The Destiny of Man

By Roy Loney

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     "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2). The above verse suggests to us the solemn thought of eternity. The greatest question of all time is that of Job's, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). We all know that the time will come when we must face the reality of death, for "it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). When man sinned in Eden he received the sentence of death. "Dust thou art and unto dust shalt return" (Gen. 3:19). "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). The reality of death is undeniable, for this world is but a vast graveyard of departed billions of people. But what lies beyond the grave has ever been a debatable question. An infidel has asked, "Is there beyond the silent night an endless day? Is death the door that leads to light? We cannot say. The deathless secret locked in fate, we do not know: We only hope and wait." To these doubts and uncertain longings the Bible speaks in plain and emphatic terms. Abraham believed in a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Job believed that even though worms destroyed his body, yet in his flesh he would see God. David buried his child with the settled conviction that he would meet it in a better world. Christ gave great hope to all his followers when he declared, "I go to prepare a place for you...that where I am there ye may be also." John saw in a vision a golden city eternally lighted by the glory of the Lord. To all of those doomed to die, Christ says, "I am the resurrection and the life," and again, "I am come that they might have life and that they might have life more abundantly."

     But this promise of life in a better world is predicated on man's obedience to God. To the rebellious Jews, Christ said, "Ye shall die in your sins, and where I am there ye cannot come." Only those who obey God's commandments are promised entrance to where the tree of life exists (Rev. 22:14). "For without are dogs, and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers, and idolators, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Our destiny for weal or woe is in our minds. "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death" (Jeremiah 21:8). This means that man decides his own destiny. The choice is man's, not God's. The unchangeable law of nature is that everything brings forth after its kind. Wheat can only produce wheat, and weeds produce only weeds. And this law operates also in the moral and spiritual world. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh, reap corruption. He that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:7, 8). "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth: They that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28). At the day of judgment, with Christ as the Judge, all nations will be before him, some on his right hand, and the rest on his left. Those on his right hand will be received into glory. Those on his left hand will be doomed to eternal punishment. Those who now prefer the devil's service must then share the devil's doom. When the resurrected dead are brought before Christ, they will be judged "out of those things which are written in the books according to their works." (Rev. 20:12). We must face the record of our lives, and the final decision will not be according to the whim of God. It will be according to how you have treated God. You cannot escape from your record! "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ! that everyone may receive

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for the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or evil" (2 Cor. 5:10). God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked should turn from their evil ways and live. It is not the will of God that a single soul shall perish, but he cannot save man irrespective of man's obedience. You must co-operate with God to acomplish your salvation. For this we plead and pray.

     "The Churches of Christ Salute You" Rom. 16:16

     (This may be secured in tract form from Roy Loney, 927 Louisiana St. Lawrence, Kansas.)