Meditation On Life After Death
“If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service (Appointed time) I will wait, till my change comes, “(Jobl4:14).
INTRODUCTION:
Death is the separation of one’s soul from the body, (EccI. 12:7). This phenomenon brings about the end of one’s life on earth, and in turn enforces one’s journey of no return to face the judgment of God. (Hebrew 9:27). In this case, the physical form of death is thereby described. There are other forms of death, namely: the spiritual death (living in the pleasure of sin, ITim. 5:6) and the eternal death (final separation from God, Rev. 21.8). However, the focal point of this gospel project centers on Job’s reflection on the physical death. “If a man dies, shall he live again?”(Job 14:14). Job’s meditation brings to the fore the important question of eternity. “If a man dies, shall he live again? He further views man’s limited time on earth, “all the days of my hard service” (appointed time) I will wait, and finally, he sees man’s transition at death, “till my change comes”. Therefore, with the scripture in focus, one notes three things in Job’s reflection:
(1) HIS DEEP THOUGHT ON LIFE AFTER DEATH
Here, Job reflects on what happens when one dies. “If one dies, shall one live again?” (Jobl4:14). Believingly, Job considers the eternal destinies of both the believer and the non-believer. After living here on earth, and eventually death calls, shall one consciously live somewhere? God’s word says yes. On this note, the writer cites the following scripture, “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing (Consciously) before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. And the Death and Hades delivered up the dead who where in them. :And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades (or hell) were cast into the lake of fire. This is second death. And any one not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire, (Rev. 20:12-15)
(2) HIS REFLECTION ON THE LIMITEDNESS OF MAN’S TIME ON EARTH.
Job also conveys the fact of man’s limited time on earth . “All the days of my hard service (appointed time) I will wait”, (Job 14:14B). By this, he reflects on the time from birth to death (EccI. 3:2). At death, one returns to one’s God (EccI. 12:7), to give an account of one’s life on earth, (Roman 14:12), and equally to face Him in judgment, (Hebrew 9:27).
(3) HIS MEDITATION ON TRANSITION AT DEATH
Finally, Job brings to light that death is not an annihilation of life (total destruction), but a transition into another world where one spends eternity. “Till my change (transition) comes, (JOB 14:14C). At death one changes one’s earthly body, earthly home and earthly possession into eternity, namely; Heaven or Hell. Biblically speaking, Heaven is a place for the blessed, (Matt. 25:34), whereas, hell is a place for the cursed,(Verse 41). One is blessed when one’s transgressions, (or sins) are forgiven by the virtue of one’s repentance (Acts. 3:19), and one is cursed when reverse is the case, (see Psalm 32:1-2). This makes it important to note that “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of Ged?. Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexual, nor sodomites nor thieves, nor covetous, extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10)
THE ONLY WAY TO ETERNITY IN HEAVEN
Eternity in heaven can only be secured by receiving Jesus who is the only source of eternal life, (lJohn 5:11-12). Jesus confirmed this when He said, “I am the way, the truth and life, no one comes to the father, but by me” (John 14:6). This implies that NO JESUS NO HEAVEN. Only Jesus can guarantee a happy eternity in heaven. Only His name can enforce it, (Acts 4:12). No other person, but Jesus. Therefore, for one to obtain the authority that qualifies one to heaven, we must receive Jesus as Lord, (John 1:12) to achieve this, one must:
1. ACKNOLEDGE that through Adam one became a sinner “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
2. REPENT therefore and be converted that one’s sins may be blotted out, (Acts3:19)
3. CONFESS every known sin one has repented of. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, (lJohn 1:9).
4. FORSAKE every sin one has confessed. “He who covers his sins will not prosper.
but whoever confesses and forsake them will have mercy, (Proverb 28:13)
5. RECEIVE Jesus as one’s Lord and personal saviour. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God’… (John 1:12.)
In conclusion, Job’s mediation on life after death as one can notice forms a masterpiece that inspires every right-thinking individual on the issues of eternity Life on earth begins at birth and terminates at death. This is a process that must be completed by everyone. Dear friend, if death calls today, are you sure of making it into heaven? “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36).
The Right Mind 2Tim. 1:7
Many people neglect their mind in the issue of life. Sound mind gives sound judgment. Any person that is hard to deal with is an illiterate and a village champion. Your exposure in life plays much impact in them. You are literate when you are exposed in life. Exposure in the areas of meeting with people and traveling far and wide. You are illiterate when you are not exposed in life. Many things people see as witchcraft is a mere ignorance. God created you and gave you mind. That mind should function by the positive information you get or received. The community will cheat on you if you don’t have sound mind. There are many people that have blank mind. You can develop your mind to see what people are not seeing. What your mind don’t see, your eyes as well don’t see it. Your mind sees what your eyes see. The sound mind is the mind that is right and see positive, whereas wrong mind is sick and sees negative. Never say in your mind that you are a failure rather always say you are a success. Phili. 2:5. The right mind is the mind of Jesus Christ. The mind of Jesus is that nothing the father placed in his hand he will lose. Jesus mind is all about solution to all problems. People see problems but Jesus sees solution. What kind of mind do you have? Jesus manifested right mind in the feeding of five thousand people. The levels you can think determine the level you can succeed. Every tight corner has a way out. The ability of accepting Jesus is our way out. It is maturity as a Christian to develop your mind. Rom. 12:2. One area God left for you to develop is your mind. If you don’t activate your spirit, sound mind won’t come 2Cor. 4:3-4. The devil wants to block your mind so as not to receive the gospel. For the devil to get you, he blocks your mind from getting right information. Heb. 5:14. You are already having the mind of Jesus Christ. Exercising your mind dictates good and evil. A lot of people that died many years ago died for the lack of exposure of science and technology. You can start creating job by yourself than waiting for federal job. The mind that is open is ever busy to achieve. Joshua 1:8. The first thing God commanded Joshua was in his mind. How will you make yourself prosperous? This is all about meditation. Joshua sees the possible way to their breakthrough as he meditated in that book of the law (Bible). Many people read their books but their mind is blank by thinking carnal things. Many people get things wrongly because of what their eyes can see. Your mind needs a renewal. The ways you think attract the people of the same manner with. The way you think determines the people that come on your ways. The ways you think connect you to the people of your class. How do you think? What you will be in the world is determined by your mind and thinking. Every mistake has a goal. Some mistakes chases people away. Think how you can improve and succeed. For you to succeed you must have some thing positive you are thinking. Worry is not thinking but dangerous. The image you portray inside of you helps you to achieve. Every failure and achievement is first build in the mind Gen. 11:4. The ways you think make the things of God not real. Anything you want to achieve in the absence of God cannot stand. Every achievement is built in the mind before it comes to reality. Many of us are too busy achieving nothing. Thinking is very difficult. Your mind is your productive area. God told Adam to name the animals because he wanted to test the mind of Adam. What have you painted in your mind? Phil. 4:6. What are you asking God for? What do you have in your mind?
