This Mortal Life

Ecclesiastes is my favorite book in the bible. If you haven't read it or don't remember it well, I recommend that you go through it sometime soon because it's amazing. In any case, one of the prevailing themes in the book is the transitory nature of this mortal life that each of us is living right now. This issue is something that I have found to be a vital difference between my thinking and that of people with other views on morality and spirituality, and in this discussion I will give 2 specific examples of this phenomenon that I have encountered recently.

As a foundation, I'll first demonstrate from the scripture the nature and purpose of physical life. The book of Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon, is one big philosophical discourse on human life. The following scriptures give a broad overview of the progression of thought throughout the book:

Ecclesiastes 2:3
... I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

Ecclesiastes 5:18
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot.

Ecclesiastes 6:12
For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Notice the language which is used in the first three passages in reference to human life: our days are "few,"  life is "vain," and it "passes like a shadow." Though much of the book decries many common activities as "meaningless" or "vanity," the second passage admonishes us to enjoy life rather than be caught up in the worries of this world, and the final passage reveals what is most important in this life: that we build a relationship with our Creator by showing Him respect and obedience.

As modern medicine continues to extend the life expectancy of the average person, a certain cultural anomaly has developed in which people become obsessed with living for as long as possible. The "anything to keep me alive" mentality has been clearly and publicly displayed in cases of euthanasia of people who are being kept alive artificially at the bequest of their desperate families. Even before the capability of modern medicine had bridged this gap, it is a natural human response to protect life at all costs, even if it results in poor quality of life.

Let me clarify by saying that I'm not insinuating that human life is not important - indeed, it is a precious gift from God. But exactly how important?

I have encountered certain people who reject the morality of the bible because of this very issue. Essentially, their argument centers on the enforcement of the death penalty that God instituted for ancient Israel, and they claim that any God who would order someone to be killed for breaking the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14), cursing his father and mother (Exodus 21:15-17), or being homosexual (Leviticus 20:13) cannot be the absolute authority on morality because these are not offenses that they believe deserve death. They say that they have a better sense of morality than any god who would support killing people for not resting on a particular day or speaking badly of their parents or choosing an "alternative" lifestyle.

In truth, they fail to see the forest through the trees. Not only did God order that these people be put to death for their sins, but also that every man and woman who has ever lived should be put to death, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Every physical human death amounts to God enforcing the same death penalty for sin that he enforced on Adam and Eve - the time and place of death are irrelevant! Humoring the logic of people who think their morality is superior to God's, I ask: what kind of a loving God would kill every living creature He ever made? What they fail to understand is that God has prepared hope for all people through His resurrections.

Specifically, the first resurrection of human beings is a resurrection of God's saints at the time of Jesus' return:

1 Corinthians 15:20-26
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Notice that it says that those who belong to him will be resurrected when he comes, but that he still has enemies to conquer before death will no longer exist. Also, notice that just as all die in Adam, all will be made alive in Christ - not just His followers! We get more details in the following verses from Revelation concerning the thousand year period during which Satan is bound and Christ reigns on earth:

Revelation 20:4-6
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

It says that they came to "life," and later it says that the "second death has no power over them," indicating that they are, at that time, given eternal life. Furthermore, notice that the "rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended," and this has been called the "second resurrection" since the scripture itself declares that the saints are part of the "first resurrection." This is a vital point: every human who has ever lived will live again (click here for a more detailed proof of this, and here for an exhaustive proof). So no, God did not create us just so that we would live and die, but, rather, that everyone can have a chance at eternal life. Since the first resurrection is only for God's people who are specifically called by God in their life on earth, the second resurrection is for everyone who is not called by God in this life. This includes not only the masses of people who lived and died and never heard the name of Jesus (the only name given among men by which we must be saved), but also the masses of people living today who think that they have been called by God but are actually deceived by false Christianity. They will all live a second physical life and have the opportunity to understand God's way of life and to make their decision to obey Him or not.

There are many prophecies in the Old Testament about the time of the second resurrection. It is alluded to that there will be a period of over 100 years in which people will be living free of disease and death,

Isaiah 65:19-20
I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

Since there is still risk of death indicated during this time period, we know that chronologically this prophecy is before the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20, since death will be destroyed immediately after this final judgment.

Going back to the morality discussion, now we can see that God has not created humanity in vain so that he can punish us with death for doing wrong, but rather so that He can give every person the ability to realize their mistakes and to knowingly choose what is right, in order that He can "bring many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10).

