.
“The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.”
II Peter 3:9.
God is perfect and in
Heaven there is only perfection. We, on the other hand, are imperfect, full of
sin and therefore are unable to enter into His domain. But through the shed
blood of His Son on the cross of Calvary we can
enter His domain. All we need to do is place our faith and trust in Jesus
Christ. “That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:9.
Jesus Christ died on a cross on Calvary’s mountain two thousand years ago, He was buried,
and He rose again on the third day. When we believe in these powerful truths,
and place our faith in Him of whom these truths speak of then, and only then,
will our eternal destiny be set.
The alternative to Heaven should scare Hell right
out of us.
God bless you all,
