from death to life issue 39

8/9/2019 From Death to Life Issue 39

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From Death To Life

Bible Teaching Life Death Resurrection Eternal Destinies

Blessed is a man whoperseveres under trial; for

once he has been approved,

he w ill receive the crow n of life w hich the Lord haspromised to those w ho love

Him. (James 1:12).

Issue 39

Sept 2008


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Our books arenow available on

Trademe.

Look for themember know n

as afterlife.


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Contents

From Death To LifeThis quarterly newsletter is produced, printed and

published by Resurrection Publishing, PO Box202 -162 , Southgate, Takanini 2 246 , New Zea-

land.Subscriptions may be sent to

the above address in the amountof NZ$15 for four issues or themagazine may be accessed freevia the internet atwww.afterlife.co.nz.

To join the Association see p. 28or print out & send in the mem-bership form from our website.

Conditional Immortality Association Issue 39

From Deat h To Lif e

Editorial p. 4David Burge.The Crow n W hich is LifeJachin Mandeno. p. 5Conditional Imm ortality in the 19th Century(Part 2) p. 6

Armand Newrick Resurrection Revealed (Part Seven) p. 11 Beryl ChingThe Dead Kn ow Nothing p. 14David Burge

A M eeting In The Air (Part 2) p. 15 Al MaxeyThe Big Picture p. 19Immanuel Koks


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I talked with someone the otherday who had had the misfortune of having a friend commit suicide. Hisreligious background told him thatthe penalty for suicide was a oneway ticket to eternal conscious tor-ment, he looked to me, as a pas-

tor, for consolation.The Bible describes two famoussuicides: King Saul and Judas.Doubtless Judas was lost. Peterspeaks of "the reward he got forhis wickedness" (Acts 1:16-18). Hewas lost however because he re-

jected the Lord, not because hecommitted suicide.The story of King Saul's demise is

different. He was fatally woundedin battle. To avoid capture, andprobably torture before beingkilled, he killed himself. David's la-ment over Saul and Jonathan iskind: "Saul and Jonathan - in lifethey were loved and gracious, andin death they were notparted ..." (2Sam. 1:23). This isnot to say that Saul and Jonathanare now in heaven. David simplymeans that having died together inbattle, they now rest with each

other in death. David makes no judgment as to the eternal destinyof Saul.One can only say, as Abraham did,

Will not the Judge of all the earthdo right?" (Gen. 18:25). Suicide isalways a tragedy. I dont want to

condone it, let alone promote it.However I am sure God could ex-tend mercy to one who like Saulthought themselves fatally woundedby life, and, not being in a healthystate of mind, decided to end it allbefore being degraded any further. At any rate, conditional immortalitymeans that like David we can affirmthat our loved ones (even suicides)are at peace now. We may also af-firm that God would never be socallous as to torment anyone for alleternity nomatter howgreat their sin.The judge of the whole earthwill do what isright and eter-

nal torment isnot right.- David Burge.

Editorial

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Issue 39 Page 5

One of my favourite songs has the line "Life is hard, peo-ple are strange, God is good". All of those things are true,

and I'm glad to know that there is a reward to look for-ward to at the end of this hard life, which is a race over-seen by a good God and run in the company of strangepeople.

This reward is mentioned in James 1:12, Blessed is aman who perseveres under trial; for once he has been ap-proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord haspromised to those who love Him (NASB).

A literal translation would be 'the crown which is life', andit refers to the wreath given to the winner of a race. Thatis what those who love God have to look forward to at theend of this race full of trials: eternal life with God. There isno better prize.

Jachin Mandeno

The Author

Jachin in no wayintends to implythat the reader isany stranger

than he. You canread Jachin's storyin From Death ToLife, Issue 31,September 2006,p6 (You can find it

online at our website).

www.afterlife.co.nz


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We could now captureimages by photograph(1827), there was theinvention of thetelephone (1876), thelight bulb (1879), theinternal combustion

engine (1807). Was

there anything whichhumanity could notnow control andachieve? Such radical

modern changes wereexciting for many butscary for those whovalued tradition. This

was an era out of whichfreedoms and powerfulconvictions provided, at

times, volatile mo-ments between promi-nent Christian leadersof the day.

