A practical guide to staying alive

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO

STAYING ALIVE [

]

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO

STAYING ALIVE

he truth is that all generations of every nation have fallen victim to the problem of ‘staying alive’. Apart from at the occasional funeral service, most of us probably don’t give death all that much thought. But that doesn’t make it any less inevitable. Consider this plan of action from one of the world’s leading music producers: It’s an insurance policy. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But if it does work, I’ll be happy. If it’s possible— and I think it will be—why not have a second crack? Does that sound crazy? I think it’s a good idea. I have a feeling that if I don’t do it, I could regret it in 300 years. Any guesses about what he’s referring to? He’s talking about being cryogenically frozen—post-death that is! That’s right, he’s considering forking out spare change to the tune of £150,000 in order that, when he finally cops it, some science geek can freeze his corpse. Then, when technology has caught up with human imagination, he can be brought back to life. Believe it or not, this plan might have one or two flaws . . .

Although you may be a budding millionaire, most people don’t have £150,000 to spare. So that already rules out the majority of us straight away! Secondly, there’s no actual guarantee that we’ll ever be able to put life back into frozen, and potentially ancient, bodies. The technological advances we are making are fantastically clever, but making human ‘ice cubes’ walk and talk is getting into Star Trek clever! Thirdly, and finally, this plan ‘works’ if you die peacefully in your sleep and there are people around to get you into the deep freeze ASAP. However, what is the point in freezing a body that has been blasted to pieces in war, crushed in a motorway accident or eaten away by illness and disease? And, unfortunately, a significant percentage of us won’t be leaving this life ‘intact’ and in good working order. So instead, maybe we could consider the ‘eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die’ approach. Of course, though very popular, this belief doesn’t really solve the problem of dying. It just accepts death as inevitable.

So are we stuck with it?

LOOKING INTO THE

OPTIONS

orldwide religions usually have this in common: they look ‘beyond’ the earth for answers. But that’s no good if the answers provided don’t match our day to day reality. For example, some churches in America believe that snake handling is a form of protection from evil. However, this practice has resulted in more than a hundred deaths from snakebites in their meetings. Maybe this is an extreme example, but it makes the point that a religious truth has to ‘fit’ with the world we live in. The snake handlers’ belief of protection didn’t really work out that well. There is a very good reason for presenting the Bible at this point. The Bible provides real answers that actually ‘fit’ with the world as we know it. It is brutally honest and does not cover over the flaws of its heroes. It makes no pretence that our world is something it isn’t. Instead, it agrees that the world is a place where very real pain, struggle and failure exist. A simple but profound place to begin reading the Bible is in the book called Psalms. It is full of songs and prayers written and compiled over several hundred years. One of these prayers says,

“The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). Sound familiar? Like it might very well be a good summary of any one of our lives? A short, crummy eighty years and, by the end of them, the only thing to show for our efforts is “labour and sorrow”. This idea may be nothing out of the ordinary, yet it shows that the Bible does not shrink away from disappointing and unpleasant truths. The Bible does not make empty promises that a scientific breakthrough or a rigorous routine of yoga and therapy will extend our lives. The Bible reveals the world for what it really is, and therefore it fits perfectly with our everyday experience. But is this all there really is? Is there no hope? Maybe that’s what the music producer is after: hope. He knows that death is certain but perhaps he, like the rest of us, hopes that death isn’t the end. His cryogenic freezing plan may be for you. But if that doesn’t appeal, or if it blows your budget, there is another option. It’s found in the Bible. Like cryogenic freezing, it comes at a cost— just not one measured in money.

DEATH HAS A

PURPOSE

n Psalm 90, God is described like this: “Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2). This is very different from the Bible’s description of humans, who can only scrape by for eighty or so years. God has always been and will always be. He was around forever before creating the world and He will be around forever after He calls for full-time. He is eternal; we are finite. This psalm also tells us why death is the inevitable end. “You [God] turn man to destruction . . . for we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set our [wickedness] before You, our secret sins in the light of Your [appearance]” (Psalm 90:3,7-8). In a nutshell, we’re being told: we’re heading for destruction because we have turned from God to sin. Sin is about much more than what we do or don’t do. The problem of sin is a relational one. The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created humans to live in a special relationship with Him that was loving, caring and safe. But when we sinned, we broke this safe, perfect relationship and chose to live without Him. That’s what sin is: our rejection of God, an unwillingness to return to Him and a desire to live our lives just as we please. Death isn’t our punishment just because of things we’ve done wrong; it is the consequence of humanity’s rejection of God. Death is the result of a relationship breakdown. This is why, even if our best efforts include supporting good causes and founding orphanages, they don’t undo the consequences of sin in our lives or in our world. Sin and death reign in this world because we have rejected God, and when any finite thing stands in opposition to its infinite Creator, the result can only be death, followed by His judgement, for how we have lived.

Does that sound harsh to you?

LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LOOK AT IT

THIS WAY

magine you are in a courtroom. A man stands in the dock accused of a brutal crime, perhaps against a child, involving violence and abuse. After much persuasive evidence he has been proven guilty. Finally he admits his guilt, even though he shows no remorse. The judge stands and says: “You have committed a series of grave and foul offences against an innocent child and have been found guilty on all counts. You deserve the most severe penalty the law can offer. But because I am a loving and kind judge, I will let you off, bypassing all laws. You may leave this courtroom a free person.” This picture is horrible to think about. The crime is disturbing, but so is the judge’s action. Why? Because we instinctively know that the judge’s ruling is not just. It is neither kind nor loving because it does not take into account the suffering of the victim. In this case justice demands that something be done. As unpleasant as this illustration may sound, it is a picture of our own sin that God, as a good judge, has to deal with. We may not have committed a crime like this,

but our rejection of God makes us guilty. He made us, gave us a place and time to live and designed us to depend on Him; and yet we have pushed Him away and preferred to live only for ourselves. That is a truly hideous crime. And if we want to exist in a world where God does not, then we are choosing death for as long as we reject Him. There is a place called hell reserved for everyone who doesn’t want to live with God—a place of torment, pain and grief. Why? Because that is what an existence without God’s love really is. God, being a good judge, will see that justice is done for all of us. And so the seventy to eighty years mentioned in Psalm 90 are in fact a judgement on us. That’s how we know that cryogenic freezing is destined to fail, because our rejection of a life with God can only result in death. It is only when we have seen the reason for death, and the relationship we have lost with Him, that we can begin to understand the rescue plan God has put in place for us. And yes, there is a big rescue.

THE

RESCUE!

he Bible says that Jesus, who is God, became a man and entered our world to rescue us from death and hell. And this is no ‘fairy tale’. The Bible books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John offer detailed descriptions of Jesus’ life and ministry. They are based on eyewitness accounts dedicated to retelling the story of Jesus’ time on earth. John’s account records Jesus saying these words to His closest friends on the night of His death: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house [heaven] 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” (John 14:1-3). And here, finally, we have a Practical Guide to Staying Alive. Jesus tells us to “believe also in Me”. He is asking us to trust Him. Up until this point the flight-path of humanity has been a broken relationship with God and a certain date with death, followed by God’s judgement and an eternity in hell . . . Yet here is Jesus promising to “prepare” a place for us in heaven. Isn’t this just as unrealistic as the snake handlers’ belief?

THE GIFT OF

ETERNAL LIFE

ecause the Bible is real, the hope it provides is also real. When Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t a mistake or because He did anything wrong. It was God’s way of satisfying the need for justice. Jesus died so that we don’t have to. On the cross He paid for our rejection of God and any wrongs we have done because of that selfish attitude. Jesus made sure God’s justice was delivered—but on Himself rather than on us, so that we could be spared. In that reading from John’s account, Jesus promises: “I will come again and receive you; that where I am, there you may be also”. With justice done, death is no longer the inevitable end for us. Jesus can restore everything that God wants for us. That is why He describes heaven as being “where I [Jesus] am”. Jesus is our real hope because He provides the solution we need: justice to be paid, death to be overruled and peace to be restored between God and us.

This rescue is for anyone, but it requires that we surrender our independence and give ourselves back to God. So the question is this: is it worth trusting Jesus, and will you? When Jesus returns, those who trust Him will be given eternal life in God’s presence, but those who have refused to come back to God will suffer death, judgement and hell. And if we should die before Jesus returns, we do so without fear, because we know that God will do for us what cryogenic freezing can never achieve. He will raise us back to life. How can we be so sure? Because Jesus Himself was raised from the dead! Hundreds of people witnessed Him alive after His death, and even the Roman army couldn’t deny that His body had disappeared from a guarded tomb. Jesus’ resurrection proves He is alive and preparing a place in heaven for anyone who trusts Him.

OVER TO

YOU

t the most we have seventy to eighty (or so) years on earth. That’s it. It is in this time frame that we must make a decision about whether or not we will trust Jesus. If you have been challenged to think further about Jesus, the best idea is to get hold of a Bible and start reading. Our Daily Bread Ministries would also like to offer you some helpful resources. We are dedicated to making the Bible understandable and accessible, because this is where God’s plan for life is made clear. We publish regular booklets called Our Daily Bread and Our Daily Journey, which share thoughts and challenges from the Bible each day. These are available at no cost to you. Visit us at ourdailybread.org to see all the ways we can support you. We also want to encourage you to contact a local church where there will be people who can talk with you and help answer any of your questions.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2017 by Our Daily Bread Ministries. All rights reserved. Printed in the United Kingdom

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For information on our resources, visit ourdailybread.org Alternatively, please contact the office nearest to you from the list below, or go to ourdailybread.org/locations for the complete list of offices. Germany: Our Daily Bread Ministries e.V., Schulstraße 42, 79540 Lörrach deutsch@odb.org Ireland: Our Daily Bread Ministries, 64 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2, D02 XC62 ireland@odb.org ~ +353 (01) 676 7315 UK & Europe: Our Daily Bread Ministries, PO Box 1, Carnforth, Lancashire, LA5 9ES europe@odb.org ~ +44 (0) 15395 64149 Many people, making even the smallest of donations, enable Our Daily Bread Ministries to reach others with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. We are not funded or endowed by any group or denomination.

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