The Christian Religion Today.

The truth about heaven as written in the word of God, the Christian Holy Bible. This is the truth that was preached by Jesus Christ and preached by the Apostles in the first century AD.

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The Bible does not teach that when Christians die, they are immediately whisked to heaven to be with God. This is a Pagan doctrine instituted by the early church in order to make it easier for people to convert from their various religions, with their different beliefs and practices, to Christianity.
Contemporary Christians use the verse, Genesis 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him," as proof of heaven. They interpret this verse as God taking Enoch up into heaven to be with Him. The Bible specifically teaches us that God has not taken anyone into heaven to be with Him except for His Son Jesus Christ. The Bible does teach a resurrection where the righteous, including Christians, will be taken by Jesus into heaven at which time they will receive their reward. This will happen some time in the future, but not when we die.
Unless you interpret Biblical passages out of the context of what the original text was trying to say, there is no scriptural proof of anybody going to heaven after they die. In fact, Jesus tells us very explicitly that "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." (John 3:13). It is amazing how clear this passage is. How could Jesus make this simple statement if the verse, Genesis 5:24, is interpreted to mean that Enoch went to heaven to be with God? That would not make sense. In order to interpret that Genesis 5:24 means that Enoch went to heaven to be with God, Jesus is nothing but a liar.

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"MOTHER TERESA IS NOT IN HEAVEN AND HITLER IS NOT IN HELL!"

THE TITLE OF THE BOOK IS NOT A JUDGMENT ON EITHER PERSON. IT IS A STATEMENT OF FACT AS WRITTEN THE THE SCRIPTURES.

It is the sin that enslaves us. The only way we can free ourselves from this spiritual enslavement is by obeying God's law.

THE EARLY ROMAN CHURCH INTRODUCED PAGAN DOCTRINES
SUCH AS HEAVEN, HELL, THE SOUL AND THE SPIRIT IN ORDER TO GET PEOPLE
TO CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY.

THE BOOK, "MOTHER TERESA IS NOT IN HEAVEN AND HITLER IS NOT IN HELL!", SHOWS YOU HOW CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AS TAUGHT TODAY AND WHAT IS ACTUALLY WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE ARE NOT THE SAME.

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And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:13-18)

The first thing you need to understand is that there is some one or something in this world who wants to harm you if you believe in what Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal to us. The above passage asks you, "...who is he...". "He" doesn't want you to know the truth. The Christian claim is not just some type of "Religious" fact. The claims are are largely influenced by research, they are the same type of facts by which all historical, legal, and by which ordinary decisions are based.

The facts are not a special kind of fact only true if you believe in a certain religion. They are facts based on secular research the kind of which all historical, legal and ordinary decisions are based on.

The facts upon which the Christian Religion are based are the type of facts that would be used as evidence in a court of law. When viewed in this light the Christian interpretation of the facts are the most logical explanation.

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Christianity is the world's largest religion. What do most people really know about Christianity and what is in the Bible?

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Historically Christianity is the belief in the existence of one and only one god and based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in four gospels that came to be accepted as part of the New Testament, or canonical, and also other New Testament writings. Adherents of the Christian faith are known as Christians.

Christianity grew out of a sect of the Jewish religion. It teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and was born human so that His life could be sacrificed to save humans from their sins toward their Creator.

The word "church" is said to be from the Greek kuriakon (kuriakon), which means "belonging to the Lord." This is probably a part of the original use of the word. Remember, when Jesus called out the people to follow Him, the Jews were under the rule of the Pagan Roman Empire. The people following Jesus and the Apostles could naturally have been referred to as "belonging to the Lord".

The word "church" was probably was also connected with the word kirk which is the Latin circus, circulus, the Greek kuklos (kuklos). When the people gathered around to listen to the message, they gathered in circles around the speaker. Jesus and then later His apostles, in order to speak to the congregations gathered them in circles.

Also around the same time period the word Ecclesia (ekklesia) was the Greek word what we refer today as church. Originally it meant an assembly called out by the magistrate, or by a legitimate authority. The original followers of Jesus and later His apostles were called out by by Jesus and the Apostles, the authorities on the message brought by Jesus and preached by the Apostles. The original followers were called out from the rest of the people to here the message that Jesus came with. It was in this last sense that the word was adapted and applied by the writers of the New Testament to the congregation of people interested in the message of the "Kingdom of God". In the one Gospel of St. Matthew the church is spoken of no less than thirty-six times as "the kingdom."

What really is the history of what is known today as the Christian religion? What is the status of the Christian religion today? Follow this lens and its links for valuable information on the Christian Religion. Find out the truth about heaven and hell. Is heaven real? What about hell? When wicked people die, do they go to hell? What about the human spirit, does the human spirit go on living after we die? What about the soul, are the human spirit and the human soul the same? Find out what is in the Bible. What is the truth about life after death? What really happens after you die? Do you know why God allows us to die? What is Satan's role in the message brought by Jesus? Who turned human's away from God and what was God's original plan? Can you really know? Is there actual evidence? The answer is' "yes there is". There is evidence about life after death that would stand up in any court of law today.

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The very first verse in Revelation, chapter 13, leads to much confusion in interpreting this chapter. The confusion comes to play in the fact that when making the translation from Greek, they inserted the English word "I" for the Greek word "histe-mi". The Greek word means, "to stand". The word itself does not infer who or what! We know that the verse indicates that something or someone is standing. Some translations include this verse as the last verse in chapter 12 to try and tie it into what happened at the end of that chapter.

You really do not have to identify who stood on the sand of the sea because this chapter is not about who is standing there. It does not add anything to what the chapter is talking about. By adding the pronoun "I" to the passage, it takes the focus away from the two "beasts" that are being described.

The safest bet is to identify what was standing by the sea as who was actually having the vision and describing it. Take it to mean who was narrating and writing this book. It is more important to identify what this chapter is describing. John is the person who was having these visions and it was John who wrote the Book of Revelation. It was a common technique used in that time period for writers to use that Greek word when it was assumed that the audience would understand who the writer was writing about.

