Saturday Song: David Bowie, "The Man Who Sold The World"

Imagine what it would be like to meet Adam, the first man, on the stairs at a party. That's what David Bowie envisioned in this song from 1971. Of course we know that Adam died "a long long time ago," but imagining scenarios won't hurt us like wrong doctrines will.

Listen to this song here:

Adam truly did sell the world. He listened to his wife who also sinned and plunged humanity into a perpetual state of sinful rebellion against God. We find the sentence the Lord gave him, and all men, in Genesis 3:17 (BBE). "And to Adam he said, 'Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.'"

This curse of death which our federal head brought on the world is for all humanity. Claiming to have obeyed the law of God won't protect anybody from the curse. As the Apostle Paul pointed out in Romans 5:12 (BBE), "For this reason, as through one man sin came into the world, and death because of sin, and so death came to all men, because all have done evil:"

But fortunately for those of us who surrendered our lives to Christ, we have one who paid for our sins against God on the cross. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 (BBE), there is hope for us. "For as in Adam death comes to all, so in Christ will all come back to life."

This is the resurrection which will happen when our Lord and Master returns. As we read in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52 (BBE), we all will receive our eternal bodies so we may live with him forever. "See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed. In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed.

What a joy it is to know that death won't have the last word. The second death, being consigned to the lake of fire, won't be our fate but it will be for those who refuse Christ's magnanimous offer of salvation.

On Monday, provided the Lord doesn't return first, I hope to post about why Christ's resurrection matters.

The Condemning God Error

One excuse, for that's what it is, which non believers give for rejecting Christ is that God seems to only condemn people. They think all he does is find fault. Some militant atheists have even called God a child abuser because he supposedly forced his son to die a horrible death.

I feel confident that such people have never studied the Bible and recognize that all texts need to be read in context. Scripture is filled with metaphors, similes, allusions, hyperbole, and other literary devices.

And it's a sad fact that most professing Christians don't read the scriptures. They rely on devotionals rather than studying the sixty-six books for themselves.

So, what can we say about all those Old Testament verses regarding God wiping out nations and commanding Israelites to commit genocide? According to the totality of the Bible, God wants to forgive people. Look at what Micah 7:18 (KJV) says about Israel and, by extension, us. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy."

Whenever God did punish people, he had a valid reason for doing so. Exodus 15:7 (KJV) is one of many verses which shows the Lord's retribution to wicked people who won't relent. "And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble."

Jesus also explained how God, and all of heaven, feels about those who come to their senses and ask his forgiveness. Luke 15:7 (KJV) says, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

Truth be told, it's God who has been treated with unfair and harsh anger by puny humanity. He could have destroyed Adam and Eve for breaking the only rule he gave them. Instead, he showed compassion by promising a deliverer. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV), "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

But unrepentant people think they need no deliverer. In fact, they dare to judge God. Jesus was even criticized for reaching out with love toward sinners. Matthew 11:19 (KJV) quotes his answer to the Pharisees who condemned him. "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber,' a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."

It's for people who ignorantly criticize Christianity that I'm working on my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? My hope is that I can give reasonable answers to skeptics as well as to Christians who need something to say to doubters.

On Saturday, I'll post about unsolicited offers to earn money and how false they are. Only the initiators get rich in those schemes.

The Born-Basically-Good Error

Another foolish idea certain Christians have is that people are born basically good. Just watching a two-year-old throwing a tantrum disproves that notion. Even so, here's what the Bible says about us.

King David was called a man after God's own heart, yet he wrote this in Psalms 51:5 (KJV). "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

This doesn't mean his parents weren't married but that he, like the rest of us, have that sin nature pulling us toward wickedness.

The Apostle Paul showed in 1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV) how our federal head condemned us all to death by his monstrous sin against God. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

But is there any good at all in humanity? Not according to Ecclesiastes 7:20 (KJV) which says, "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

Psalms 14:3 (KJV) also leaves no doubt of our innate depravity. "They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

And 3 John 1:11 (KJV) shows that we can only do good by the Lord's rulership in our lives. "Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."

I plan on pointing out this fallacy in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many people who call themselves Christians aren't actually born again. They're churchgoers but they're not saved and will tragically end up in hell. May the Lord use my book to steer them toward repentance.

Stay tuned for my post about a man who keeps being confused with somebody else. I know how annoying it is since people confuse me with my brother, Roy. We're as different as Jesus and Satan but people still get confused.

Where Do the Souls of Dead Babies Go?

Since I wrote about the genuineness of Christianity, I feel equipped from Holy Scripture to state where the souls of departed infants go. I know this is an emotional question but please bear with me as I explain what I've found out about this from the Bible, the only source that matters.

We need firstly to understand that all souls belong to God and he does what he wants. As Ezekiel 18:4 )KJV) states, "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Furthermore, each person is culpable for their own wilful sins.
Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV) plainly states, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

As I study the scriptures, I find that there are two types of sin. The first is inherited from Adam and the punishment of it is death. We all die as a result of Adam's transgression. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 )KJV), "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

The second type of sin is wilful rebellion. We all know what that is so I need not go into it here. This is the sin which we must repent of.

Since all humanity is infected with the sin virus and all die, the death of babies is the payment for that sin of Adam. Furthermore, infants can't know good from evil so they are able to enter God's heaven.

This is one thorny subject which I plan on tackling in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? People need to realize that there is no neutrality. Either you are the child of Christ or of Satan. That's just the way it is.

Why Must We Pay For Adam's Sin?

 Doubtless some of you might wonder why the rest of us suffer because of Adam's sin. Certainly this puzzled me for many years. After all, it doesn't seem fair to us that we have to pay for something we never did.

I've come to the conclusion that since Adam and Eve were the first parents, their enormous sin debt was inherited by their children. It passed down the generations until a second Adam could make restitution for those who sought forgiveness.

The Apostle Paul's writings are most instructive on this matter. In God's wondrous plan to have created beings who loved him voluntarily, he had to allow us a choice. Otherwise love isn't love when it's forced.

The first Adam was given the role of prophet, priest, and king. He blew all three when he disobeyed God and went along with his wife. He should have refused to partake of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. He should have guarded the garden and told Satan to go back to hell where he came from. He should have rebuked Eve for what she did.

But all wasn't lost since God told them about the saviour to come. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:14 (KJV), "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,  even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's  transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." That person was Christ.

Paul elaborated in 1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV),  "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all  be made alive." What a wonderful promise for all of us who place our trust completely in Christ's atoning work on the cross.

God, knowing all things, had provided the plan of salvation before time began. The vastness of his mind contains the entire history of the universe, rather like an author who knows his story and the characters in it. Knowing this, I feel comfortable about letting the Father guide my life. He's as far from stupid as the east is from the west.

I'm working on my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? I'll elaborate at length in it about the subjects I've discussed here. Watch this space for updates and more Bible-based teaching.