DARWINSTHEORY

It is somewhat ironicthat at this timeCharles Darwin waspursuing naturalism as his reaction againsta God who would tor-ment the unsaved in aconscious hell. It is

ironic for at this verytime a number of prominent preacher/theologians were com-ing to the convictionthat hell was in fact aplace where the wickedwould be annihilated.

Here is a quote fromDarwin: I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that men who do not believe, and this would


This is part two of an address given by

Armand Newrick at our Conference 2008.The first part can be found in Issue 38.

ENGLANDIn nineteenth cen-

tury Europe, changesemerging in societywere beginning toloosen the bonds of tradition! Peoplewere being freed bythe advances of sci-ence and philosophyto question long heldbeliefs such as theorigin of the uni-verse, the authorityand inspiration of the scriptures, and

even the existence of God. Debates on sci-ence and religion oc-cupied the minds andthe con-versations of the peo-ple on the street in

Victorian England. Yes,England was comingof age!

Co nd i t i o nal Immo r t al i t y i n t h e 19t hCent u r y (Par t Tw o )

Charles Darw in


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the USA; Beecherpastored the hugePlymouth church inBrooklyn and wouldhave been viewed bySpurgeon as a liberal.Second to Beecher wasC. H. Spurgeon, pastorof the London Metro-politan Tabernacle and

third in the rankingswas Dr. Joseph Parkerwho pastored the Lon-don City Temple. 11 Parker in fact took thefuneral eulogy of Beecher and was ru-mored to be set to take

over Beechers pastor-ate in the UnitedStates. All three men

knew each other well;Spurgeon & Parker hada unique friendship,both held pastorates inLondon, they wouldoften swap pulpits inthe earlier years.Parker however was astaunch defender of the doctrine of

conditional immortality.He no doubt had ameasure of influenceupon the late GeorgeBrown who foundedthe Churches of Christ(Life and Advent) herein New Zealand .

DR JOSEPHPARKER So who is this Dr.Joseph Parker, andwhat do we knowabout him? Dr. JosephParker was a man of

enormous literaryoutput whose work and ministry influencedmany throughout theEnglish speakingworld. 12 The followingis a quote from his 25volume work known asThe Peoples Bible

Vol.1 p.160;


preachers could drawcrowds of thousandsto hear the Gospelpreached with deepconviction. I cant helpbut wonder if suchconviction in preachingwas fueled by thethreat of what washappening in the

scientific philosophicalstrand of English life.Sadly, when speakingof the great preachersof the 19th centurythe only name thatsprings to mostpeoples minds is that

of Charles HaddonSpurgeon who gainedthe title prince of preachers, a titlewhich might suggestthat he had no equalat the time.To the contrary, therewere a number of great preachers whogained just as muchprominence asSpurgeon, but whohave long since beenforgotten. The most

outstanding preacherof the era was HenryWard Beecher from

Dr. Joseph Park er


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By destroying evil I do not mean locking it up by itself in a moral prison, which shall be enlarged through the ages and generations until it shall become the abode of countless millions of rebels, but its utter, final,

everlasting extinction so that at last the universe shall be without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing the pure home of a pure creation. Edwin Froomdescribes Parker alongwith Spurgeon as:

alike to symbols of pulpit oratorical power.Each had a worldwidefollowing; both beingregarded as masterpreacher and ableBible expositors. 13 Parker had a racyoratory style, spittingout the sermon withgreat speed andurgency. He was oftenquoted in the secular

and religious press.Parker desired to bringthe Bible alive to the

Issue 39 Page 9

people of London andsee them repent, turnfrom sin, and placetheir faith in JesusChrist as Lord andSavior, just asSpurgeon did!However, although