The question is then, is your church actually teaching what is written in what we call, what Christians call, the Holy Bible? That Bible, which is being watered down and reinterpreted since it was first translated into the common language, actually contains the words and the thoughts of the people who actually walked and talked to Jesus Christ Himself. Who are you going to believe? Are you going to believe people who wrote and made laws and doctrines about Christianity hundreds plus years after my Savior was crucified or the ones who actually walked with him. It is your choice, your eternal life!

Would you like to find out How to teach your children the vital lessons about sex, relationships, and Christ-centered values?

This phrase suggests that when we die, some conscious part of us continues on. It suggests that we continue on in the same time line without any interruption in thought or awareness. It suggests that there is a continuation of some form of existence or conscious life beyond what we know as our physical life. This idea cannot be found in the Bible.

The Meriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines death as "...a permanent cessation of all vital functions : the end of life...". When a person dies everything that made the person who and what he was ceases to function and life ends. There is no continuation on into another realm. You do not go through a door. There is no other side. There is no tunnel and no bright light that you head for. As the dictionary defines it and as the Bible explains it, you completely and totally cease to exist.

To most people, this just does not seem to be fair. Death so often is unpredictable. A drunken driver veers off the road into a group of innocent kids on their way to school killing young students with their whole future in front of them. Innocent children die of childhood maladies. A gentle, elderly lady is brutally raped and killed in the sanctuary of her own home. Where is the justice in any of this? In order to justify any of these types of tragedies in the face of a loving God, people like to think that these victims have moved on to a better place.

In the face of certain death, the preservation of life among most of us is one of our most powerful instincts. People in the United States alone spend millions of dollars a year to find ways to stay young and slow down the aging process. Unfortunately, to no avail, because one way or another, every human being on earth will eventually die. Wether you are rich or poor, good or bad, it does not matter. You will eventually die. When this eventually does happen to you, scientists will not be able to explain what happened to you, Philosophers disagree on what happens to you, and religions all disagree on life after death. But, most religious people comfort themselves with the false idea that their deceased loved ones have moved on to something better.

Humans have always yearned for life to be eternal, to never end. All around the world people and religions have always yearned and believed that there has to be some type of life or existence beyond death. Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and many other religions, envision hopes of a wonderful life after death. Most Christians believe in an eternal happiness in heaven with their God and His Son Jesus Christ.

What is the truth? There is only one way to find out the truth and that is to go to the creator of life. Only the creator of life will be able to tell you what He has planned for His creation. By looking to the word of God, the Bible, you will find out the truth about death.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40)

With this type of Biblical evidence, how can anybody believe that Christ was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday? Even if you take the view that Friday was one day, Saturday is the second and Sunday is the third, there is still only two nights. It just does not fit. You cannot say you believe in Christ and then just make things up. If you believe in something, it needs to based on some type of fact or your an idiot! The Bible interprets the Bible. Matthew 12:38-40 tells you that this cannot be true, Jesus was not crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday!

The scripture that Christ referred to states specifically that"...Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (Jonah 1:17) this passage is pretty clear and leaves no interpretation, three days and three nights are just that. I will say this only one more time "THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS"!

The claim that Jesus is the Messiah is based on the fulfillment of His words, this is a serious matter! It has nothing to do with cute little bunnies, colored eggs and baskets full of candy. It is the basis of the Christian belief and one thing all Christians should get right to make their claims for Christianity credible. To try and rationalize what Jesus said undermines the integrity of Jesus' words. If Jesus were in the tomb only from late Friday afternoon to sometime early Sunday morning, then the sign He gave that He was the prophesied Messiah was not fulfilled and you are calling Jesus a liar!

The problem and the solution comes in interpreting the different gospel accounts. If you interpret each one separately, then you could come up with a wrong interpretation, but if you interpret each one in congruence with the others, the chronological details mesh perfectly. Luke 23 verse tells us that the day that Jesus was crucified was the "preparation day" and that a sabbath was drawing near. The sabbath that Luke is talking about was not the weekly sabbath we know as Saturday. John 19:31 tells us it was "a high day". It was referring to the first day of Unleavened Bread, which is one of God's annual high, or Sabbath, days (Exodus 12:16-17; Leviticus 23:6-7), which could, and usually did, fall on other days of the week.

"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1) This verse here tells us that the sabbath came and went and then the women bought the spices. If the sabbath was the Saturday sabbath, then the day being referred to would be Sunday, How could that be when Mark 16:2 states "Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen." This would be referring to Sunday morning. Jesus was already risen. The sabbath referred to in John 19:31 had to be another day of the week.

The most logical sequence of events as recorded in the Bible would have to be the following time line. Tuesday Jesus Christ ate an evening Passover meal with His disciples and instituted the New Covenant symbols (Matthew26:26-28). Jesus was then betrayed by Judas, arrested and during the night brought before the high priest. Wednesday Jesus died around 3 p.m. (Matthew 27:46-50). This was the preparation day for the annual, not weekly, Sabbath, which began at sunset (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31). Jesus' body was placed in the tomb just before sunset (Matthew 27:57-60). Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset was the high-day Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread (John 19:31; Leviticus 23:4-7). It is described as the day after the "Day of Preparation" (Matthew 27:62). Friday The high-day Sabbath now past, the women bought and prepared spices for anointing Jesus' body before resting on the weekly Sabbath day, which began at Friday sunset (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56). Saturday The women rested on the weekly Sabbath, according to the Fourth Commandment (Luke 23:56; Exodus 20:8-11). Jesus rose near sunset, exactly three days and three nights after burial, fulfilling the sign of Jonah and authenticating the sign He gave of His messiah ship. Sunday the women brought the spices early in the morning while it was still dark (Luke 24:1; John 20:1), finding that Jesus had already risen (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:2-3; John 20:1). He did not rise on Sunday morning, but near sunset the day before. These scriptures clearly shows that the women bought the spices before, and not after, the weekly Sabbath, "and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment."

Jesus died Wednesday, was in the grave Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, and Saturday, thus fulfilling "...three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:38-40)

1Cor. 15:39 ALL FLESH IS NOT THE SAME FLESH: but there is ONE kind of flesh OF MEN, ANOTHER flesh OF BEASTS, another of fishes, and another of birds.

