ABOVE ALL: Walking in the Victory of Jesus - Part 6: Mortality | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website ecb .asia or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. In the study above all,

living in the victory of Jesus, we have been

studying What Jesus has accomplished for us so

that we can walk in that freedom. And today we're

going to be talking about a topic that is mortality.

We come across mortality in different ways, but

every time that it comes to us, it's just disorienting.

The first time I experienced it was when my daughter,

one -year -old daughter, died at home. and it

was so unexpected, and suddenly you are hit with

the reality that this is what it means to be

mortal. The pain, the grieving, the abruptness

of it all, the feeling that it was robbed from

you, and all the theological questions that come

to mind in a moment like that. Then later, my

father -in -law, who was a missionary in Thailand

for many years, retired. And in his retirement,

as he was now 86, 87 years old, he was diagnosed

with cancer. And I saw him being consumed by

this cancer and the treatment that he was following

to do nothing for it. And I was standing there

in the bedroom when he breathed his last. And

we were there standing around him grieving for

his passing because we loved him and just missing

him after he was gone for so long, even until

today. And it doesn't matter whether it comes

abruptly with your one -year -old daughter or

it comes as one that is later in life in his

80s. Mortality feels wrong all the time. And

depending on what you understand about mortality

and what you understand what Jesus accomplished

will determine how you face those seasons in

your life. But because we are followers of Jesus,

what God wants us to do is that we experience

that reality of our lives with truth. Understanding

what Jesus accomplished for us so that that truth

shapes the way we experience this reality. Because

otherwise, we will experience things like anxiety

and anger and control. Anxiety because the idea

of mortality makes us have anxiety attacks and

we start becoming so emotionally engaged with

it that fear rather than peace is what defines

our experience. Or someone that you love is taken

from you so abruptly. That instead of realizing

that death and mortality is actually the enemy

that Jesus came to destroy. You turn to Jesus

and to God and you turn in anger. Because you

blame God for not doing something to prevent

this from happening. And instead of turning to

God and following him, you turn away from him

in resentfulness. And control. Because we want

to so avoid it that instead of trusting God with

our fears and the anxieties of the future, we

try to control everything so that this will never

happen to us and to our children. As if we were

God and as if we could control things beyond

our control. And control can take different shapes.

Even today, I can hire a company called Alcor

that they are going to take my body the moment

it dies, and they promise that they are going

to take it through this entire chemical treatment

to prevent the biological decay and the cellular

decay from happening, so that then they can keep

my body from decaying. And if I pay $220 ,000,

They are going to keep my body there in these

big machines with nitrogen with the promise that

the day when scientists figure out how to overcome

death, then they will take me out of those machines

and they will do the treatment so that I can

come alive again. Just $220 ,000. That's all.

The way we understand mortality shapes our lives,

how we invest our money, the emotions we engage

with, who do we go to. And Jesus wants you to

know the truth. Because he came to overcome the

power of death, and he did. But exactly what

did he accomplish? Because the Bible does say,

that actually death is not a biological problem.

We may experience it biologically, but it's actually

a spiritual reality. Read with me what Romans

5 .12 says. Let's read it together. When Adam

sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought

death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone

sinned. And in one simple verse, It defines exactly

what this is. The Bible says that the first humans,

Adam and Eve, they were created in God's image

and likeness. And when Adam decided not to love

God, and he disobeyed God instead, and turned

away from Him in disobedience, at that moment,

two things entered the created order. Sin and

death. And to how many people did it pass? To

all of us. That's why to be a human today means

that you are someone who is a sinner and someone

who is mortal. Those two things define the human

experience. Why? Because of this event at the

beginning of creation. From the biblical perspective,

sin and death are not part of what God created

for us. This is something that the enemy of God

and your enemy that wants to kill and destroy

did against us. Death is an enemy. And that's

why when the Bible talks about what Jesus came

to do, he came to address these two things, sin

and death, because that is where the core of

salvation is about. Last week, we learned how

the Bible said that when Jesus was on the cross,

he took care of sin. He took all the sin that

we were guilty of, everything that was against

us, and he crucified it on the cross. He took

away the power of Satan to accuse. Therefore,

sin is done with. We no longer follow Jesus out

of guilt or out of shame. Because we have been

completely forgiven. 100%. But what about death?