Parker was a strongadvocate of conditional

immortality, he wasnot prepared to put hisname and reputationtoward a newinterdenominationalorganization which wasbeing formed for the

promotion of thedoctrine! This neworganization was

birthed in September1878 by manydistinguished clergymen and laymen,including Rev. GeorgeBrown. Although beginning inLondon it took oninternationaldimensions, at one

conference it claimedseventy speakers andtwenty six countriesrepresented! This neworganization believedthat they could give amore united and effec-tive voice to the truthof Life only in Christ. So, why didnt Parker

join this conditionalistorganization? If Parkerhad joined, conditionalimmortality may havegained far more

ground in its efforts toaddress the erroneousdoctrine of eternalconscious torment!Perhaps Parker mayhave been playing astrategic game. Sixyears after the forming

of the organizationParker preached asermon that was

A younger Spurgeon


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and peculiarities. Allthree had over inflatedegos. Beecher,described as a sexycelebrity was caughtup in a scandalinvolving adultery. Hesurrounded himself

with a number of ladyfriends leaving his wifeand children unloved.He carried with him apocket full of gemswhich he would look atif ever he was feelingdown. Spurgeon wasoften blamed as anarrow egotist whoconsidered everyone

wrong if they didntagree with him; manyclergymen questioned

whether he had actu-ally been converted.Parker when askedwhy he didnt take upa small pastorate in hisearly years replied: A great eagle doesntmake its home in asparrows nest! Thesemen didnt always ex-

emplify the Bibles ad-monition to humility;never the less we lovea human hero dontwe.12. Some of Dr. JosephParkers works includethe following; City

Temple Sermons 1869-1870, The Peoples Bible in 25 Volumes 1885-1895, Springdale

Abbey 1869, The Inner Life of Christ 1881,

Apostolic Life 1884,Tyne Child: my Life and Teaching 1883, A Preachers Life 1899.13. Leroy Edwin FroomThe Conditionalist Faith of our Fathers Vol. 2 (Review and Heraldpublishing Assoc.

Washington D.C. 1965)p.638.


published in his work,The Apostolic Life,where he addressesthe forming of groupsand organizations, fordoctrinal purposes, asdivisive. Although nospecifics were given inthat sermon, it mayvery well have been

aimed at this neworganization. Parker,(although a propo-nent of conditionalimmortality) desiredunity and this may bethe reason for himnot attaching his

name to this new or-ganization.(Part 3 to follow ).

FOOTNOTES9. Quoted in themagazine The Good News July-August

2007 p.1210. Some theologicalcolleges were foundedin America as aresponse to thisconcern.11. Unfortunately timeseems to immortalize

these characters andblind us to their faults

Dr. Joseph Park er


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THE A UTHOR

Armand is a m emberof M anukau CentralBaptist church and arecent graduate fromCarey Baptist Collegew ith a degree inapplied theology. Hehas had a keeninterest in theologysince his teenage

conversion (SeeIssue 30) and cameto the conditionalistposition about eightyears into his w alk w ith the Lord. He ismarried to Suzanne

and they have tw ochildren Daniel andEmma.

Issue 39 Page 11

RESURRECTION I NTHE PR OPHETICAL

BOOKS (Contd)

GeneralResurrection

In Hosea 13:14 weread, I will ransomthem from the powerof the grave; I will re-deem them fromdeath.... We knowthat that ransom waspaid by the death of the Lord Jesus whenhe gave up his life(Mat. 20:28). Theverse goes on withwords which are

quoted in 1 Corin-thians 15:55 in a gen-eral way. In Hosea itreads, O death, I willbe thy plagues; Ograve, I will be thy de-struction:, which witha little change in theorder of the conso-nants, says the NewCommentary, becomes

the rendering of theLXX, and of 1 Corin-thians 15:55, Odeath, where is thysting? O grave, whereis thy victory? G.Campbell Morgan ex-claims, We do notwonder that Paul ...knowing what that res-urrection meant tomen, would recallthese words of Hosea,and ... make them theprelude to his finalnote of victory andpraise; Thanks be toGod, Who giveth usthe victory through our

Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 15. 57). 50 Zechariah 14:4, in a

prophecy about the re-turn of Christ, whenHis feet shall standupon the Mount of Ol-ives, says that He willcome, and all thesaints with thee.