This is talking about flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both man and beasts. Has nothing to do with the soul or immortality. This does decay after death.

Zec 12:1 ... saith the LORD, which ... formeth the spirit of man WITHIN him.
There is no life of the body without the soul, when the soul departs the body dies.

Job 14:22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul WITHIN him shall mourn.

The soul refers to the person himself, the spirit refers to the animation or agitation, the courage, temper, disposition of the soul. These two words are not interchangeable and do not exist by themselves. They are generated by the body, the "flesh".

In Ecl 12:7 the spirit that is referred to is not the same thing as the soul in Genesis 2:7, the spirit, ruwach, refers to energy or the energy of a living and breathing body, it does not refer to the body itself and in no way refers to anything that is living or has a consciousness. The soul, nephesh, in Genesis 2:7 refers to a living creature or person, it can also refer to the appetite, mind desire and passion. Neither word is or means the same thing and, again, cannot be used interchangeably. Adam and Eve died spiritually, which means they lost their connection with God. Our spirit is our power, as in energy, that we use to communicate with God. Most humans today do not have this spirit, or power, spiritually most humans are already dead. Another way to say this is that most humans today have no connection with God.

Rom 8:10 the spirit is referring to the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son to whom we should be looking to for strength and understanding.

As far as the "everlasting fire", the fire and the smoke that rises from the burning of the wicked is everlasting as long as there are wicked people on earth. The scriptures say nothing of torture. As far as everlasting punishment, the punishment is death forever, not torture. I agree that the words immortal and soul do not have to appear together, but for a God of truth and not confusion I find it peculiar that it does not appear even one time. People can inherit everlasting life, but it is the whole person, body, soul and spirit. As an immortal human being, you will live through eternity right here on earth. If you are one of the lucky human beings who is saved before Christ returns to earth, you will spend the thousand years after His return helping Christ show the mortal humans who remain on earth the truth. The punishment is death forever, the reward is immortality through eternity.

People of most religions around the world believe that when you die you go somewhere else. Christians think that people have some type of immortal soul or spirit that lives on. Generally speaking, people think that good people will go to heaven and bad or wicked people will go to hell.

The concept of heaven from one Christian to another varies even among Christians of the same denomination. If you as a Christian, even the member of the clergy, you will get various vague answers. Generally heaven is described as a place of incredible happiness. There is the playing of harps, the singing of praises and just sitting around gazing at God. There is also the famous "Pearly Gates" with good old Saint Peter as the doorman and the "streets of gold". Most Christians cannot give you a concise a answer on what heaven is, what it looks like and what we will be doing there.

Then we have the concept of hell that is equally as vague among Christians. Many visualize some type of being all in red carrying something that looks like a pitch fork, with a tail with an arrow head on the tip. This being is referred to as the Devil or Satan and is in charge of the place known as hell. Nobody knows exactly where this place is but wherever it is there is fire burning continuously and the wicked are being tortured in this fire everyday, throughout eternity.

Since these two doctrines are the most important doctrines in the Christian religion, why can nobody clearly and logically explain them. Christians expect to go to heaven when they die. They are taught that if they are good Christians they will go to heaven but if the are bad they will go to hell yet they can't clearly explain either place. Christians freely admit that they can find little in the scriptures. British historian and author Paul Johnson wrote," Heaven...lacks genuine incentive. Indeed it lacks definition of anykind. It is a great hole in theology." (The Quest For God, 1966. P. 173) If going to heaven and not to hell is God's goal for the human race, why is the Bible not clear. The truth is, these two concepts are not in the Bible!

The book of Revelation is not a warning to those who believe in Jesus Christ. The book is a prophecy. "The Student Bible Dictionary" defines the word prophecy as to, "speak for God". Revelations is a book that speaks for God. Jesus Christ is revealing to His church, His servants, exactly what God has planned for mankind. He is unveiling to His church what their destiny is. That is what Revelation means, to unveil.

When Jesus came to earth the first time, He came to proclaim the Gospel, the good news, to mankind. He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15)

Jesus was clear what he wanted the Apostles to do. He was resurrected and spent forty days tutoring the Apostles on everything that had happened up to that point, why it had happened and what Jesus expected them to do.

Jesus had told them before He was crucified:

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know." (John 14:1-3)

The above passage is just one of the many examples of Christians taking scriptures out of context and perpetuating false doctrine. This passage is not describing a place in heaven that we will go to when we die. This belief is contrary to what Jesus taught the Apostles.

In John 14:1-3, Jesus is talking about His Father, God, and who He accepts in His family. "In My Father's house...", does not refer to a building, and "mansions" do not refer to rooms where Christians will be living. What Jesus is saying in John 14:1-3 is that in God's family there are many different types and conditions of people that He will accept. Jesus told His disciples that if this were not true, He would not have told them this.

Jesus goes on to tell them that He is going ahead of them to prepare God to receive them, and all Christians, so that God would be ready for us, no matter what condition we are in. Jesus assures the Disciples that God will do this because Jesus would have already bought them through His sacrifice on the cross.

The Disciples still do not quite understand what Jesus is talking about and in John 14:5-6 Thomas asks Jesus how they should act and how should they think, what should they say to God. Jesus answers them in John 14:16 that they should simply act the way Jesus acts, do and say the things that Jesus would. Jesus tells them it doesn't matter because whatever Jesus says God would agree to.

Jesus told them and all Christians not to worry. Jesus is preparing for us and He says that He will return for us so that we will be with Him. Jesus wants all Christians to know that no matter what happens to us or our loved ones in this life, there is something far better for us to come, and if we can just endure we will have Him through eternity.

Whatever happened to freedom of religion. This is an idea that our country was built on. Why have governments down through history persecuted Christians? Why were they hated just because they were Christians? In this day and age with the vulgarity of the secular world, if a Christian should mention the Bible, God, Jesus, or Christianity in general, they are openly laughed at. They are called religious fanatics. Exactly what is it that scares people about the name Jesus Christ? Why do the liberal academics and the rest of the secular world ignore Judeao-Christian ethics and morality as expressed in the Christian Holy Bible? Why are there so many problems plaguing our societies today?

"Some of the current advice doled out by the liberal academics and educators in the West is symptomatic of the problems that plague society today. Consider for a moment just the subject of education and child rearing. Recent newspaper articles have been headlined as follows:

Children of 5 should be given lessons in sex.

Teacher- pupil affairs can be a good thing . . . .

Unruly pupils need praising not telling off, teachers are told.

Don't blame the bullies! It is not their fault.

"The cultural and moral problems that currently afflict our Western nations call to mind a crucially important passage in the book of the major prophet Ezekiel: 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of men and women that sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it' (Ezekiel 9:4) "Jerusalem is figuratively a type of a whole nation, and this basic principle applies prophetically to our nations today. Those that take God at His word are aghast at and appalled by the erosion of biblically based standards that has taken place in Western nations." (17[ p. 10])

Contrary to what the cultural elites would have you believe, the majority in our society do take God at his word and we are, with good reason, appalled at the erosion of our Biblically based morality. All Christians in America and the rest of the world should be ashamed to just turn their heads and ignore what is going on.

Jesus tells us that, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)
"Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." (John 8:43-44)

Most people do not understand what the Bible says because Jesus says that they "...are not able to...". We are of this world and Satan is the ruler of this world and we basically do the desires of the devil, Satan. Satan lies to us because he does not want us to know the truth. Why doesn't Satan want us to know the truth? Because if we knew the truth, we would understand that God has already offered each and every human being, everything they will ever want and need including the gift of eternal life. Eternal life is a gift given to us freely and it is ours already. If we knew the truth, Satan would not be venerated by humans. Satan would lose the worship he so desires.
If eternal life is a gift already given to us, then how did death enter the equation? It entered through the greed of one of God's creations, a holy angel who became known as Satan, the great deceiver. Satan desired to covet something that was not his to have, the worship of human beings which rightly belongs only to their Creator. Satan coveted this desire and lusted after it. It was this lust that gave birth to sin, which is disobedience to God.
God tells us that "...each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15) It was the birth of sin, disobedience to God's commands, that brought death to our world.
Sin is lusting after the desires of our own heart and not coveting what is already ours, given to us by God. Sin is our disobedience to the ways and desires of our Creator. We perpetuate sin by lusting after the desires put in our hearts by Satan. Satan persuades humans to lust after things that do not rightfully belong to us. Material things like money, big homes, beautiful cars, jewelry, etc..
Eternal life was a gift given to all human beings when Adam and Eve were created. When they decided to disobey God, God turned His back on them. The gift of eternal life was no longer and option for them and in turn their descendants. God no longer provided for them. God no longer guided their actions. Their own actions, their own decisions on how to live their lives began their long and slow decline physically which eventually ended in their physical death.
It was God who provided for Adam and Eve. He told them how to live their lives so they could enjoy life forever. When they decided to make their own choices on how to live their lives, they caused the eventual destruction of their own physical bodies. God never caused anyone to die. We caused and still do cause our own destruction through disobedience, Sin.
Because of the original sin of Adam and Eve, we are imperfect. As long as we are not perfect we will sin. The apostle John told us that "... If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.". God tells us up front that we are not perfect and that we will and do sin. Because we sin we die.

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"And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals" (Revelation 5:1).

Chapter five starts of by introducing the author of the book of Revelation, who is the Supreme Ruler of the universe, God. God is sitting on His throne and in His right hand are the prophecies of the book of Revelation, which are not only sealed but are also unreadable.

Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. (Revelation 5:2-3)

What John is seeing is a vision of an actual council in heaven being held in the presence of God. Picture God sitting on His throne in heaven with the twenty four elders seated according to their authority in front of God. On the right hand of God on one of the thrones is Jesus Christ, but at this point, John is not aware of this.

Someone in the council seated before God asks a simple question, "..."Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"...". Because John was not aware that Jesus was present, he began to weep. John knew that the only being that would have that type of power would be Jesus and John was not aware that Jesus was sitting in the council at the right hand of God Just as Jesus said He would be.

So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. (Revelation 5:4-7)

Jesus in these verses is described exactly how John would recognize Him so that there was no doubt Who He was. Fist of all Jesus was described as a "Lamb". The word that John uses for lamb is the Greek word "arnion" which means a "little lamb". A first year male lamb is what the Israelites were required to use for the Passover in Exodus 12:3-7. This would Indicate that Jesus appeared here to John as a sacrificial lamb. Jesus indeed sacrificed Himself for our sins.

The number seven indicates that He is perfect and the significance of the eyes is that He sees and know all things. There is nothing that is hidden from his sight. Horns in scripture are an indication of power, authority and kingship. The fact that there are seven of them indicates this being has complete power and authority and He is the King over all. All of this that John sees in this being represents the "...seven Spirits of God...".

And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5)

The seven spirits of God represents the complete and entire Gospel preached by Jesus Christ as revealed earlier in Revelation in the letters to the seven churches in Asia minor and is now preached to the entire earth. This symbolism leaves no doubt that this is Jesus Christ.
God is ready to reveal to the council what is written in the scrolls. One of the angels questions who has the power to open the scrolls and it is revealed at this point that Jesus Christ has this power. In Revelation 5:4-7, Jesus is also identified as "...the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David..." Jesus gets up and stands before the throne of God. God hands Jesus the scroll. Christ is authorized to open the seals and reveal the contents of the scroll. "Verses 6-7 then describe how Jesus, the Lamb slain for our sins, takes the scroll from His Father's hand. The audience then kneels before Christ, holding symbolic "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (8).

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Revelation 5:8)

"The message is obvious. The scroll, now in Christ's hands, contains the answer to the continuous prayers of God's people for justice and deliverance and for the establishment of the Kingdom of God to rule on earth (see Matthew 6:33). "Notice the audience's reaction: "They sing a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth'" (Revelation 5:9-10, NRSV).

