If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Job 14:14
There are, of course, many questions in the Bible, and answers to them as well. But one gets right down to the basics. It is a very old question asked, and beautifully answered, in this instance, in the book of Job. He asks, If a man die, shall he live again?
It is hard to find a more universal question than this. Yet the assumption that man does not die has been fundamental since God said we do, and Satan said we do not. Seems like an easy choice as to who is right.
But the Devil's challenge to God's statement is almost universally believed. Many religions have developed based upon the idea of man's natural immortality. It has become a method of enslavement, and a huge industry. There's money in immortality.
I have told you of my mother and sister who, though they attended a main line church, were troubled by thoughts that their immortal souls would go to hell. There they would suffer agony for eternity. So you see, my concern is not as a theoretician, but as one who has seen great harm come from these devilish doctrines.
Yet it is not out of pity that I have come to disbelieve in natural immortality and its possibility of eternal torment. Since I found terrible flaws in the corporate church, I have not looked there for my answers. I have, as others have, turned to the Bible.
There was, in a nearby community, a man who was a very good high school teacher. He was well educated and well liked. The school decided to honor their teachers, beginning with the publication of their educational backgrounds. But when they checked this teacher's, they found that he had not even been to a teachers' college! He freely admitted that he was self educated in his chosen field of teaching.
The matter went to court. The teacher said his family had a private college in their home. He and his children went there. After all, a true college is a collection of books, he maintained. Surprisingly, the court agreed. Yet he was fired because, the school said, his college was not accredited.
The same goes for the knowlege of God's Word. Though your college may not be accredited, it can lead you to the truth about the nature of man and the promises of God.
Mine showed that man is mortal, until he is resurrected, and alive in Christ. The Lake of Fire is the fate of unbelievers. It is not torment, but the Second Death.