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in order for Him to beable to reign.

Isaiah 53 is a chapterdetailing the sufferingsand death of Christ,which many Christianshave memorised. In v.8we see the Messiah

cut off out of the landof the living , and in v.10, He is an offeringfor sin yet His resur-rection is predicted for

he shall see his seed,he shall prolong his

days. The Living Bibleparaphrases it in plainEnglish, He shall live

again. Though cut off He saw His offspring.This could only happenif He rose from thedead. V. 11 goes on tosay, He shall see of thetravail (labour N.K.J.V) of his soul,

and shall be satis-fied, and

v.12,Therefore will Idivide him a portionwith the great, andhe shall divide thespoil with thestrong - all mean-ingless promises if he was not to rise

from the dead. J.F.B.Commentary says of v. 11, Messiah shall,after death, riseagain to an endlesslife, and The NewBible Commentary,

At verse 10 the notechanges...beyond thedarkness of the sorrowand the shadow of death is shown the ra-diance of resurrection.He will live to see aspiritual offspring and

come to the throne of the conqueror re-nowned.


Unless one takes the saints to mean angels (as J. F. B.Commentary does), 51 here is a pointed refer-ence to the resurrec-tion.

Resurrection of Christ

Many prophecies

of the Messiah inthe Old Testamentnecessitate, as J.Stafford Wrightsays, that Hemust either be un-dying or be raisedfrom the dead. 52

Among these areIsaiah 9:7 of hisgovernment andpeace there shallbe no end, andverses whichspeak of His reign.

(E.g., Isaiah 11:1-5,10; Jer. 23:5). Thoughnot clear even to theprophets themselves(1 Pet. 1:10, 11) withthe knowledge thatthe New Testamentgives us, we know

that after the prophe-sied sufferings, theremust be a resurrection


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We have alreadycommented in the In-troduction that Paul, inhis sermon in Acts 13,saw Isaiah 55:3 as re-ferring to the resurrec-tion of Christ, thoughto us, the sure mer-cies of David might seem a very

vague, indefinitepromise, not hav-ing anything to dowith resurrection.However, whenwe look into thispromise, we mustturn to 2 Sam.

7:16 to see thatDavid was prom-ised a house, akingdom and athrone whichwould be estab-lished for ever.This presupposedthe resurrection of the Messiah, who is tobe the eternal ruler of that kingdom.Hosea 6:1,2 speak of

Israel as being tornand smitten, but

bound up and healed. Verse 2 says, Aftertwo days he will revive

Issue 39 Page 13

us: in the third day hewill raise us up and weshall live in his sight. Though this has a ref-erence to it being buta short time before Is-rael is restored, it alsoappears to be a refer-

ence to the resurrec-tion of Christ, a figureof Christs rising thethird day 53 Jonahs ex-periences are taken bythe Lord Jesus Himself

as a type of His death,burial, and resurrec-tion. Jonah was swal-

lowed by a great fishand was three daysand three nights in itsbelly in the depths of the sea. (Jonah 1:17).When certain Jewsasked Jesus for a sign,Jesus answered thatthey would not begiven any sign except

that of the prophetJonas. For as Jonaswas three days andthree nights in thewhales belly; so shallthe Son of man bethree days and threenights in the heart of the earth. (Matt.12:40). The Lord isobviously referring toHis time in the tomband subsequent resur-rection on the thirdday. Matthew Henryexpands the type bypointing out that Jo-nahs tomb was a newkind of tomb, andChrist was laid in anew tomb in which noman had previouslyever been laid; also

that in both the caseof Jonah and of theLord, their rising from


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Beryl was for along time secre-tary of this As-sociation. RES-URRECTION ASREVEALED INTHE OLD TES-TAMENT ANDCONFIRMED INTHE NEW TES-