"Here is the heart of the prophecies in Revelation. They explain how and when our faithful God will avenge the enemies of the called, chosen and faithful servants of God. They explain His judgments on all evildoers and the victory He will achieve over them. They explain the reward the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah, will bring to His faithful saints." (8)

Down through the centuries there have been much speculation as to the identity of the beings in this chapter. I think the simplest explanation is probably the safest explanation. As stated before, God is not a God of confusion. This chapter simply reveals the heavenly existence of Jesus Christ and the beginning of his rule over the earth. Besides Jesus Christ and God, the Bible only reveals one other type of being present in heaven at this time, the holy angels.

When taken apart and studied knowing what is revealed in different Books earlier in the Bible you can see that Jesus is trying to reveal to John that He is already up in heaven as He said he would be, in the presence of God, His Father. There are a couple of other important facts that this chapter reveals. First of all it describes the system of government used in heaven. This does not describe God as an autocratic ruler, but rather a ruler with a council with levels of authority. Second it reveals that Jesus sits in this council. So even though the Bible tells us Jesus and God are one, Jesus is also subject to His Father. Third it tells us that Jesus is the most powerful under God. This council would logically consist of the most powerful of all of God's angels in heaven. Among all of them there was only one being that had the power to open the seals on the scroll, Jesus.

The fourth thing that this chapter reveals is directly for John's benefit and those who choose to understand the truth. That is that Jesus has not forgotten His promise to the Saints and that He hears the cries and their prayers as they live and die in the wicked world ruled by Satan. Remember, newly converted Christians are losing faith. Because of the unrelenting persecution they were enduring. Jesus wanted to let them know and all Christians down through the centuries that He has not forgot His promise and He does here their prayers. That includes Christians today.

...the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Revelation 5:8)

Contrary to the doubt that Satan has put into the mind of most of mankind, Jesus and God do hear our prayers and They remember Their promise to us.

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I believe the Bible is truth and it is also the Word of God. For any Christian doctrine to be true, it has to be backed up by scripture. The Christian Religion is riddled with false doctrine that cannot be backed up by the Bible.

The doctrines on heaven, hell, the soul, the spirit, and life after death are just a few of these false doctrines.
The doctrines on Christmas and Easter are not Biblical. The Bible proves that Jesus was not raised on Sunday, but was raised on Saturday, the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the Lord's Holy day. On this alone why would God raise Jesus on any other day?

Most of false doctrine was thought up by Satan and introduced to the early Church. The Bible, the Word of God, says that Jesus warned His disciples that this would happen!

The Christian Holy Bible is the true word of God. The God of the Christian Bible is the Creator of the universe and that Jesus Christ is His Son and the Savior of mankind. He is the only way to salvation and eternal life. But, Christianity in and of itself, as taught by contemporary Christian doctrine, was not taught by Jesus. Jesus taught about having a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe, God, His Father. Jesus taught about treating God as our Father because we are created in Their image as God's children. Jesus taught that we need to understand what God wants us to do and how He wants us to act by studying the scriptures. Jesus taught that we are to go directly to God for answers and not try and do things on our own.

Understanding and acting on all of this is how you worship God. You need to have a personal relationship, one on one, a first name basis relationship with God. You do not worship God by going to church. You worship God by knowing and understanding Him. There are too many Christians who go to church and call themselves Christians, thinking they are worshiping God, but do not know God or His ways. There are others who take God's word and simply pervert it. They never studied, much less read the Bible. How can you call yourself a Christian if you do not know what God is trying to tell you? If you do not read and study the Bible, you do not know.

The Gospel means "good news". Yes Jesus Christ did come to earth to tell us the good news that God has in store for us. It is just not what you are being told. If you understand what the good news is that Jesus Christ came to earth to proclaim, then you may be able to develop more of a personal relationship, faith, and total trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and in God His Father and our Creator. What the Bible actually says is logical and it does makes sense. It is not some mystical fairytale with no scientific backing. He is the only God. What God has in store for those who believe really is "Good News". It is something man has been looking for down through the ages. The only thing is, man has not been looking in the right places for the answers.
The end of time is coming and unless you understand what the Bible teaches, you will not be prepared!

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It is very important to remember that the Bible must interpret the Bible. Never can an interpretation of a passage from the Bible contradict passages in other parts of the Bible. If the interpretation does, then you have the wrong interpretation. Sometimes in order to understand what is being said, you must also look at what is not being said. This scripture is one of those cases.

FIND OUT MORE ON HEAVEN, HELL, THE SOUL AND THE SPIRIT

Paul is talking about all the strife and trouble he has gone through and the trouble he is presently in and is wondering whether it is worthwhile to continue on living or if it would be better for him if he died. The Greek word used for "depart" in this verse is "analuo". The tense of this Greek word is characterized by the concept that the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. When Paul says he has the desire to depart and be with Jesus, the particular usage of this Greek word indicates that Paul knew that he wasn't going to die and be immediately with Jesus. If Paul thought that and wanted to portray that message, he would have chosen a different Greek word to indicate that is what would happen. To read this passage with the idea that Paul thought that when he died he would be immediately with Christ, is reading into it something that is not true. Paul clearly understood Old Testament scriptures and the teaching of Jesus Christ. Paul knew exactly when he would see Jesus next. It would be when Jesus's came back for His saints, at the rapture of the church.

The spirit, the power given to us in order to make us alive, cannot see, hear, taste, smell or think. The spirit has no consciousness. The spirit is the power from God that puts life in your body. Your body then generates your soul. Your soul is the conscious makeup of your self. The body contains your senses. Your body is an intricate biological sensor. Your body receives information from its environment and then processes this information. Your soul is the interpretation of the information gathered by your senses. From this process comes the sum total of all our thoughts, feelings, and actions and then our body responds. It is the interaction of all three that makes us who we are. This is why it is important to have a relationship with God. It is our communication with God through our spirit that gives us the wisdom we need to live according to His ways. Otherwise, our ways are the ways of the world. That was the original sin of Adam and Eve. Spiritually they turned away from God, lost communication with God, and started to follow their own ways.

When we die, we do not go to heaven. When we die the power that made us alive returns to God, our body decays and without the body and the power to keep it alive, our soul simply ceases to exist. The idea that we die and go to heaven was never taught by Jesus, nor was it taught during the apostolic period. It has its roots in pagan doctrine used by the early church in order to convert people to Christianity.