What did Jesus do in order to overcome death

so we can experience life? And this is where

we engage with truth. And understanding what

Jesus did is what's going to shape the way we

understand it and we follow Jesus from here into

the future. Because we have to understand what

Jesus accomplished and enter into the scriptures

to really understand what this rescue plan was

like. And this rescue plan will be like a treatment

that has three stages. And they are chronological.

And therefore you have to understand that this

treatment that God brought into us is still ongoing.

Some parts of it have been done, some parts are

being done, some parts will be experienced in

the future. And all of it is part of the salvation

that Jesus accomplished on the cross. In fact,

the Bible tells very specifically why Jesus came

and was born. And in the book of Hebrews it tells

us very specifically, it says, Because God's

children are human beings made of flesh and blood,

the Son also became flesh and blood. The reason

why Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being

and was born in Bethlehem was because we were

flesh and blood and he had to experience the

same nature. Why? It tells you in the same verse.

For only as a human being could he And only by

dying could he break the power of the devil who

had the power of death. There's a reason why

Jesus was born a human being. Because only after

becoming a human being, he could now die and

enter the realm of the death. And as he entered

the realm of the death, now from within, he can

defeat the power that Satan had over death. And

destroy that power and now gain authority over

that realm. That previous to the cross was not

something that he had authority over. Because

we were, as you would say, taken captive by the

enemy after death. And to really understand this.

We will have to look at what Jesus accomplished

on the cross. And we will look at the three parts

of the treatment. The three strategies. So we're

going to dig deep into the Bible today. And I

understand that for some of you this is the first

time you hear any of this stuff. So you are in

for a good study. Pay attention and take notes.

Because it is important that you follow Jesus

with understanding. So that you experience this

dimension of mortality in your life and the life

of others from the right perspective and never

be moved from that foundation. The first part

of the strategy is that Jesus entered the realm

of the dead after dying on the cross in order

to open the way to God. And Jesus knew this.

So when he talked about... what he came to accomplish,

there's a moment in which he tells the apostles

these words. He says, For as Jonah was three

days and three nights in the belly of a huge

fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and

three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus

knew that he was going to die on the cross. And

he had told the apostles in other moments, Hey,

we're going to Jerusalem. We're going to face

opposition. I'm going to be trialed and I'm going

to die. But don't worry, I'm going to resurrect

after that. And even though he said all of these

things, it went like, the apostles didn't understand

what he was talking about. It didn't match the

expectations they had about what Jesus was going

to do. But this is the very only time in which

Jesus tells them what was going to be happening.

In between dying and resurrecting. He says, after

I die and before I resurrect, I have a mission

to accomplish. I have to go where? Into the heart

of the earth. What for? What is he going to accomplish?

Well, he didn't say it. He just told us that.

That's all. But in order to understand this,

you have to understand what death is. And how

it was experienced before Jesus came and how

that changed after Jesus died on the cross and

defeated Satan. Well, let's take a moment to

explain that. When God created the first humans,

the Bible says that he created them in his image

and likeness. And all human beings are descendants

of these first humans called Adam and Eve. And

the very first human that God creates is Adam.

And the Bible says that as he creates Adam, he

shapes them from the ground of the earth, and

then he breathes into him, and then he becomes

a living being. That's why humans have a human

body that is physical, but they have a spirit,

it's a spiritual reality, that is distinct from

the body. are part of what makes us human. I

remember that many years ago I was watching a

documentary from National Geographic on the human

body. And I was so amazed that even though these

guys are not Christians and they don't believe

the Bible is true, the beginning of the documentary

starts, the opening words, says something like,

Stardust. That's what we are. Mixed with water.

We are just a bunch of minerals that you can

buy at the store. And I thought, dust, water,

that's mud. And that's exactly what the Bible

says God did. He shaped us from the ground of

the earth and breathed into us and we became

a living being. Amazing. Truth is truth. But

what happened? As we read earlier, when Adam

sinned, what entered the world? Sin and death.

