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Two billion Christians desire to live forever, but do they really know how it will come about? God's divine secret includes a down payment on divinity, now no longer a secret.
"Walt Disney, Ted Williams, Austin Powers-at a glance they don't seem to have much in common," opens a July 27, 2011, ABC News report by Bob Woodruff. "But the three are perhaps the most famous names to be associated with cryogenic freezing."
The report continues with some background: "The idea to cryopreserve humans sprang from the pages of science fiction in the 1960s, when Robert Ettinger, inspired by a sci-fi story he read, founded the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Mich[igan].
"Inside the institute, over 100 people float inside giant bottles filled with nitrogen at temperatures colder than negative 130 degrees Celsius, hoping one day in the future some doctor will revive them.
"'My father's intention was that he and his family and friends get a chance to live longer and to take advantage of the promise of future technology,' David Ettinger told ABC News."
If you knew a way that could guarantee life everlasting, would you pursue it-beyond cold storage?
In fact, there is a way to live forever, and it's guaranteed by a down payment on divinity.
Have you ever purchased something on a layaway plan, where you made a down payment on the full purchase price, to be fully transacted at a later date? This can serve as a metaphor for God's fulfilling of the promise to us of eternal life in His Kingdom. He gives us the down payment on divinity today, with the rest of what is promised to come at a later date.
Remember this: God promises a down payment on divinity, your future divine life, and it's available to you now, right now, with your cooperation and investment. Yet God's down payment on divinity comes with certain conditions.
Jesus Christ has already gone through this process as a forerunner, perfectly fulfilling certain conditions (Hebrews 5:8-9). He was both the Son of Man and the Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus died, as all human beings do, but then He lived again, raised to divine life, which God intends to bestow on all humanity (1 Timothy 2:4; John 3:16-17).
Still, many people wonder whether they will live again.
The patriarch Job asked and answered this question: "If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes [resurrection from the dead]. You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands"-that is, the person God has finished preparing for the future life (Job 14:14-15, emphasis added throughout).
From Genesis to Revelation, the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead is the only path to eternal life. Two billion professing Christians either don't understand or won't admit to the resurrection from the dead, preferring instead the manmade and unbiblical doctrine of going consciously to heaven or hell at death. (For the truth on this matter, read the free Bible study aid Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach? )
The apostle Paul's instruction on the resurrection is logical and indisputable (see 1 Corinthians 15).
Job understood God's ultimate purpose for human life. He intends to change human beings into divine beings. God wants children in His family, billions of them. This is why humankind was created.
The resurrection from the dead is the culminating miracle of God in people's lives, changing them from human beings to divine beings like Himself! Many Christians have this hope, to some degree, but they don't understand that this requires a transformation to God's way of life in the here and now (Romans 12:2).
At the end of His human life, Jesus taught His disciples that He would be leaving them-He would die and be raised from the dead. They were saddened by this. As Jesus said: "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send [it] to you" (John 16:5-7). This Holy Spirit would be a promised down payment on divinity.
Christ's disciples did not understand God's spiritual operation of how He would transform ordinary, fleshly, selfish people into extra ordinary and un selfish people so that one day they could become immortal, selfless, eternal sons of God. Jesus said that they wouldn't understand then what He was doing but that they soon would (John 16:12-14).
There is a logical, stepwise progression to how this all comes about that's faithfully laid out in Scripture.
Jesus, who was sinless, had to bear the penalty for all of the sins of humanity in His terrible suffering and death (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8-10; Galatians 3:13). God the Father then had to resurrect Him to His throne, from where They through Their Spirit would transform human beings into the spiritually directed, begotten sons and daughters of God (Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 4:12-13; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:18).
God's promise of a divine life for you is seamlessly connected with Jesus' death and resurrection. Earlier, in John 16:7, Jesus reassured His disciples that if He didn't go away, the Holy Spirit wouldn't be sent to them.
In verse 13 He encouraged them with what God's Spirit would provide: "However, when [it], the Spirit of truth, has come, [it] will guide you into all truth; for [it] will not speak on [its] own authority, but whatever [it] hears [it] will speak; and [it] will tell you things to come" (To learn the truth about the nature of Holy Spirit and how it operates, be sure to read the Bible study aid Is God a Trinity? ).