When we die, we do just that, we die, we are dead, we no longer exist. Your spirit goes back to God and your body will eventually decay.

Exactly how is the word for spirit used in the Bible. First let's take a look at the Old Testament. The English word "spirit" is interpreted from the Hebrew noun, "ruwach". The Hebrew word "ruwach" is related to the verb meaning, "to breathe", or "to blow", The primitive Hebrew root of the word "ruwach" means breath as in "the breath of life", or to blow as in blowing air from the nostrils.

There are many variations in the Biblical usages of this Hebrew word. Ruwach can refer to wind, breath or to the mind such as in a state of agitation. It could describe a person as physically being in a fast motion, such as a horse breathing quickly or being vivacious or animated with vigor. It can also describe a psychological state of being such as being mad or angry. It could describe your temperament as being courageous or describe your disposition as impatient, angry, bitter. All of these descriptions can describe the spirit of a man. All of these descriptions are abstract and refer to a state of being. The spirit of a man is an abstract description. It is not a physical entity. The spirit doesn't think or have any thought process. It cannot speak, see or talk.

And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." (Genesis 6:3)

In this verse the Hebrew word "ruwach" is interpreted "spirit". God is saying that His spirit or the power that keeps us alive, his breath, will not be with us forever. This is something that God has the power to take from us.

In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? (Job12:10)

In this verse the Hebrew word "ruwach" is interpreted as "breath." Bible translators have translated the same words in Hebrew to different words in English.

So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. (Exodus 10:13)

This is an interesting passage because here the Hebrew word "ruwach" is interpreted as "wind". In this verse it appears that God simply made the wind blow. This is not the case. The "east wind" that God "brought . . . on the land . . . " was actually power coming directly from God. The power of God is what brought the locusts to Egypt, not just some force of nature.

In all three of these passages, the same Hebrew word was translated into three different English words. In each case the words do not represent a conscious being.

Go here to find out more FIND OUT MORE ON HEAVEN, HELL, THE SOUL AND THE SPIRIT!

The human spirit, is not clearly spelled out in the Bible. The Bible does tell us that it goes does go back to God, but the spirit has no consciousness.

In the Old and the New Testament the spirit refers to power, energy, never a consciousness. It has no being, it can't hear, see, taste, smell, or touch. The spirit cannot think, it has no brain! A light bulb has power, but it can not think! When our physical body is destroyed, we simply do not exist in any state. After death we are no longer aware of the passage of time. We totally and completely cease to exist. Our spirit, the power given to us from God, returns to God.

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. (Ezekiel 33:1-9)

It is the role of the Christian Church to inform people of their moral depravity and sins which are an abomination to God. Our society accepts homosexuality, sex outside the marriage, raising children outside of the traditional family structure, TO NAME JUST A FEW OF THE ABOMINATIONS THAT MAN COMMITS. This and much, much more of what is an abomination to God, is acceptable in our society, is a sin in the eyes of the Lord. Paul in Colossians instructed Christians to be watchmen.

. . . I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Colossians 1:25-29)

Paul says that the word of God had been hidden in a mystery for generations but through the gospel of Jesus Christ it has been revealed to His saints, people who have repented of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior and the Son of God the Creator. Paul says we are to preach this gospel. We as saints of Jesus Christ are to warn "every man" and teach man "all wisdom" of God's word.

Jesus Christ himself told his Church what we were to do.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . . . (Matthew 28:19-20)

We are to preach that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth. We are to preach the coming of God's kingdom. We are to preach that this is the real hope for our troubled world. But there is an important facet of this commission. That is to warn everyone what will happen to those who refuse to believe in the Gospel of Christ.

Every Christian needs to read and study the Bible and then go to God personally to understand the message. You need to learn the truth about your soul and spirit, heaven and hell, the Kingdom of God, and life after death. You need to find out before it is too late!

The majority of the people in the world hold one of two basic beliefs on when life began. One belief is based on scientific and archeological evidence. The other belief is based on the creation story as told in the book of Genesis. "Which is myth, God or Evolution? Louis Boundure, director of Frances Strasbourg Zoological Museum and professor of biology at the University of Strasbourg, stated: Evolution is a fairy tale for grownups. This theory has helped nothing in the progress of science. It is useless." .

Due to the lack of evidence for the theory of evolution as presented by Darwin, scientists are starting to accept the idea of an intelligent designer. This idea is the basic concept of the creation story as told in the book of Genesis. " 'Certainly not all scientists agree that no Creator exists and that we as human beings are the product of random chance. In 1972 the California State Board of Education asked NASA director Wernher von Braun, who has been called the father of the American space program, for his thoughts on the origin of the universe, life and the human race. Here's how he responded: 'For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without invoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all. In the world around us, we can behold the obvious manifestations of an ordered, structured plan or design . . .To be forced to believe only one conclusion-that everything in the universe happened by chance-would violate the very objectivity of science itself.' . . . ".

Contrary to what the cultural elites would have you believe, the majority in our society do take God at his word and we are, with good reason, appalled at the erosion of our Biblically based morality. All Christians in America and the rest of the world should be ashamed to just turn their heads and ignore what is going on.

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. (Ezekiel 33:1-9)

A person does not have a spiritual body that goes on living after death. No where will you find this in the scriptures of a Christian Bible. (Send me the scripture, from the Bible, if you find it.) In order to say this you must take scripture out of context of the rest of the Bible.

There are very few people who understand what the Bible teaches about life beyond the grave. In fact, the phrase, "life beyond the grave", is the euphemism most often used but it is very misleading. This phrase suggests that when we die, some conscious part of us continues on. It suggests that we continue on in the same time line without any interruption in thought or awareness. It suggests that there is a continuation of some form of existence or conscious life beyond what we know as our physical life. This idea cannot be found in the Bible.
The Meriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines death as "...a permanent cessation of all vital functions : the end of life...". When a person dies everything that made the person who and what he was ceases to function and life ends. There is no continuation on into another realm. You do not go through a door. There is no other side. There is no tunnel and no bright light that you head for. As the dictionary defines it and as the Bible explains it, you completely and totally cease to exist.