Previous to this point, death was not part of

the human experience. It became a dysfunction.

It became almost like a virus to your body. It's

a foreign agent. Death. Into humanity. Death

into the created order. Was a foreign agent.

Introduced by Satan. That's why as you will see

later. The Bible describes death as an enemy.

And what happens therefore is that from that

point on. This integration of the body and the

spirit. Becomes disjointed. A death. The body

becomes dust. And it becomes separated from the

spirit. The spirit still alive. The spirit still

is conscious. The spirit still a thinking being.

But no longer connected to the body. And at that

moment. Even though the body becomes dust. The

spirit goes to be in this place. That is the

realm of the dead. And before the time that Jesus

comes. And defeats Satan on the cross. The human

experience of death. Was that the spirit went

to be into this place. That the Bible calls in

Hebrew Sheol. In Greek Hades. And this place

of the dead. Is where the spirit went. And there's

a moment in which Jesus is talking about this

place in one of his parables. And he describes

it as a place where the godly and the ungodly,

those that follow God and those that didn't,

are there but they are separated almost like

in two different groups with this separation

in between. But either one of them completely

separated from God. And what Jesus does when

he comes to die on the cross and he enters that

realm of Sheol or Hades, the realm of the dead,

is that he enters that space and now he defeats

the power of Satan. And he opens a way for those

that were God followers to now have access to

God, where now they can be with him. That's why

when you read passages in the Old Testament like

Job, for instance, chapter 7, verse 9, it describes

the human experience at that time in these terms.

As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes

down to Sheol and does not return. Where did

the spirit go after dying? To Sheol. When did

it come out of there? Never. Captive. Into the

realm of the dead. That is. Until Jesus comes.

Because. The Bible says. As we read in Hebrews.

That the son of God. Had to come from heaven.

Into the earth. Become a human being. Flesh and

blood. And as he is born. Now he has a second

part of the mission. And that is that he has

to access the realm of the dead. So he dies on

the cross. And now that he access the realm of

the dead. He is going to be able to now open

access to God. Now heaven is accessible to human

beings for the first time in human history. That's

why as we read last week in the study. We noticed

two things. One, that the veil of the temple

was torn in two. Because now that separation

between God and man was broken. Now there was

direct access to heaven. And the second thing

we noticed is that after Jesus resurrects, there

are other people that are resurrected that he

mentioned in the passage. The graves were opened.

There's something massive that happened that

we don't really understand. But what we know

is simply this, that Jesus entered the realm

of the dead before his resurrection to break

the power of Satan, open the way to God, and

now for the first time, heaven has become directly

accessible to humans. At that time, those that

were in Sheol that were God's followers, and

from that point on, any follower of Jesus that

dies goes straight to heaven, not to Sheol. Those

that die before knowing Jesus, those that do

not know Jesus as their Savior, and they die

in their sins, they will still have to go to

Sheol, to this place of the dead, awaiting the

final judgment. But those that have been saved

by the power of Jesus, their sins have been forgiven,

and now they have been given access to heaven

directly. This is what Jesus accomplished. That's

why when the apostle Peter talks about this,

summarizing what Jesus did on the cross before

his resurrection, it puts it in these words.

And pay attention because this is one of those

passages that you go like, what? I never noticed

that. For Christ died for sins. How many times?

Once for all, that is all it took. Our sins paid.

The record, gone. Satan no longer has power to

accuse because Jesus is the one that paid our

sins. So Christ died for sins once for all. The

righteous for the unrighteous. With what goal?

What goal? To bring us? To God. Because before.

We were separated. We couldn't. We die go to

shield. But because he died for us. Now he dies

to bring us. To God. He accomplished that on

the cross. But not only that. Look at the following

verse. He was put to death. In the body. Dies.

Enters the realm of the dead. But made alive

by the spirit. Through whom. Also, he went and

preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed

long ago when God waited patiently the days of

Noah while the ark was being built. It's like,

what did we just read? That Jesus went into this

place that he described, like Jonah, I had to

go into the depths of the earth. And I had a

mission to accomplish. And part of that, Peter

says, was preaching to the spirits that were

there since the time of Noah. And it's like,

I wish he would have written a footnote to give

us more information about this. But he doesn't.