Most who profess to be Christians realize they need Jesus' shed blood to cover their sins. But they don't realize that there are conditions to the gift of the Holy Spirit, the down payment on divinity, and that the resurrection is the transition from physical death to divine life.
Further, they miss the vital understanding that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is essential for the resurrection of other human beings to follow. The apostle Paul, writing under divine inspiration, is adamant on this issue. If Jesus Christ was not resurrected, there could be no resurrection to immortality of others who've died (carefully compare 1 Corinthians 15:13-18 and Hebrews 6:17-20).
Adam, the first human being, was made from ordinary dirt (Genesis 2:7). Though God created Adam and Eve exactly as He planned and said it was very good (Genesis 1:31) the choices that invited Satan's influence changed the relationship between God and man. King David viewed himself in Psalm 22:6 as "a worm" and tells us in Psalm 39:5 (King James Version) that "every man at his best state is altogether vanity"-transitory, unsatisfactory and empty.
God made Adam from dirt, the first step for God making man in His image-physically (Genesis 1:26). As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:47-49: "The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man [Jesus Christ-by whom spiritual life would come to humanity] is the Lord from heaven.
"As was the man of dust [a flesh-and blood human being], so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man [a life-giving spirit being (verse 45)], so also are those who are heavenly [that is, those who are transformed to be like Christ]. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man" (1 Corinthians 15:47-49). Human beings are made from dirt to one day be changed to divinity!
If we know this fact of truth, we human beings will walk humbly in this life, acknowledging our physical weakness while looking to God for His strength, which comes through His Holy Spirit. This Jesus did while human: "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). God says that humility precedes honor (Proverbs 18:12)-as this lowly and weak human life precedes our promised powerful and glorious divine life.
It's fairly common for those with large estates to set in place certain conditions to be met for one's heirs to receive their inheritance. Similarly, God has promised to give human beings divine eternal life as an inheritance, but not without conditions.
Sadly, most Christians have been taught that God demands nothing of them except to verbally receive Jesus as their Savior. Some religious teachers argue that it's presumptuous of human beings to think they can obey their way to salvation since attempting to do so usurps Christ's unique redemptive action.
Jesus, however, taught explicitly, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). This does not earn salvation, but it is a condition for salvation (which requires God's help and His forgiveness through Christ where we fall short). Jesus further said that those who keep and teach God's laws are reckoned as great (Matthew 5:19), as they demonstrate to God that they believe His way of life is far superior to the way of this world (Proverbs 14:12).
The whole history of mankind proves that human beings are unable to properly conduct themselves to secure peace and prosperity. "O Lord, I know the way of man [how he should live] is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).
If human beings set conditions for their heirs to receive their inheritance, why is it thought strange that Almighty God could and would require of His people certain conditions to receive divine, eternal life?
God does indeed require certain things of His heirs, for our good, so we can receive the gift of eternal life. Let's briefly explore five conditions God sets for us to receive His down payment on divinity.
Jesus said that we cannot come to Him unless the Father calls us. "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
He repeats this truth a little later: "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father" (verse 65).
But God is generous and He does call many. Nothing happens to begin the process of our salvation until God the Father calls us. God's calling is His prerogative, not ours. Our duty is to respond to His calling. God may be calling you right now, and you are responsible to answer His call.
In stepwise progression, change comes next. The book of Hebrews refers to this part as "repentance from dead works" (Hebrews 6:1).
After the apostle Peter's convicting sermon to those gathered in Jerusalem observing the feast of Pentecost-ending with "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36)-they asked him what they should do. Notice what happened:
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call'" (verses 37-39).
The first step in their salvation was to repent, or change from their way of doing things, from their worldview, to God's worldview and way of doing things. The process of salvation can go no further if
we don't begin to repent of our past way of thinking, speaking and acting.
Repenting from our past sins must be done first, but it is also an ongoing process that we must carry through with the rest of our lifetime as we strive to leave our past life of sin and become more like Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.
After "repentance from dead works," Hebrews 6:1 next lists "faith toward God." Notice that as we turn away from dead works-our past sinful life and way of doing things-we move forward with faith toward God. Human beings become disciples of Jesus Christ as they repent of their old habits of sin while turning to honor God in believing faith.