God created Satan and the angels as immortal beings. Since they are immortal and cannot die, technically, they live forever. If that is the case that they cannot die, then they could be tortured throughout eternity. They could survive the fires of hell. Human beings are not immortal, we are mortal. Mortal means that we die. We do not go on living after death. We are dead. We have no consciousness. We cannot hear, see, taste, touch, or smell. We cannot think, we no longer exist. We are dead.

Human beings on the other hand are not immortal. The scriptures do say this and I defy anyone to prove me wrong. We can and do die. When we die we no longer have a conscious state. We are unaware of our surroundings because we no longer exist in any form.

As a Christian you need to understand what Jesus, the apostles, and the Bible teach about what makes up you as a being created by God. There is a lot of false teaching in contemporary Christian doctrine about what makes up who you are. There are three things that make up every human being. There is the body, the soul, and the spirit. All three of them must exist in order to make up who you are. If one is missing, the other two ceases to exist. Your body cannot die and then your spirit and/or soul continue to exist in another state, somewhere else.

The Atheist in general, does not believe in any type of God. They believe that we are a product of random chance, that we did not exist before we were born and we do not exist after we die. Our spiritual self exists while we are alive but ceases to exist at death. There are many different doctrines of Atheism but in general they do not believe in an after life spent in heaven with a God. They believe that both man and animals will suffer the same fate, that eventually we will become extinct.

There is also the skeptic. A skeptic is defined by "Webster's New World Dictionary" as "one who habitually questions matters generally accepted . . . one who doubts religious doctrines". Because of this the skeptic would not be able to accept the idea of any type of life after death, much less the Christian false doctrine on heaven.

"A Marxist thinks that the Christian explanation of life and God are mere illusions and that they are like the drug opium that keeps the general population high so they can ignore the realities of life and the cold hard facts about death." ("Where Do We Go From Here?", Managing Editor: David Sper, Copyright 1987, 2001 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1[ pg 2]).

" A Hindu thinks of the present life as just one of the many lives in a cycle of births, deaths, and rebirths. When the individual eventually becomes good enough, he achieves eternal bliss as he is absorbed into the universal spirit, what ever that is.

" A Buddhist lives a highly disciplined life in order to extinguish all desire and to attain a vague impersonal existence he calls nirvana.

" A Muslim devotes his life to the teachings of the prophet Muhammad in an attempt to make himself worthy of acceptance into paradise and to escape the torments of hell.

" . . . A follower of Jesus Christ may sacrifice fame, fortune, and power in this life, knowing that he will receive God's approval in the life to come." ("Where Do We Go From Here?", Managing Editor: David Sper, Copyright 1987, 2001 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1[page 2-3])

What is the truth? All the different beliefs cannot be right. There is black and there is white. There is no gray area where humans get to make up their own rules. If you want to follow a religion, it must be based on facts. These are facts that if introduced, can stand up in a court of law. There is only one place that you can find facts on a religion that will stand up in a court of law, that is the facts found in the Christian Holy Bible.

It is doctrines such as going on living after we die that fuel agnostics and atheism. The picture of Hell, where fires are burning and people are screaming in agony has been taught by the Christian church for centuries. It was not taught during the Apostolic period nor was it ever taught by Jesus Christ. If this doctrine were true it would have been peppered through out the Bible, but it is not. The only way you will find this is if you take scripture and interpret out of context of the rest of the Bible.

The Bible tells us that we were created in the image of God. We were created after God's own likeness. We were created to be God like. We were created as God's Children. If this is true, why does our Creator allow us to die? The simple answer is, we die because it is our choice to die. God does not want us to die. God wants us to live throughout eternity. Man has made the choice by not following God's commandments and living a life according to man thought up beliefs.

God, the creator of the universe has given us instructions that have been written down by human beings down through the centuries which have been compiled into what is known today as the Christian Holy Bible, but the majority of humans on the earth today have refused to recognize it as the word of God. Because we refuse to follow what God advises us to do, we, in effect, kill ourselves. It is not that God allows us to die, He gave us free will. If it is our will to kill ourselves by not following God's advice, God allows us our free will, a gift He gave us.

The Bible teaches us that to die was not in God's original plan for His children. God "...has also set eternity in the hearts of men...". (Ecclesiastes 3:11) If God set the desire for eternity in our hearts when He created us, He would not have made us to die. That would be a cruel joke. Man was created with the concept of living forever. God warned Adam that if he disobeyed God he would not live forever, he would die.

"Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:8-9)

"And the LORD God commanded the man, "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)

Man did disobey God and true to his word, man has been dying ever since Adam and Eve. It was at this point that death was introduced into the world of man. We die because we disobey God and do not livi by His commandments.

The question is, who caused this to happen? Certainly man did not wake up one morning and decide that he wanted to disobey God, and cease to exist, rather than live a eternal life full of happiness and bliss, in a garden created just for him.

The one responsible for our death is Satan. He has maneuvered the coarse of human lives and history down through the centuries, beginning with Adam and Eve, in order to hide the truth about disobeying God and death in a mysterious cloud of disbelief and lies.

Satan was created by God as a righteous angel, but he did not stand fast in truth. He opposed and resisted God he wanted to be like God. He wanted to be worshiped as a God. When god created man in His own image, god placed man above all the angels including Satan. Man was not to worship Satan, rather he was to worship God alone. Satan did not like this so he then misrepresented God to humans. He lied about God and turned man away from God. this act has led to the death of all humans to this day. His acts of misrepresenting God have caused humans to sin, or disobey God and because of this, human beings die.

The devil drew the first humans away from God by persuading them to take his side against God. If you read Genesis 3:1-5, you will see that Satan implied that God was withholding something good from Adam and Eve. Satan was assaulting God's intents and motives and put doubts in the minds of Adam and Eve. In her mind, Eve could not see what would be the harm in disobeying God. She could not see why they could not think and act on their own. She made up her mind that she was going to do what she thought was right and then persuaded Adam to go along with her.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and because of this act they were no longer like God, they were no longer the image of God. They became ashamed of themselves and their actions and hid themselves from God. God did not turn away from man, man turned away from God. God's sentence on mankind for disobeying Him, turning away from Him, and thus not portraying the image of him, was "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Genesis 3:19). We will die. god's punishment is not that when we die, we go to live with Him and Jesus. This is just another lie perpetuated by Satan down through the centuries to blind us to God's real plan. The Bible clearly tells us that we will return to dust. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us that at this point in history, this fact is not still true.