He just moves on. And it's like, wow. That is

why once you go all the way to the book of Revelation

and at the beginning of the book of Revelation,

Jesus starts speaking. Jesus says this. Do not

be afraid. Do not be afraid. If you are a follower

of Jesus. Do not be afraid of death. Do not be

afraid of mortality. Do not let anxiety take

over you. Do not be afraid. Why? Because I am

the first and the last. I am the living one.

I was dead and now look. I am alive forever and

ever. And I hold the keys to death of death and

Hades. Not Satan anymore, but me. I have overcome

the power of Satan. No longer he has no power.

To accuse you because now I have forgiven your

sins. But he has no power to hold you captive

in the realm of the death. Because I have opened

the gates for heaven. That is the first strategy.

Can you say amen? Can you say glory to God for

what he did? That is what was happening. When

the apostles saw him die on the cross and took

his body, crying, disoriented for everything

that was going on, and they had no idea that

the King of kings, Lord of lords, was still alive,

battling for us. That's why you can read the

apostle Paul saying, you know, I may die any

time now because the Romans have me in prison.

And I can smell it. You know my time for dying

is soon. But you know that's no problem. Because

actually as I think about it. Dying is better

by far. Because to die is to be with Christ.

To be absent from the body is to be present with

Christ. For me to live is Christ. And to die

is gain. Only a follower of Jesus can say that.

Because if we die, our spirit goes to be with

Christ in heaven straight. Why? Because Jesus

died the righteous for the unrighteous to bring

us to God. So, if you come from a background

where you were taught that after you die you

have to go to a place called purgatory. And in

purgatory, you will finish paying for your sins.

I'm here to tell you that is not biblical. You

have to pay for no sins. Jesus paid them for

all. And Jesus opened the way to heaven. You

don't have to go to a purgatory place in between.

Jesus defeated Satan. The accuser, silence. The

one that was holding the keys of Hades and death

no longer holds them. Jesus has won. And it gets

even better. The second strategy, the second

part of the treatment to bring salvation against

this aspect of death is that God has the goal

of eradicating mortality completely from the

human experience because mortality is not meant

to be part of who we are. And that's why the

Bible says that what Jesus accomplished on the

cross has a second stage. And that stage is going

to be future. How does this work? Now, I remember

that after I moved to Thailand and I started

working here at ECB, we got the phone call from

my mother saying, I just have been diagnosed

with stomach cancer. Stage four. And you know,

once you hear cancer and stage four, the first

question that comes to mind is, is this it? Is

this like the death sentence? Are we going to

see you again? All these questions come to mind.

So she scheduled the surgery. They removed the

tumor. It was the size of a tennis ball. So great.

Two more gone. So she is under no more risk,

right? They said, no, no. Now we have to have

second surgery. We have to remove the stomach

altogether. It's like, what? Can you live without

a stomach? Did you know that? You can? They connect

the stomach to the esophagus. I mean, the esophagus

to the intestines directly. Now your diet has

to change, your metabolism changes, but you can

live and have digestion without the stomach.

Okay, so she has no stomach. Is that done? It's

like, nope. Now she has to go chemo. Oh, so the

treatment was like very intricate and different

stages of it. Yep. And until she finished the

chemo and there was no longer... Any cancer cell

in her body, now she was declared cancer free.

The same thing is going to happen with us on

death. The first treatment, the first part was

opening access to God. Now you don't have to

worry about going to Hades or Sheol. Go straight

to God. Great. But the second part of the treatment

is going to be experiencing death in your body.

What's going to happen with it? There's a chapter

in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

It's a long chapter. But it's in this chapter

that the Apostle Paul speaks in detail about

these things. If you never read that, go back

home and read the whole chapter. And read it

five times. Because lots of details. But this

is what it says. You see? Just as death came

into the world through a man. Who was that? Adam.

Now the resurrection from the dead has begun

through another man. Who was that other man?