Faith is exercised in what you know, not what you don't know. That is to say, we are able to have faith in God-trust in Him-through coming to know Him.
And it takes God's help to overcome our human tendency to doubt. One hope-filled man asked Jesus to heal his child. "Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'" (Mark 9:23-24).
The book of Hebrews further shows just how vital faith is in our relationship with God: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Believing faith brings us to the point of asking what we should do next. Peter said that to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we should repent and be baptized.
Water baptism, then, is the next big step (Hebrews 6:2) that leads to receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, the down payment on divinity. The word baptism comes from a Greek word meaning total immersion, not merely having water sprinkled or poured on one's head.
The meaning of water baptism becomes clear in what the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans. Baptism symbolizes our old self of sin dying and being buried with Christ when He died and was buried bearing the penalty of our sins: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4).
Baptism, which is total immersion in water, further represents the all-cleansing shed blood of Jesus Christ being applied to us to wash away our sins (see 1 John 1:7; Hebrews 9:14). Even the specially chosen apostle Paul was instructed to be baptized and have his sins washed away (Acts 22:16).
At this point, coming out of the watery grave, we are viewed by God as a new person (Romans 6:4-8), ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the down payment on divinity.
Ministers of Jesus Christ are commissioned by Christ to lay hands on a newly baptized person. The laying on of hands shows that God gives His Spirit to those who voluntarily humble themselves and work within the order and framework God has established for His people. He puts His Holy Spirit in the mind of a now-cleansed person.
Continuing in Hebrews 6, it lists as the next step in the salvation process the "laying on of hands" (verse 2). Laying on of hands was used in the Old Testament (Genesis 48:14; Deuteronomy 34:9), and it continues through Christ's ministry in His Church (Acts 19:6). This action sets people apart before God.
This is the point at which God gives to His followers the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17-19), the down payment on divinity.
God's love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and this love entails obedience to God's commandments (1 John 5:3). As we yield to God's Spirit, we become more and more like God in our character.
Through the promises of God we experience today, particularly the power we receive as "partakers of the Holy Spirit" (Hebrews 6:4), we may become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Yet this is but a small foretaste of what is yet to come.
God's Word clearly shows that the gift of the Holy Spirit also figures as the down payment on divinity, or eternal life.
Paul writes of Christ in Ephesians 1: "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, [which] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (verses 13-14, emphasis added).
The original word in the Greek here translated "guarantee" is actually of Hebrew origin. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament explains that it means: "Earnest money, a pledge, something which stands for part of the price and paid beforehand to confirm the transaction. Used in the [New Testament] only in a figurative sense and spoken of the Holy Spirit which God has given to believers in this present life to assure them of their future and eternal inheritance" (Spiros Zodhiates, 1993, p. 257).
The New American Standard Bible translates the word as "pledge," while the New International Version renders it "deposit." The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates it as "down payment."
The gift of the Holy Spirit to human beings who dedicate themselves to God and Christ is the down payment or deposit for the full reward yet to come. This refers to the divine existence and exalted status Christ will give us at His second coming.
As Paul writes in Romans 8:23 (New Century Version): "Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God's promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which means our bodies will be made free."
Then we will at last be raised to divinity: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).
All Christians must follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He perfectly obeyed God's laws and, having done so, became our Savior (1 Peter 4:12-13). Christ inspired Peter to confirm God's conditions to receiving the Holy Spirit:
"And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit [ which ] God has given to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32). The Bible is clear-Christian disciples must have God's Spirit in order to be given a divine body and existence (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:5; 1 John 3:2-3; Hebrews 6:4-6). If we do not have God's Spirit in us, Paul writes, we are "not His" (Romans 8:9).
God allowed Jesus to suffer to enable all human beings to become divine sons of God: "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10).
Today, 2 billion Christians desire to live forever, but most don't meet the godly conditions that lead to the gift of the Holy Spirit and ultimately life eternal. God's divine secret includes a down payment on divinity-now no longer a secret to you. What will you do to claim your glorious future?
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Keywords: eternal life cryogenic freezing resurrection holy spirit baptism laying on of hands obeying God faith
Jesus' resurrection: