| CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DOCTRINE | September 2006 |
The Christian’s Firm Foundation
CHRISTIANS HAVE OFTEN been laughed at as credulous because, by God’s arrangement, they must now walk by faith, not by sight. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (I Cor. 2:9) Yet, nearly all thinking people have certain notions as to the future—nearly all expecting a future life. Some speculate that the dying one really becomes more alive, and merely seems to die. Others speculate along evolutionary lines, and tell us that their hope for the future is not for themselves, but for their posterity who may reach such a state of development as will permit them to live forever.
All these speculators must admit that they have nothing more for their belief than mere conjecture—no revelation from God, no proof. The Christian’s position is a much better and more reasonable one. He trusts not to his own speculations, not to the speculations of others, realizing that these are of little value. He accepts the Bible as the Word of God. He is there informed that God has provided for the recovery of the entire race from the sentence of death, and that eventually all the willing and obedient may attain everlasting life through the merit of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary.—Rom. 14:9
The Bible does not set before the mind of the Christian the absurdity that the dead are more alive than before they died. The Bible declares that the dead are dead, or figuratively asleep, and would have no further knowledge or interest in anything under the sun except through the Divine arrangement—the resurrection of the dead. “Since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus] came also the resurrection of the dead,” Paul says. The Bible tells us when this resurrection will take place—namely, at the Second Presence of Jesus, when he shall establish his glorious Millennial kingdom, promised through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, and through Christ and the apostles.—I Cor. 15:21-23
Does not the Christian have a firm foundation? He not only has God’s Word for his faith, but he has a reasonable faith, confirmed by everything known on the subject. We know that we all die, and that “the dead know not any thing.” (Eccles. 9:5) We know that they could suffer neither joy nor sorrow while asleep in death. The only hope for any is through a resurrection. This is what the Bible teaches. The believer has strong consolation, strong confirmation, strong reasons for believing God’s message, and for disregarding not only his own imaginations, but the untrustworthy imaginations of others.