Jesus. Just as everyone dies because we all belong

to Adam, we all have his DNA, descendants of

him, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given

new life. Just as you have inherited this sinful

nature and this mortality from Adam. If Jesus

is your savior. Now you are inheriting the resurrection.

The same resurrection that Jesus experienced.

Now is going to be part of your experience. And

then he says. But there is an order to the resurrection.

Christ was raised. As the first of the harvest.

And then all who belong to Christ. Will be raised.

When? When he comes back. So it gives us a chronology.

We know the appointment that we have. For the

next part of the treatment against death. Is

going to be the day Jesus comes back. When he

comes back. The Bible says that. We are going

to experience the same resurrection that Jesus

experienced. So think for a moment about this.

The apostle Paul talks about this in Thessalonians

as well. But it's like this. If I were to die

today. My body becomes dust. My spirit goes to

be with Christ in heaven. And now I am there.

And when Jesus comes back. I'm going to come

back with him. But at that moment. My spirit.

Is going to experience the resurrection. Is going

to be united now to a body. But is going to be

what we call the glorified body. No longer mortal.

No longer sinful. Just as Jesus. We will be like

he is. Says John. And this will happen when Jesus

comes back. But do we have a little bit more

information about this? I would like to know

a little bit more. Yes, we do have more. The

whole chapter, chapter 15. That's where the Apostle

Paul continues. And he says, look, this is a

mystery, but I'm going to tell you. It will happen

in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the

last trumpet is blown. When Jesus comes back,

that resurrection, that glorification, that transformation

of your body is going to happen. How fast? In

the blinking of an eye. So please blink. Okay,

that is how fast it will be. And you say, Pastor

Pablo, that sounds like fantasy, you know. How

can transformation, life happen in the blinking

of an eye like that? It's like, don't be so surprised.

That's how your life began. That's how you started

becoming what you are today. The moment the sperm

fertilized that egg, in the blinking of an eye,

you became you. Your cells started multiplying

and your body started shaping and before you

knew it, you were born. And when did your life

begin? When did your human body begin to shape?

In the blinking of an eye. And now God says when

Jesus comes back, the next stage of your treatment

is going to be experienced. At that moment, you

will have no single mortal cell in your body.

You will be declared mortality free. But just

like my mother had to wait for the next appointment

to go to the next part of the treatment, Saul

will have to wait and suck it up until that time.

Because until that time, we are still mortal.

But the day comes when we will no longer be mortal.

And that is what Jesus accomplished. That's why

the Apostle Paul continues, and he says, For

when the trumpet sounds, those who have died

will be raised to live forever, never to die

again. And we who are living will also be transformed.

For our dying bodies must be transformed into

bodies that will never die. That has to happen.

And our mortal bodies must be transformed into

immortal bodies. That has to happen. Because

in the future. God is going to create a new heaven

and a new earth that we'll discover later in

the study. A place where death will be no more.

And the only way that we can be in that place

is that if we are death and sin free. Our mortal

bodies have to become immortal. Our sinful bodies

have to become sinless. And that is going to

happen on that day. And only then, and only then.

When our dying bodies have been transformed into

bodies that will never die, this scripture will

be fulfilled. Death is swallowed up in victory.

Finally. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh

death, where is your sting? No longer power over

us. And that is going to happen in the future.

And therefore, as we await the resurrection of

our bodies, you have to remember that the body

that you have today is destined at this point

to be mortal. And mortality will hit your body

unless Jesus comes back first. And when that

happens, oh, we know, the rest of the story?

It's the difference between watching a movie

when you have watched it already and where you

are watching it for the first time. See, when

you're watching it for the first time, you do

not know the end. And when the danger happens

and you think the person is going to die and

something bad is going to happen, you go, what's

going to happen? Oh, I don't want to see it.

And you start experiencing all these emotions

because you do not know the hero is going to

show up and save everything. But if you know

the ending, And you're watching the same movie,

you go through the same scenes, but you're all

cool. Because you know, it seems like it's going

to be the end, but it's not the end. They survive,

just wait for the hero. Very different experience,

isn't it? The same thing happens the way we live

our lives. If you do not know the end of the

story, you're going to go through mortality with

resenting God, Thinking that he is the enemy.

