Daily Archives: June 12, 2016

Immortality Versus Mortality

It has been concluded by many that all people are immortal. They say that each person came into this world with an immortal soul, and this soul must continue to live for all eternity. They go on to say that since God has promised a reward to the obedient and a punishment to the disobedient, the immortality of the righteous will be spent in heaven, and the immortality of the sinners will be spent in hell.

Is this correct? Is it true that God, who has the power to create, does not have the power to undo his work and destroy man? If God has to keep sinners in an eternity of hell because they cannot be destroyed, shouldnt He have been more careful as to who were granted life and to the circumstances and conditions of their birth and parents?

Definition of Immortality

First, lets make sure we have the correct understanding of the meaning of the word immortality, as it is often misunderstood. Many assume immortality means simply everlasting life and that mortal means dying. This is a great mistake. The word immortal is the condition in which death is impossible -- a death-proof condition. In contrast, the word mortal is a condition in which death is possible, but not necessarily inevitable unless a death sentence has been given, as was given to Father Adam.

What, then, is the difference between immortality and everlasting life? Everlasting life describes an existence which, while having the potential of ending, will never cease under favorable conditions. It simply means that life will continue forever. According to the Scriptures, some will have everlasting life who will never have immortality. Both mortal and immortal beings may have everlasting life, but mortal beings have everlasting life given to them under necessary conditions such as oxygen, light, heat, food, etc. The condition of immortality is everlasting life also, but it includes the thought of indestructible existence which is not dependent on food, sleep, or conditions of any kind. It is an existence which needs no refreshment or supply. It is a condition of life within itself.

Was Man Created Mortal or Immortal?

The first man, Adam, was created mortal. He was in a condition in which death was a possibility or everlasting life was a possibility. Had he remained obedient, he would have continued to live forever, but he would always have remained mortal -- liable to death if disobedient. Adam did not remain obedient, however. After his sin of disobedience, Adam was sentenced to death. Obviously, God could not sentence man to death if he were immortal and there was no possibility for him to die. Such a sentence by God would have been an empty threat. We must conclude, then, that Adam was mortal.

All of Adams children, the whole world of mankind, are also born mortal. We are not only liable to death, but because we share in the death sentence given to Father Adam, we follow Adams course to the grave. 1 Cor. 15:22, For as in Adam all die.

What Happens to the Soul?

What, then, is the soul if it is not immortal, and what happens to it at death? The human soul is a combination of the breath of life and a body. Genesis 2:7 states, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground [a body], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. A soul is a sentient being; that is, a being possessed of powers of sense-perception. There is nothing mysterious about this. There was no spark of divinity infused into humanity. Man does not have a soul; man is a soul!

If a person is a soul, what happens when that person dies? Simply speaking, the soul dies. Yet many believe the soul cannot die. But what do the Scriptures say? Ezekiel 18:4, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Psalm 49:15 promises, But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave. And speaking of Jesus death, Isaiah 53:10 and 12 says, He hath poured out his soul unto death; thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. When mankind are awakened from the death-sleep during Christs kingdom, the breath of life will be once more returned to a new body, and the soul, the sentient being, will be resuscitated.

Who Then Has Immortality?

The Bible teaches that only God possessed immortality originally. 1 Timothy 1:17 states, Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. God gave to his Son Jesus Christ the reward of immortality after his death and resurrection. John 5:26 states, For as the Father hath life in himself (immortality) so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. If Jesus had always possessed immortality, he could not have been our Redeemer because he could not have died for us. To anyone who has immortality, death is impossible.

What about angels? Angels are mortal and therefore have the possibility of death if they are disobedient. Hebrews 2:14 says that Satan, who was an angel of light (Isa. 14:12) and who became rebellious, will in due time be destroyed. So we see that angelic nature can be destroyed by its Creator. Men, angels, and even the Son of God, before he was resurrected, were not immortal. They were all mortal.

We have seen that immortality is a very exclusive quality possessed only by those who have divine nature. But immortality does not only belong to God and the resurrected Jesus Christ, but it has been offered as a reward to those in this present Gospel age who have been begotten by the Holy Spirit and who faithfully carry out a life of sacrifice. Romans 2:7 speaks of this church class, saying, To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immorality, eternal life. The requirements of character for this high position are exacting, and the way to that great exaltation is narrow and difficult. But 1 Peter 1:4 encourages those running for this great prize: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.

For more information on this subject, order from our Order Page:

The Atonement Between God and Man (499-page hardcover book)...............................................$4.00 postpaid (Study XII and XIII explain further this subject.)

