Sin entered the world in the very beginning of the first book in the Bible, and it is only finally conquered here in the very end of the last book. Everything in between is one long struggle for the restoration of mankind. God puts his plan of salvation in place, one piece at a time, constantly interacting with men and women who do their little part in the whole.
Contrary to common belief, the Bible does not teach us that heaven or paradise is our final destination, this is but a temporary resting place for the righteous souls. The end is with the New Heaven and the New Earth, but “end” is a misleading word, since it’s really the “beginning”. The New Creation is the beginning of eternity for us, an infinite white page… which goes way beyond anything we can possibly imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Only after the fulfillment of this era will the final judgment and resurrection come (John 5:28-29, 2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 20:11-15).
One of the outcomes in the final judgment is the “second death” or the lake of fire. This is a very serious punishment, which was originally only prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but it is also an outcome for people who do not repent and continue to do works of evil (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Revelation 22:14-15). Although it is impossible for us to say who will be sentenced to what, because God judges our hearts, it is imperative that we listen to God’s call to repentance today. There is no promise in the Bible that we will live tomorrow.
We learned there in a mishna that Rabbi Eliezer says: Repent one day before your death. Rabbi Eliezer’s students asked him: But does a person know the day on which he will die? He said to them: All the more so this is a good piece of advice, and one should repent today lest he die tomorrow; and by following this advice one will spend his entire life in a state of repentance. And King Solomon also said in his wisdom: “At all times your clothes should be white, and oil shall not be absent from upon your head” (Ecclesiastes 9:8), meaning that a person always needs to be prepared.
And we must not wait for a sign from God before we repent, the Bible is in itself the biggest sign available, as we learn from the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
Mentioned in this story is also Abraham, who is a key person for understanding the full walk of faith, more about him in the next lesson.
Lord, you alone are everything I need.
You make my life secure.
I am very pleased with what you have given me.
I am very happy with what I’ve received from you.
I will praise the Lord. He gives me good advice.
Even at night my heart teaches me.
So I will always be secure.
So my heart is glad. Joy is on my tongue.
My body also will be secure.
You will not leave me in the place of the dead.
You will not let your faithful one rot away.
You always show me the path of life.
You will fill me with joy when I am with you.