You are going to go through mortality. Questioning

why God hasn't done anything. As if he has not

done anything. There is going to be the difference.

Between anxiety and resentment. Or peace and

hope. So do not forget. That that second stage

of the treatment. Is coming. But then. there's

a third part of the treatment. And that is that

God is going to kill death. The day will come

in which death will be completely destroyed.

Not just eradicated from us, but destroyed. No

longer in existence ever again. But in order

to understand that, You have to go back to 1

Corinthians 15. And the apostle Paul tells us

these words. After that. After Jesus returns.

We experience the resurrection. We are with him.

We have glorified bodies. Until all of that happens.

The end will come. When he will turn the kingdom

over to God the father. Having destroyed. Every

ruler and authority and power. Starting with

Satan himself. The ruler of this world. Destroyed.

After he has destroyed every ruler and authority

and power. For Christ must reign. Until he humbles

all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last

enemy to be destroyed is. Death. In case you

missed it, let me highlight it there for you.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Two

important things. Who is the enemy? Death is,

not God. God doesn't want us to experience death.

He doesn't want my daughter to have to experience

death at one year old. That's the curse of sin

and death that we're under. But he came and became

a human being so he could be on the cross. Because

only by being a human being he could die. And

only by dying he could break the power of Satan

over death. Because death is the enemy. And it's

going to be the last enemy to be destroyed. Death

is the enemy. And God did something about it.

So it will not be the end of your story. And

it's going to happen. But it's going to happen

at the end of the movie. And therefore you have

to wait till the movie ends before you can experience

this joy and this excitement. And actually you

read it right there in Revelation chapter 20.

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

It tells you exactly at the end of history, before

God establishes the new heaven and the new earth,

it says, and the devil who deceived them was

thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. That

is the end of Satan. And then it says, then death

and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire,

and the lake of fire is the second death. So

if the lake of fire is the second death, and

Hades and death are thrown into there, then death

is dying. And that will be the end of mortality.

And actually, that's a pretty cool title for

a book. The day death... Isn't salvation amazing?

But it gets better. Let me read the next verse

of chapter 21. God will be with his people. We

will be with him. And he will wipe every tear

from their eyes. There will be no more death.

We will be. Death free. Death survivors. The

treatment completed. There will be no more death

or mourning or crying or pain for the old order

of things has passed away. It's nothing but history.

That is the end. So here you have Jesus. He becomes

a human so he can die. And the first thing he

does is that he opens the way to heaven. The

second thing he will do is that he will resurrect

our bodies with the same resurrection he experienced

the day he returns. And then, after he had put

all his enemies under his feet, the last enemy

to be destroyed is death. And finally, after

all of that is done, the new heaven, the new

earth. Where death will be no more and sin will

be no more. Will be established and we will be

with the Lord forever. That is what Jesus has

accomplished. On your behalf and on my behalf.

That is what it means to be saved. That is what

it means to follow Jesus. That's why when the

Apostle Paul finishes this whole section of 1

Corinthians 15. He finishes with these words.

Let's read it together. So my dear brothers and

sisters, be strong, unmovable, always work enthusiastically

for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do

for the Lord is ever useless. Now that you know

the end of the movie, that you know what's going

to happen, you face life completely differently.

Jesus is the Savior. He did overcome the power

of Satan, not only to accuse, but also to separate

us from him. Now Jesus holds the keys of death

and Hades. This is who Jesus is. If you want

to learn more about these topics, and now you

have more questions than I tried to answer in

this study, I recommend a couple of books. One

of them is called Heaven by Andy Alcorn. Alcorn

experienced this inspiration to write this book

because his mother was dying and he spent all

this time with her reading the Bible to her.