See original here:

Immortality Versus Mortality - BIBLE TRUTH KEYS

THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Apparell'd in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream. 5 It is not now as it hath been of yore; Turn wheresoe'er I may, By night or day, The things which I have seen I now can see no more. The rainbow comes and goes, 10 And lovely is the rose; The moon doth with delight Look round her when the heavens are bare; Waters on a starry night Are beautiful and fair; 15 The sunshine is a glorious birth; But yet I know, where'er I go, That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth. Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song, And while the young lambs bound 20 As to the tabor's sound, To me alone there came a thought of grief: A timely utterance gave that thought relief, And I again am strong: The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep; 25 No more shall grief of mine the season wrong; I hear the echoes through the mountains throng, The winds come to me from the fields of sleep, And all the earth is gay; Land and sea 30 Give themselves up to jollity, And with the heart of May Doth every beast keep holiday; Thou Child of Joy, Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy 35 Shepherd-boy! Ye blessd creatures, I have heard the call Ye to each other make; I see The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee; My heart is at your festival, 40 My head hath its coronal, The fulness of your bliss, I feelI feel it all. O evil day! if I were sullen While Earth herself is adorning, This sweet May-morning, 45 And the children are culling On every side, In a thousand valleys far and wide, Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm, And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm: 50 I hear, I hear, with joy I hear! But there's a tree, of many, one, A single field which I have look'd upon, Both of them speak of something that is gone: The pansy at my feet 55 Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream? Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 60 Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come 65 From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy! Shades of the prison-house begin to close Upon the growing Boy, But he beholds the light, and whence it flows, 70 He sees it in his joy; The Youth, who daily farther from the east Must travel, still is Nature's priest, And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended; 75 At length the Man perceives it die away, And fade into the light of common day. Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own; Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind, And, even with something of a mother's mind, 80 And no unworthy aim, The homely nurse doth all she can To make her foster-child, her Inmate Man, Forget the glories he hath known, And that imperial palace whence he came. 85 Behold the Child among his new-born blisses, A six years' darling of a pigmy size! See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies, Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses, With light upon him from his father's eyes! 90 See, at his feet, some little plan or chart, Some fragment from his dream of human life, Shaped by himself with newly-learnd art; A wedding or a festival, A mourning or a funeral; 95 And this hath now his heart, And unto this he frames his song: Then will he fit his tongue To dialogues of business, love, or strife; But it will not be long 100 Ere this be thrown aside, And with new joy and pride The little actor cons another part; Filling from time to time his 'humorous stage' With all the Persons, down to palsied Age, 105 That Life brings with her in her equipage; As if his whole vocation Were endless imitation. Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie Thy soul's immensity; 110 Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep Thy heritage, thou eye among the blind, That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep, Haunted for ever by the eternal mind, Mighty prophet! Seer blest! 115 On whom those truths do rest, Which we are toiling all our lives to find, In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave; Thou, over whom thy Immortality Broods like the Day, a master o'er a slave, 120 A presence which is not to be put by; To whom the grave Is but a lonely bed without the sense or sight Of day or the warm light, A place of thought where we in waiting lie; 125 Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height, Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke The years to bring the inevitable yoke, Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife? 130 Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, And custom lie upon thee with a weight, Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life! O joy! that in our embers Is something that doth live, 135 That nature yet remembers What was so fugitive! The thought of our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benediction: not indeed For that which is most worthy to be blest 140 Delight and liberty, the simple creed Of childhood, whether busy or at rest, With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast: Not for these I raise The song of thanks and praise; 145 But for those obstinate questionings Of sense and outward things, Fallings from us, vanishings; Blank misgivings of a Creature Moving about in worlds not realized, 150 High instincts before which our mortal Nature Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised: But for those first affections, Those shadowy recollections, Which, be they what they may, 155 Are yet the fountain-light of all our day, Are yet a master-light of all our seeing; Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make Our noisy years seem moments in the being Of the eternal Silence: truths that wake, 160 To perish never: Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour, Nor Man nor Boy, Nor all that is at enmity with joy, Can utterly abolish or destroy! 165 Hence in a season of calm weather Though inland far we be, Our souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither, Can in a moment travel thither, 170 And see the children sport upon the shore, And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song! And let the young lambs bound As to the tabor's sound! 175 We in thought will join your throng, Ye that pipe and ye that play, Ye that through your hearts to-day Feel the gladness of the May! What though the radiance which was once so bright 180 Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind; 185 In the primal sympathy Which having been must ever be; In the soothing thoughts that spring Out of human suffering; In the faith that looks through death, 190 In years that bring the philosophic mind. And O ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves, Forebode not any severing of our loves! Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might; I only have relinquish'd one delight 195 To live beneath your more habitual sway. I love the brooks which down their channels fret, Even more than when I tripp'd lightly as they; The innocent brightness of a new-born Day Is lovely yet; 200 The clouds that gather round the setting sun Do take a sober colouring from an eye That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality; Another race hath been, and other palms are won. Thanks to the human heart by which we live, 205 Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears, To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

Visit link:

536. Ode. Intimations of Immortality. William Wordsworth ...