Another morality question that I have encountered along these lines goes like this: if someone threatened to kill 1000 people unless you bow down and worship them, would you do it?

First of all, this question is loaded. Would the ethics of the situation change if it were 999 people? 998? I'll save my fingers some typing and go ahead and whittle that down to 1 person. If the issue is the sanctity of human life, then 1 life is just as important to protect as 1000 lives. So now the question is a little less intimidating: would you worship someone other than God in order to protect someone else's life? At a glance, this is a tricky question. Jesus even said "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

This would be a good time to review the story of Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednigo.

In Daniel 3, we have this story of these three Jews who had been serving in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar during the time of the Babylonian exile. Nebuchadnezzar sets up an image of gold and declares that anyone who won't worship it will be thrown into a furnace. These three, of course, being devoted to God, are determined not to break God's law. So Nebuchadnezzar calls them together and reiterates his command. Pay close attention to what he says, as well as their response:

Daniel 3:15-18
     [Nebuchadnezzar said] "If you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"
     Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

We all know that God did save them from the fire, and walked with them among the flames of the furnace. Notice the last thing that Nebuchadnezzar says: "what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" Any man who claims to have authority over life and death is challenging God. In the morality problem, though it is not explicitly stated, there is an implicit challenge to God's authority just as Nebuchadnezzar gave. Notice also their response: "the God we serve is able to save us from it... But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." In the same way, regardless of whether it is our own life at stake or that of another person or of a bajillion people, our allegiance must be to God and God alone. Jesus' teaching of laying down your life for your friends does not apply here, since in this case you are not laying down your mortal life for your friends' mortal lives, but your relationship with God for their mortal lives. This is again where the skeptic's view is too narrow: even if God did allow these people to die, the person who killed them has not, despite his best efforts, truly ended their lives because God is going to resurrect them to live again.

As we saw in Ecclesiastes, the whole duty of a man, in the short amount of time that we are given in this mortal life, is to fear God and to keep His commandments. We may always not like the fact that this life passes as a shadow, especially when it is the shadow of a loved one that is passing, but this is the reality of our existence. When answering questions that deal with human life, God's perspective is the perspective that we should try to understand. This is the fault of both of the skeptic arguments presented in this post: that the perspective of the person asking the question was limited only to what they can physically perceive in this life, leading them to the false conclusion that the unconditional protection of human life supersedes all endeavors. As it is written,

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

It's All About the Heart

It is a common thing, whenever my wife and I make observations about the human condition, for one of us to utter the phrase "It's all about the heart," at which point the other will nod in agreement, and this usually concludes the matter. I'm going to try to relay precisely what we mean when we say this.

God talks extensively about the heart in His word. In 1 Samuel 16:7, it says that "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." What do you think he is looking for? Good intentions? The right attitude? When God looks at a person's heart, what does he want to see?

First of all, notice that in Deuteronomy 5:29 that God, after God had given the 10 commandments to the Israelites and the people agreed to enter into the Sinai covenant, the LORD says 

Deuteronomy 5:39

Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

The key point to take away from this scripture is that God wants people to obey Him so that he can bless them for it. Remember that God promised great blessings for the nation of Israel if they would diligently keep all of His commandments. The Old Testament chronicles their rebellious behavior and all of the pain that they brought on themselves as a result. When God looks into our hearts, he wants to see exactly what he proclaimed that he wanted to see in the hearts of the Israelites: He wants to see a heart that is “inclined” towards Him in such a way that we will keep His commandments and fear Him.

It explains in Hebrews 8 that the whole purpose of the new covenant, which Jesus Christ mediated through his sacrifice, was to give people such a heart:

Hebrews 8:6-8

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people...

Here it clearly identifies the people as the problem with the first covenant, and the people are the very same problem that God Himself revealed to Moses at the giving of the law, which we saw in Deuteronomy. The above verses in Hebrews concerning the differences between the old and new covenants go on to quote Jeremiah concerning the new covenant:

Jeremiah 31:31-33

"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts..."

God reiterates here that the new covenant will be different in that the people will have the heart to keep it. It says that it won't be like the old covenant, because the people, not having the right heart, broke that covenant.

