If you talk to most people, they’ll tell you that they will go to a “better place” when they die. They can’t tell you what that better place is or where it’s located, but they’re sure it will be where their friends are. When you press them on the subject, you’ll find out that, in their opinion, they will spend eternity in that wonderful place because they think they’ve been good enough.

By human standards, they may be very good and kind, but God doesn’t judge by human standards. By human standards, I’m not too bad. I don’t cuss, I occasionally do something nice for someone, and when I fall short of God’s standard of perfection, I can usually logically excuse my actions. If measured by human standards, I’m no worse than anyone else. It isn’t human standards we must meet; it’s God’s perfection that is our standard. By God’s standard, I’m not “just as good as the other guy,” but I am just as bad.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Now that I think about it, I fail quite often in my walk with the Lord. I’m sure you do, too.

“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25).

I’m not a man; I’m a woman, but the cry is the same.

Sin is very serious in God’s eyes. God loves every person who has ever lived, but right from the beginning, mankind rebelled against God’s rules.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

He started with nothing, then created everything. The first thing He spoke into existence was light.

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).

There wasn’t a long period of time as light evolved. One moment there was darkness, and the next moment there was light.

“And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:4-5).

Each new day brought new wonders that God created. On the second day, He divided the waters and put the firmament of Heaven above the waters. Then, on the third day, He brought forth the dry land and gathered the water into Seas. The earth was to bring forth grass and herbs and fruit trees all after its kind. On the fourth day, it was time to gather the light.

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning was the fourth day” (Genesis 1:16-19).

When we read of the two great lights, the word is “ma’or.” This holds the light, like a lantern or a candlestick. Now, it was time to fill creation with living things such as fish, whales, birds, and every living creature.

“And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day” (Genesis 1:22-23).

In order to be “fruitful and multiply,” there had to be male and female of each creature. They were all to procreate after their own kind. Fish weren’t to mate with birds, and sheep weren’t to crossbreed with horses. God wanted no genetic tampering.

Then came the sixth day. All things were ready for God’s ultimate creation: humans.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28).

Don’t let anybody tell you that you aren’t a special creation of God. Humans were made in God’s image and aren’t just another animal. You didn’t evolve from goo, but Adam was created in God’s image. God created a male, and then a female was taken from Adam.

Today, we have some very deceived people who think they are “non-binary,” meaning they are neither male nor female, but opt for “other.” There are some who are deceived into thinking that a genetic male is really a female, or a genetic female thinks she’s a male. Then artificial hormones and body mutilation happen, and truth is turned into lies. That is a delusion and a lie from the father of lies, Satan. A doctor can tell if a baby is male or female long before birth, but now children who are barely potty trained are allowed to choose their gender, even though they can’t be trusted to cross the street alone.

Creation was finished, and God rested from His work. He had created everything needed for life to continue. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, and the beauty there must have been something to behold. It wasn’t tainted by sin, and everything was new and fresh. There was no death.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).

When God says it’s good, then it’s good. There were many trees for food, but the fruit of one tree was dangerous for Adam to eat.

“And the LORD God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

The command was given to Adam prior to Eve being created, and Adam was entrusted with teaching God’s word to Eve. Adam loved her from the moment he saw her, but Satan was already plotting his lies to deceive Eve.

How long did they live in the Garden? How long until Eve chatted with the serpent? A week? A year? Scripture doesn’t say, but the tactic that Satan used was the same tactic he uses today… lies and deception. God’s words are twisted to make God look bad and seem as if He only wants to ruin all your fun. In truth, God’s rules are in place for our protection. Adam ate the Forbidden Fruit, and death entered into creation, just as God said. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, and life has been a struggle ever since.

God didn’t lie to them; Satan did. Why is it that people still believe Satan’s lies instead of God’s truth?

God didn’t stop loving Adam, Eve, and their descendants. He had a plan for salvation, and it took many years to bring that plan about. Study both the Old Testament and the New to understand God’s plan for redemption.

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45).

Death came through Adam, but life comes through Jesus Christ.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at the coming” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).

Every human is under the curse of death. Our bodies grow old and wear out. We die. For those of us who have chosen to place our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it’s only our body that dies. Our spirit will live eternally with Him. Going back to the first paragraph above, when I think I’m a nice person and good enough to live eternally, I’m wrong. I’ve sinned, and even one tiny sinful thought is enough to condemn a person to eternal death. God’s standard is perfection.

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14).

Adam sinned by choice, and all of Adam’s children will die, but God chose to step into His creation to offer us eternal life. Only through true faith in Christ can we be made alive for eternity.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

Jesus was God incarnate. He gave His life for our salvation. There is no other way.

Today, people are still being deceived by the same old lies that Eve listened to. Satan twists God’s truth, and people believe him. He tells us that all roads lead to Heaven, so go ahead and participate in yoga and open yourself up to the kundalini spirit (a demon), or empty your mind in meditation so any passing demon will take up residence. Satan would like us to believe that Mormons, Muslims, and Eastern beliefs are all the same as Christianity and that all roads lead to God. Does Jesus agree? Jesus told His disciples that He was going to His Father’s house but would return one day.

“And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” (John 14:4).

Jesus was headed to Jerusalem where He knew He would be crucified… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He wasn’t talking about the disciples following Him there. He was talking about following Him to eternity. There is no other way to eternal life than through true faith in Jesus. Thomas wasn’t sure what Jesus meant, so He asked. Jesus answered Him with very reassuring words.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

There is no other way. If you think you can make it to Heaven by being “good enough,” you are wrong… dead wrong. There is only one way, and that is through the righteousness of Christ.

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).

Adam’s sin caused death to enter creation, but today, we have a solution to that sin. Adam made a choice, and so must we. We must choose to receive Christ for salvation.

Don’t be lost for eternity. Find salvation through Jesus Christ because He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

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