Saturday, October 23, 2010

"We Shall Not All Die"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most popular axioms that many people have on their lips, even the most righteous who say they wait for the second coming of Christ, is this: "Death awaits all of us, everybody has to die." You see the statement over and over in church publications. It's just taken for granted everywhere.

But the Bible squarely and directly contradicts it.

"We shall not all die," says the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51.

Then he explains more minutely what will happen, in 1 Thessalonians 4: "We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (vss. 15-17).

Yes, there will be some people who will be "alive and remain" at the coming of Christ, who will be ready to meet Him, and who will be translated.

Obviously they will have "overcome, even as [Christ] overcame" (Rev. 3:21). Although they are living in the same "flesh" and "nature" all of Adam's descendants have always lived in, they will have "condemned sin in the flesh," even as Christ did (cf. Rom. 8:3).

If everybody has to die on and on, century after century, and millennium after millennium, how could Christ win the "great controversy" with Satan? This nearly universal axiom is not good gospel news. It's just not truth.

Just because some sincere Christians were disappointed 166 years ago does not mean that this fundamental truth of the gospel is not true. We must never abandon this good news!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: Exact date unknown.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at:
http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.