TAMENT is thefull title of herThesis pre-sented to theFaculty of theFreelandia Insti-tute BiblicalTheological Col-

lege in partialfulfilment of therequirements forthe Degree Mas-ter of BiblicalStudies.


their tomb broughtthe gospel of repen-tance to the Gentileworld - in Jonahscase, to the Gentilesof Nineveh, of course,and in Christs case itmeant the gospel wascarried away beyondthe Jews to the Gen-

tile world.54

Footnotes50. Searchlights

from the Word51. The J. F. B. Bible

Commentary52. Bible Characters

and Doctrines. Scrip-ture Union. Vol. 3.Study 77.53. Matthew Henry.

Commentary in One Volume.

54. MatthewHenry. Seeabove.

The AuthorBeryl Joy Ching,spent over 40years on themission field in

India. Return-ing to New Zea-land to retire,

THE DEAD KN OWNOTHING

A TV Review (Who reads TVReviews?) said: Save for thequirky Pushing Daisies, inwhich a man brings the deadback to life, television has suf-fered from a rash - pestilence,even - of drama programmeswhich take as an absolutegiven that there is an afterlife,and that those in it are pre-pared to go to a lot of troubleto communicate with the still-living.Medium, Ghost Whisperer,

Sea of Souls and the recently

finished Afterlife all demandthat we accept that the deadhave a bristling array of agen-das, which they are intent onpursuing beyond thegrave. (Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4513103a20879.html).

Who stands for the Word of God in this area may feel theystand alone. They will have tostand against our culture. TheBible says the dead have noagenda (Eccl. 9:4-10), nohope apart from Christ (1Cor.15:18-19).For more visit our website at

www.afterlife.co.nz


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"For the Lord Him-self will descend

from heaven w ith a

shout, w ith thevoice of the archan-

gel, and w ith thetrumpet of God;and the dead inChrist shall rise

first. Then w e w hoare alive and re-

main shall becaught up together

w ith them in theclouds to meet theLord in the air, and

thus w e shall al-w ays be with the

Lord" (1Thess. 4:16-17, NASB ).In this passage we

behold those "dead inChrist" raised from thedust of the ground,and they are gatheredup, along with thosebelievers still living atthe Parousia , unto an"apantesis " (meeting,

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encounter) with theLord in the air. This willbe the first encounter

or "meeting" of the re-deemed (both livingand dead) with theLord. "And THUS we

shall always be withthe Lord." The wordtranslated "thus" is"houtos " which signi-fies "thusly, under such

circumstances or con-ditions." The condi-tions or circumstances

by which we shall AL-WAYS be with our Lordare: (1) His coming,

(2) our resurrection,and (3) our gatheringup. Nothing is saidabout the dead already

being withHim for hun-dreds andthousands of years.Rather, it isunder THESECONDI-TIONS(coming,resurrection,

gatheringup) that thismeeting with

the Lord occurs, anencounter which leadsto us being withHim always .Several of our be-

loved gospel hymnsspeak of this blessedpromise to the re-

A Meet ing in the AirPart 2 (1Thess. 4:13-18)By Al Maxey


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ing of joyWhen the King shall

appear, in His beautyon high, And shallsummon His children

to the courts of thesky, Shall the cause of the Lord have been allyour employ, Thatyour soul may be spot-less in the morning of

joy?

When The Roll IsCalled Up YonderWhen the trumpet of

the Lord shall soundand time shall be nomore, And the morningbreaks eternal, brightand fair; When the

saved of earth shallgather over on theother shore, And theroll is called up yonder,I'll be there.

