DO I HAVE A SOUL, WILL I SURVIVE DEATH, & WHERE WILL I GO?

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Questions About God

a) It's easy to ask religious questions, but not so easy to find the answers. Perhaps the most fundamental religious question is, "Who can answer my religious questions?" We need someone to be our Answer, someone to satisfy our quest for religious truth.

b) Jesus the Son of God came into the world for that reason. Jesus is the Word, "the true light who enlightens every man" (John 1:9). When many of his disciples were turning their backs on Jesus, he asked his chosen twelve, "Will you also go away?" Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

2. Do I Have A Soul, Will I Survive Death, And Where Will I Go?

a) When something is going to happen to you that frightens or worries you, its great to have a friend who has already been through it. That person can answer a lot of questions for you and help you through the process. Jesus has died, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven.

i) Do I have a soul? Jesus assures us that each of us has a soul, and it is unimaginably precious. "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul. Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

ii) Will I survive death? Jesus survived death. And he promises anyone who believes in him that they shall do the same. He said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies" (John 11:25).

iii) Where will I go after death? Jesus told the thief on the cross, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

b) The world into which the dead go is not paradise for everybody who goes there. Jesus made that plain when he told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man found himself in agony after he died, but Lazarus was comforted (Luke 16:219-31).

c) That world of the dead is only temporary. Jesus tells us that "an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear voice, and shall come forth, those who did the good to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29).

d) When that resurrection happens, Jesus will send the latter into "the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).

e) That place of eternal punishment was not meant for human beings however. Jesus says to believers, "I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and take you to myself that where I am there you may be also" (John 14:1-3). 


The End ...

Comments