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IN WHICH DIRECTION ARE YOU PROCEEDING?
BY IRMA F. MATRAI

When God put Adam into the garden of Eden, he said: "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17 NIV)
Yet, he didn't force Adam - and later Eve - to obey. Instead, he granted them free will or free choice. Thus, it was up to them to obey or disobey.



Then, one day Satan in the form of a serpent, approached the couple and - with the excuse that nothing is going to happen to them if they eat of the forbidden fruit - enticed them to disobey. And what were the results? Exactly what God foretold them, they will be. Namely, death became part of the human existence. Since Adam and Eve's personal relationship with God was distroyed by their disobedience; they became spiritually dead. Thus, spiritual death was an immediate result of their disobedience and was passed on to every human being, ever since. Therefore, since that time, everyone is born as a spiritually dead, hell-bound person. At the same time, physical death became part of the human existence also; although Adam and Eve didn't die immediately. Furthermore, this too was passed on to all humans.



Yet God - in his great love toward his creation - immediately came up with a solution for their problem of spiritual death. He promised to - some day - send them a Savior, who will pay for their sin, and thereby make it possible for those who believe in him, to restore their relationship with their Creator, and change their path from a Hell-bound, to a Heaven-bound direction.
But physical death was not made avoidable.



Let us examine what
the spiritual and physical deaths mean?

As mentioned before; spiritual death means the abscence of close, spiritual relationship with God. Since Adam and Eve's first sin of disobedience, all of us are born spiritually dead. But people can restore their relationshhip, by believing in Jesus as the Son of God, asking him to forgive their sin, and inviting him into their heart. For, by doing so they become God's children, and receive forgiveness, the presence of his Holy Spirit, and a place in Heaven. In other words; God turnes them into Heaven bound Christians.




However, people who never take these steps will remain in a spiritually dead state, and will proceed toward, and eventually go to Hell. In Luke 16:19-26 (NIV) Jesus illustrated the future of the hellbound, with a parable saying: There was a rich man who... lived in luxury... At his gate was laid a beggar, named Lazarus, covered with sores, and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus...So he called...'
Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And beside all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
Attention please! Jesus did not say that every rich person will go to hell, while the poor will go to heaven. For, a place in Heaven can only be obtained by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. What he was rather implying was the following:
1 - Anyone who would like to go to heaven, has to believe in, receive, and ask for Jesus' forgiveness; while living on earth. After death it's too late. For, there is no commuting between the two places, nor emigration from one place to the other. Everyone stays where they end up at the moment of death.
2 - There is great suffering in hell.
3 - Our senses work just as well in heaven, and hell; as on earth. That's why the rich man was able to see Abraham, hear his voice, and feel pain.
4 - Suffering in hell is constant, can not be eased, and is eternal.
5 - Such is the future of those who stay spiritually dead throughout their life.

And what is physical death?

I guess, all of us know the answer to that question. For it is nothing else, but the event when our spirit moves out from our body, our brain stops to work, our heart stops to beat, and our blood stops to flow. Or, as we read in Ecclesiastes 12:7: "... the dust returns to the ground..." Now, while physical death is everyone's lot; spiritual death is not!
For, as we said earlier: people who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, invite him into their heart, and ask for his forgiveness, are proceeding in the direction of heaven, here and now. For, their sins were forgiven, and they have a place in heaven already. Therefore, they have nothing to fear. For, physical death will only open heaven's gate for them.


Hence, the big question to you, my Dear Reader,
is: in which direction are you proceeding?
Are you on your way to heaven?
You can be. It's your decision!



JESUS IS MY LIFE
(song)

Jesus is my life, strength, peace.
Jesus is my companion, my joy.
I trust in You. You are the Lord.
I do not have any fears any more because You live in me.
I do not have any fears any more because You live in me.

Jesus lives! Halleluja!!!

Translated by Eva Varga



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