Physical
Life & Safety
By
Arthur J Licursi
This temporal physical life is
precious. Being born into this world lost and alienated from God, our human
life affords us the bridge of time toward
crossing into eternity. We have
this time on earth in which we may to come to union with God and enter eternity
with Him in whom there is peace, rest and joy for our souls.
Thus God has made certain that
every person comes into the world knowing there is a God and they have an
inner driving sense that they need to know God. This is why man, not the
animals, has been the creature who sought to worship various idols; the sun,
graven images, totem poles.
Romans
1:19-22 (AMP) For that which is known about God is evident
to them and
made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it
to them.
20
For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and
attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made
intelligible and
clearly discernible in and
through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are
without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],
21
Because when they knew and
recognized Him as God, they did not honor and
glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became
futile and
godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and
stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to
be smart, they made simpletons of themselves].
Yet, there
is hope, even while we all go wrong for some time before we go right. It’s
this inner sense in man that was and is intended by God to draw men to Him,
that they might receive the eternal
life that may be gained by receiving He who is the eternal life – “the
Spirit of life (Gk., zoe, the eternal spirit life) in Christ
Jesus.”
John
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life (eternal): no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
1
John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given
to us (the believers) eternal life, and this life is
in his Son. 12 He that
hath the Son hath life (eternal); and
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (eternal).
No man can
count on physical safety in this world, for the simple reason that, apart
from bombs and death by an incident, it simply “is
appointed unto men once to die” (Heb. 9:27). Simply put, the moment we
are physically born into this world we begin the race toward physical death,
and death always finally wins. No man knows the day of his death.
Actually, physical safety is
not most important anyway. It is
not so much death that men fear as the thought that death might usher them
into the presence of God.
Hebrews
9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment:
Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God.
But even this need not be
feared if we have come to “peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (
Rom.
5:1). The Apostle Paul, who once was a lost, self-righteous, Pharisaical
religious leader, came to trust the
Jesus Christ he had persecuted and now proclaimed: “This is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (I Tim. 1:15).
Having
thus been saved from sin by faith in
Christ, he had no fear of death.
Indeed, he could say: “For,
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” and
“to depart and be with Christ... is far better” (Phil. 1:21,
23).
Many today fear what our
government may become and the expected coming persecution of Christians that
we already see beginning in the world and even in our own beloved land of
the
USA
. But, why should a Christian shudder with fear at those things which are so
frightening to others in our day? Our Lord said to His disciples:
“I
say unto you, My friends, Be not afraid of them
that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luke
12:4).
No, the true
believer needs not fear, for he is safe in Christ, not only in this life,
but forever.
“He
that believeth on the Son [of God] hath EVERLASTING LIFE” (John
3:36).
It helps us
to remember Paul’s words. 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