W hen He ComesIn Glory By And By

Oh, how sweet 'twillbe to meet the Lord,When He comes in


deemed. Perhaps weshould pay greater at-tention to the words of some of our songs of praise and anticipa-tion.

Hallelujah,We Shall Rise In the resurrec-tion morning,

We shall meetHim in the air,We shall rise,Hallelujah, Weshall rise! Andbe carried up toglory, to ourhome so brightand fair, Weshall rise, Halle-lujah, in thatmorning weshall rise!In The Morn-

ing Of Joy

When the trumpetshall sound, and thedead shall arise, Andthe splendours im-mortal shall envelopethe skies, When theangel of death shallno longer destroy,

And the dead shallawaken in the morn-


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glory, by and by;What a song of praisewill be outpoured,When He comes inglory, by and by.I am longing for that

happy day, When Hecomes in glory, by andby; For with Him Ihope to soar away,

When He comes inglory, by and by.The word trans-

lated "caughtup" (vs. 17) is theGreek word har- pazo which meansto "snatch away byforce, convey awaysuddenly, seize (asa wild beast grabsits prey)." It ap-pears as a Future Passive which sig-nifies this has not

yet occurred , but liesin the future (at theParousia ), and it issomething that hap-pens to us (we our-selves are not the ac-tive agent). We areawakened and called

forth from the grave,and then we are"snatched away with

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great power" unto anencounter with ourLord. He seizes us andlifts us mightily fromthe earth which isabout to experiencethe full outpouring of the fury of God's con-suming fire. Thewicked are not

snatched away, but

rather will be con-sumed along with theold heavens and earth(2 Peter 3:7). Whenthis is accomplished,we will all be brought with Him to our dwell-ing in the new heavens

and earth, and thewicked, now destroyedforevermore, will be as

"ashes under the solesof your feet on the daywhich I am preparing"says the Lord of hosts(Malachi 4:3).Kittel, in his clas-

sic Theological Diction- ary of the New Testa- ment , states that thisword means "to take

something forcefully --- firmly, quickly ...forcefully snatch ...with the thought of speed (Vol. 1, p.472). He furtherstates that it"always expressesthe mighty opera-tion of God" ( ibid ).This whole eventwill happen sud-denly, quickly, inthe "twinkling of aneye." Thus, our

gathering up to thisencounter with theLord will be a sudden"snatching away" fromthe earth, for the judg-ment of God will delayno longer. We are be-ing taken out of the

way so as not to bedestroyed in the out-pouring of His wrath.


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them, and He shallwipe away every tearfrom their eyes; andthere shall no longer beany death; there shallno longer be anymourning, or crying, orpain; the first thingshave passed away.' Andhe who sits on the

throne said, 'Behold, Iam making all thingsnew'" (Revelation 21:3-5).To sum up, the pas-

sage in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 does not even beginto teach what the tradi-tionalists claimit does. Itmerely declaresthat our Lordwill return, raisethose who sleepin the dust of the ground,snatch those tobe saved away

from the earth (alongwith those believersstill living at the time)unto an encounter withHim in the air, andthen with Him , follow-ing the destruction, weshall be brought untothe new heavens andearth where only right-

eousness will dwell,and we shall thus for-ever be with our Fatherand HisSon. "Therefore comfort one another w i th these words" (1 Thess.


The wicked will experi-ence no such gather-ing up out of harm'sway, but will flee tocaves to seek protec-tion against the con-suming fire. There willbe none, however, andthey shall be de-stroyed along with the

old heavens and earth(from which the right-eous will have beensafely snatched away )."But according to His

promise we are look-ing for a new heavensand a new earth, inwhich righteousnessdwells" (2 Peter 3:13)."And I saw a newheaven and a newearth; for the firstheaven and the firstearth passedaway" (Revelation21:1). "And I heard aloud voice from thethrone, saying,'Behold, the taberna-cle of God is amongmen, and He shalldwell among them,

and they shall be Hispeople, and God Him-self shall be among

Al M axey is an elder and preacher at theCuba Avenue Church of Christ, Alamo-gordo, NM . He has graciously given uspermission to publish this article from hisw eb site. M any other interesting articleson biblical topics can be found athttp: / /www.zianet .com/maxey/