The Pharisees and Sadducees, men who had spent their entire lives studying God's law and considered themselves to be holding up their end of the old covenant, asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. This is what we are to learn from the Pharisees and Sadducees: they were a people of whom God said in Isaiah 29:13, "they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is made up only of rules taught by men." They followed the letter of the law, according to the physical things, but they did not follow the law with their hearts – that is, though they kept the law outwardly, they did not truly love God or their neighbors. Jesus put it succinctly in Matthew 23:27, saying to them “you are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.” Jesus told them what the greatest commandment was:

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus replied, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Let’s observe also the following verse from the same discussion, in which Jesus revealed to them how had been neglecting the greatest commandments:

Matthew 23:23

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

It says that “justice, mercy and faithfulness” are more important points of the law than tithing on the spices that you grow. This example is used because spices are not generally grown in large quantities, so to offer a tenth of the spices that you grow to God is considered being meticulous to properly observe the commandments about tithing. However, notice exactly what is being said: that you should have “practiced the latter,” being the more important points, “without neglecting the former,” being the minor point of tithing on spices. Jesus is saying that we should be trying to diligently and meticulously keep the law, but that we also need to pay careful attention to keeping the overarching theme of God’s law, which is love. The Pharisees and Sadducees had the former, but lacked the latter because their hearts were not in it.

Our hope, as we saw in Isaiah, is that God will write His laws on our hearts and minds so that we can keep the law both externally and internally. Ezekiel was given a very eye-opening prophecy about the new covenant, where God said the following through him:

Ezekiel 36:26-27

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Those who enter into the new covenant are promised a new heart and a new spirit. We have established that the new heart is what God says we need in order to keep his laws correctly. The heart that people naturally have is one of stone - it's hard, cold, and incapable of growth. God intends to give us a heart of flesh - one that has feeling and can grow in such a way that we will be compelled to keep his laws and to do so with the right attitude and intentions. This is how we can know that we have the Holy Spirit in us: if, over time, we are changing our way of thinking so that we can better obey God by keeping his commandments with sincerity and love. We cannot come to true, heartfelt repentance without “Godly sorrow:”

2 Corinthians 7:10

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this Godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.

This scripture establishes the difference between what we can do on our own, which comes from “worldly sorrow," versus what we can do with “Godly sorrow,” which comes from God’s Holy Spirit. The process of receiving the heart of flesh is shown here to be not all at once, but over time. It’s like God is chipping away the heart of stone and replacing it a little bit at a time with flesh. It begins when God works with us through the Holy Spirit before we are baptized and it continues as God works in us through the Holy Spirit after baptism. Paul highlighted the changes in how we think and feel that come as a result of this process. Examining the previous verse, we see that with our new heart we become earnest and eager to be clean from our sin. We gain “indignation,” which is Godly anger caused by something that is unjust. We are to receive a longing for God’s righteousness to be brought to the earth, concern for the evils that occur, and “readiness to see justice done.” The “worldly sorrow” that is in a heart of stone cannot produce these things, and, therefore, leads to death. Only with a new heart can we begin to see the world as God does – a place of injustice and lawlessness which desperately needs God’s help on the full scale.

Let’s examine further what kind of heart God is intending to give us through his new covenant. Consider that God's law is a law of love. As we saw earlier in Matthew 23, Jesus said that every command that God recorded in the scriptures is vested in the two greatest commandments: love for God and love for our neighbors. Jesus quotes these two commandments from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, demonstrating that he is not insinuating that love is more important than the law, but rather that love is God’s law and always has been. He is saying that if we examine all the laws that God has set forth, we will find that each one of them depicts either how to show our love for God or how to show our love for fellow man. 1 John 4:8 says "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." It is no wonder then that the instrument that we require in order to truly keep God's commandments is a heart of flesh, one that is capable of the kind of love that God requires in His law. God sacrificed His only son out of love for us, that we may be His future children. Such a selfless heart as we require can only come from our Creator, and this is the kind of heart that God Himself has.

When we say “it’s all about the heart,” we mean that every choice that we make boils down to whether we are acting with a Godly heart or with a worldly heart. Everything we do and say comes from the heart, for "out the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:24), so how much more do our thoughts and actions reflect our heart! The worldly heart is selfish and deceitful, whereas the Godly heart yields love for God by obedience to His commandments and love for others in every way. We are all born with a worldly heart, but “[God] is patient with [us], not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) so that we may receive the only kind of heart that will endure forever in God’s kingdom.