And he remembers reading Revelation 20 and 21

many times to her. And as he did that, even though

he had gone to seminary, he says, the only involvement

I had with eschatology was about pre -trib, post

-trib, when will Jesus come back, is the millennium

literal or not? All these things were the only

things that he had done. But he had never studied

what heaven was going to be like. And when he

discovered, it's like, oh wait, it's a new creation,

a new heaven and a new earth. So he got inspired

to write this book and became a bestseller because

it's thick and every possible question you may

have, he answered. He also wrote another book

about the way you manage your finances with eternal

perspective. So those two books, The Treasure

Principle is important as well. And then there

is Lee Strobel who wrote these other two books

from a different perspective, from the aspect

of apologetics in the sense of If you are the

person that says, how do I know that actually

the spirit survives the body and that that's

real and that we're not just matter? Especially

if you come from an evolutionary perspective.

How do I know that these things are real? Well,

Lee Strobel writes it for you. He says in the

book Heaven and in Seeing the Supernatural, he

tells you, look, this is the evidence. This stuff

is real. Not only real, but it's scientific.

We have proof. So those two other books are also

helpful for this study. But by the way, it is

this topic of understanding what death is, how

it's the enemy, and what Jesus came to do, and

that we inherited death from Adam, the first

human. And because the first Adam and the second

Adam is this contrast in the book of Romans,

all of this aspect of soteriology, death is the

enemy, the last enemy to be destroyed. That is

one of the strongest reasons why I do not believe

in Darwinian evolution. It's because the idea

of death as being designed by God as an instrument

to create life is completely incompatible with

the doctrine of soteriology as we just read.

They don't mix. Death is either the enemy by

Satan and to be destroyed or it's an instrument

created by God. That separates. Now you can talk

to me after. But. Let's conclude this study.

With this. First. Jesus. Came. To save you. Save

you. From the power of Satan. Over your life.

Death. And guilt. And on the cross. He solved

both. But just like my mother when she was diagnosed

with stomach cancer, just having the diagnosis

didn't cure her. She had to be willing to trust

the doctors and go through the treatment. And

if Jesus is not yet your savior, you will have

to take the step of trusting Jesus as your savior

and ask him to save you from your sin and from

your mortality. Follow Jesus. Give your life

to him today. And that is something that you

want to do today. I invite you to come forward

to the front. He will pray with you. And you

can tell the Lord in your own words. But Jesus

wants to be your savior. And he's inviting you

to follow him. Secondly, we are mortal. And the

day will come. But we will come face to face

with our mortality. You will get a diagnosis.

You will get the news of the accident and you

are gone. We experience mortality with hope because

we know who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.

So if you are in the midst of the suffering and

the grieving that comes from facing mortality,

your own or the loved one, Turn to Jesus for

strength rather than blame him and walk away

from him. Jesus is not the enemy. He is the savior.

Death is the enemy. And thirdly, Jesus came for

us to experience life and life we will experience.

Heaven is a real place. And as my daughter went

to be there, as my father -in -law went to be

there, ever since that happened, I think of heaven

now, not as a concept anymore, but as a real

location where they are, and one day we will

be together again. And there was a guy that said,

you know, yeah, but I'm sad that I will never

be able to hug my daughter in heaven. I was like,

why? Yeah, because, you know, we will be spirits,

and how can a spirit hug? You know, he was thinking

like, you know, the matter, and it's like, did

you miss the resurrection part? You are not only

going to hug your daughter, but Jesus. Remember

that Jesus, after the resurrection, he ate fish

with the apostles? Listen, heaven is going to

be awesome. The new heaven, the new earth, where

we are with the Lord forever and death no more.

That is where we are going. And a loved one will

be there if Jesus is their savior. So our goodbye

is not forever. It's only temporary. And I ask

you this question. Are you living with eternal

perspective? Are you facing the reality of mortality

with truth? With hope, don't lose your perspective.

Don't lose your perspective. First, Satan attacked

us with mortality, and now he's going to attack

you with wanting to lose your perspective. Don't

let him. Turn to Jesus. Lord, we stand in your

presence in awe. In awe of what you have done.

This is complex stuff. This is intricate rescue

operations. This is strategies that you had to

plan and implement with precision. Our salvation

is just amazing. So we are here to say thank

you. Thank you. Thank you for what you have done.

We love you, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.