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There are times whenwe do theology that itis useful to stand back and look at the trajec-tory of scripture. Thatis, instead of studyingthe detail, asking whatdoes the overall pic-ture of scripture, indi-cate on the topic. Thistype of work oftencomes under the titleof Biblical Theology.This is especially im-portant when consid-ering things to do withthe future plans of God; for which we

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have some detail, butnot complete clarity. Inthis paper I will exam-ine a brief biblical the-ology of Life andDeath asking: whatdoes this tells us aboutthe future fate of therighteous and thewicked?Our First ParentsStarting at Eden, we

find that God offers Adam and Eve thechance to choose life

or to choose death. Tochoose life was thefreedom to eat of

every tree in the gar-den, - including thetree of life. (Gen 2:16)While they exercised

that freedom there re-mained the possibilityof life. However Goddid give them one veryclear instruction:Of the tree of the knowl-edge of good and evilyou shall not eat, for in

the day that you eat of it you shall die. (Gen2:17) We know thestory, they chose todisobey and ate theforbidden fruit. (Gen3:1-6) Death of hu-manity entered theworld. Instead of theproduce of the earthbeing a thing of free-dom it became asource of toil and bur-den. (Gen 3:17-19).Humanity was not

snuffed out at the mo-ment of their sin. God,in his love, sent them

Choose Life (Part 1)By Immanuel Koks


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life in total freedom.Disobedience led tobondage, death, andbeing cut off from thesource of life.IsraelPicture this: Israel had

journeyed with Mosesfor 40 long years. Whilethey had seen the cloud

and fire, leading them,he was the voice pieceof God for them. Now,at the end of all thattime, they were aboutto go into the land

which Moses had ledthem to. However

Moses could not go inwith them, he wouldhave to die on this sideof the Jordon. Whatwould he tell them? Hetold them the Messageof God. He told themtheir story. He toldthem of the exodus.He told of Gods ever-

lasting love for them,his people. He toldthem of the CovenantGod made with them,and how they could re-main part of that cove-

nant. A covenant withits foundations firmlyplanted on Gods


out of the Garden andset Cherubim to guardthe entrance. Why wasit, In his love? Wasthis not Gods wrath?The tree of Life repre-sented the source of life, and God did notwant his people eatingfrom that source. If

they did theywould liveforever whilebeing in astate of Sin.Humanity wascut off fromthe source of

life from thattime. So, asPaul says In

Adam we alldie. Paul alsoholds outhope forChristians inChrist weshall all be madealive (1 Cor. 15:22.)But I am gettingahead of the story.Two things are impor-

tant to note in this

episode: from the be-ginning, obedience toGod meant abundant


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grace, not on whatthey did. He told themwhat is recorded inthe book of Deuteron-omy. In summing upMoses relayed Godsmessage to his people"See, I have set be-fore you today life andprosperity, death and

adversity. If you obeythe commandments of the Lord your God thatI am commanding youtoday, by loving theLord your God, walk-

ing in his ways, andobserving his com-mandments, decrees,

Issue 39 Page 21

and ordinances, thenyou shall live and be-come numerous, andthe Lord your God willbless you in the landthat you are enteringto possess. But if yourheart turns away andyou do not hear, butare led astray to bow

down to other godsand serve them, I de-clare to you today thatyou shall perish; youshall not live long inthe land that you are

crossing the Jordan toenter and possess. Icall heaven and earth

to witness against youtoday that I have setbefore you life anddeath, blessings andcurses. Choose life sothat you and your de-scendants may live,loving the Lord yourGod, obeying him, andholding fast to him; for

that means life to youand length of days, sothat you may live inthe land that the Lordswore to give to yourancestors, to Abraham,

to Isaac, and toJacob." (Deuteronomy30:15-20, NRSV)


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humanity, is that weare marred by sin. Weall fall far, far short of righteousness.