When they translated the Bible into English, they translated four different words with three different meanings into the same English word . . . hell!
"In the original Hebrew and Greek languages in which the Bible was written, four words are translated "hell" in English. The four words convey three different meanings.
"The Hebrew word sheol, used in the Old Testament, has the same meaning as hades, one of the Greek words translated "hell" in the New Testament.

"The Anchor Bible Dictionary explains the meaning of both words: 'The Greek word Hades . . . is sometimes, but misleadingly, translated 'hell' in English versions of the N[ew] T[estament]. It refers to the place of the dead . . . The old Hebrew concept of the place of the dead, most often called Sheol . . . is usually translated as Hades, and the Greek term was naturally and commonly used by Jews writing in Greek' (1992, Vol. 3, p. 14, "Hades, Hell").

"Both sheol and hades refer to the grave. A comparison of an Old Testament and a New Testament scripture confirm this. Psalm 16:10 says, 'For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.'. In Acts 2:27 the apostle Peter quotes this verse and shows that it is a reference to Christ. Here the Greek word hades is substituted for the Hebrew sheol.

"Where did Christ go when He died? He went to the grave. His body was placed in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. The two passages, in Psalms and Acts, tell us Jesus' flesh did not decay, ". . . see corruption . . ." in the grave, because God resurrected Him. Jesus did not decay like anyone else who died He was resurrected. He did not see corruption means His body did not decay, nothing more. The Roman Catholic Church, Contemporary Christianity, and Satan is teaching a false doctrine.

"The majority of scriptures that use the term hell . . . (are) . . . simply talking about the grave, the place where everyone, whether good or evil, goes at death. The Hebrew word sheol is used in the Old Testament 65 times. In the King James Version it is translated 'grave' 31 times, 'hell' 31 times and 'pit' three times.

"The Hebrew word, sheol, is translated to the Greek word hades eleven times in the New Testament. In the King James translation in all instances but one the term hades is translated 'hell'. The one exception is 1 Corinthians 15:55, where it is translated 'grave'. In the New King James Version, the translators simply used the original Greek word hades in all 11 instances.

"Two other Greek words are translated 'hell' in the New Testament. One of these is tartaroo, used only once in the Bible (2 Peter 2:4), where it refers to the place where the fallen angels, or demons, are restrained awaiting their judgment. The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words explains that tartaroo means 'to confine in tartaros" and that "Tartaros was the Greek name for the mythological abyss where rebellious gods were confined' (Lawrence Richards, 1985, "Heaven and Hell").

"Peter used this reference to contemporary mythology to show that the sinning angels were 'delivered . . . into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.' Fallen angels are in a condition or place of restraint awaiting their ultimate judgment for their rebellion against God and destructive influence on humanity. Tartaroo applies only to demons. Nowhere does it refer to a fiery hell in which people are punished after death.

"The third Greek word used in the Bible and translated 'hell' is gehenna. This does refer to a fiery punishment for the wicked - but not in the manner portrayed in the hell of men's imagination.

"Gehenna refers to a valley just outside Jerusalem. The word is derived from the Hebrew Ge-Hinnom, the valley of Hinnom (Joshua 18:16). At the time of Jesus this valley was what we might call the city dump - the place where garbage, trash and refuse were thrown and consumed in the fires that constantly burned there. The carcasses of dead animals - and the bodies of despised criminals - were also cast into Gehenna to be burned. Jesus used this particular location and what took place there to help us understand the fate the wicked and unrepentant will suffer in the future." (3 [ pg. 17-19]).

Christian theologians and secular philosophers have taken these two scriptures and built a non biblical doctrine on hell. Psalms 16:10 is a simple prophecy made by King David approximately one thousand years before Christ was born foretelling his own future resurrection by saying that God will not leave him in the grave, buried, but will resurrect him and show him the way to live. David goes on to say "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11).

King David is also foretelling the almost immediate resurrection of Jesus Christ when he tells us that God will not let Jesus decay, "see corruption", in the grave, "hades".

Instead of translating these words to fit their intended meaning, such as using the word grave or pit, the translators used a word with a completely different meaning in order to fit it to their secular doctrine. In the book of Psalms, King David alluded to the grave or a pit, "sheol" in many of his passages. Each time, when it is translated into English, the translatior translated the word in different ways in order to make it fit the modern Christian doctrine of hell.

All societies today have some view of the afterlife. Christians commonly refer to it as "life after death". Some will refer to this as the here after. Others will say that we will go to another world, most times refered to as heaven. This all boils down to the idea that we have a consciousness, or that the mind continues to function after the death of the body. The common Christian doctrine clearly implies that as soon as we die we pass through some sort of portal. You will commonly hear people talk about going towards a light.

The common Christian view is that this continued existence takes place in an immaterial or spiritual realm. When a person dies they are believed to have gone to a specific "plane of existence" after their death and where they go will be determined by a "god". What does the Christian Bible really tell us about life after death?

Can anyone know what does happen to you after death? Is there any source of information that can give you the answers to this question that can stand as truth? The answer to this question is yes. The truth can be found in the Christian Bible. But how can we know this to be true?

The first thing we need to do is to establish that the Bible is a reliable document. Does the Bible stand up to history? Does it stand up to other known truths in the modern world? Does it stand up to known scientific facts? Can the evidence in the Bible stand up in a court of law? The answer to all of this is a resounding yes.

The burden of proof is not on those who believe in the Bible, it is on the skeptics. In our own courts of law, a person is innocent until he is proven guilty. Just as it is up to the courts to prove that a person is guilty of a crime, it is up to the skeptics to prove that the Bible is not a reliable source of information. In the wake of all known and proven facts in today's world, society has yet to prove the Bible to be an unreliable source of information.

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