-Immanuel Koks The AuthorImmanuel's parents

immigrated to NewZealand from the Neth-erlands in 1968, sixyears before Immanuelwas born with moder-ate Cerebral Palsy. Hegrew up in the World-wide Church of Godwhich he left, with hismother and brother at

the end of 1995. Now,after attending theBible College of New

Zealand (BCNZ) Im-manuel considers him-self an "orthodox evan-

gelical" who still be-lieves in ConditionalImmortality. Imman-uel's passion is to com-bine his understandingof disability and histheology. While manyChristian organizationsare doing good work for people with disabili-

ties and those who aresuffering, there is aneed for a strongertheological foundation.Immanuel feels calledto this. To further thisgoal he plans to studyat Regent College in

Canada. If you wouldlike to know moreabout Immanuel'sdreams and aspirationsvisit his web page atwww.immanuelkoks.com


They were to live inobedience to their gra-cious God; who be-cause of his everlast-ing love he set themfree from the slaveryof Egypt, who becauseof his enduring faith-fulness, desired tobless them in the land

that he gave to Abra-ham, Isaac, andJacob. The result of that obedience wouldbe enduring freedomin the land. But like

Adam and Eve therewould be real, harsh

consequences if theychose not to obey.They would perish,they would die. In-stead of freedom,their children wouldonce again know cap-tivity. (Deut 28:41)Once again the mes-

sage is clear, whenone lives in righteousrelationship with Godthere is life and free-dom, outside that rela-tionship there is de-

struction and ulti-mately death. Thestory of the Israelites,indeed the whole of


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PO Box 202-162SouthgateTakanini 2246

E-mail:

[email protected]:www afterlife co nz

ConditionalImmortality

Association

Statement of Faith1. We believe in God and His one and only Son,Jesus the Christ. Heb. 11:6; John 14:1; 3:16; 20:31;Mat. 16:16.2. We believe in the Holy Spirit. 2Pet. 1:21; 1Cor.6:19; Jude 20; Eph. 3:5.

3. We believe that Jesus died for us and gavehimself a ransom for all. Rom. 5:8; 1Cor. 15:3; 1Tim.2:6.4. We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead;that by resurrection He became Lord of both thedead and the living, and the first fruits of those whohave fallen asleep; and that whoever believes in Himshall not perish but have eternal life. Rom. 10:9;

14:9; 1Cor. 15:20; John 3:16.5. We believe that baptism is commanded by Christ,was practiced by His Apostles, and is taught in theNew Testament. Mat. 28:18,19; Acts 8:12,38.6. We believe that all Scripture is God-breathed andis useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting andtraining in righteousness, so that the people of Godmay be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2Tim. 3:16,17.7. We believe that human beings are by naturemortal. Gen. 2:7; 3:19; 1Tim. 6:16; 2Tim. 1:10;Rom. 2:6-7.8. We believe that human beings in death areunconscious. Psa. 6:5; 115:17; Ecc. 9:5,10. This islikened to "sleep". Job 14:12; Psa. 13:3; Jer. 51:39;Dan. 12:2; John 11:11-14; 1Cor. 15:51.

9. We believe that immortality is obtained onlythrough faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1Cor. 15:21-23; 2Tim. 4:7-8; 1John 5:9-12.10. We believe that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, to be followed bythe Judgment. Acts 24:15; John 5:25,28,29; Rev.20:12,13.11. We believe that evil and evil-doers shall be finallydestroyed. Psa. 145:20; Mat. 10:28 Rom. 6:21; Phil.3:19; Heb. 2:14; 1John 3:8; Rev. 22:3.12. We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Membership

I agree with theStatement of Faith & amapplying for membershipin the Association:

Name: _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

Address: _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

Email: _____________________

Denomination (if any): _____________________ _____________________

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