Eternal Life Series

Eternal Life

Series: CREED: Truths that Unite

Brad Bailey – March 21, 2021

Intro...

Well.... another good morning to everyone who is joining live right now...and a welcome to you who may be watching later.

It’s been said that an essential key in life... is the wisdom to navigate life WITH THE END IN MIND. [1]

When we understand what we want our life to lead to.... we are able to form a life that is consistent with that end. So it’s vital that we consider...where are we going? What is the end that defines each day? Where is your life ultimately headed?

That is the question we are going to explore today.

And we do so as we come to the CLIMATIC END of our series entitled “CREED... Truths that Unite”...in which each week we have considered the most central beliefs declared in what is known as The Apostles Creed. It’s the oldest and most widely shared creed... which affirms the central truths shared by those who come to believe in Jesus. And these truths have the power to center us... and to unite us...and to form us.

The creed begins with God...the Father almighty... creator of heaven and earth.

It continues with Jesus Christ... God the Son... and some essential truths about Jesus.

It declares the distinct role of the Holy Spirit... the new community called the church... the forgiveness of sins...which sets that community apart.... and now concludes...

I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

With these words... the creed concludes with what could be described as both the end...and the true beginning of what is to come.

These are words that we need to take time to take in. “I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

These words may be the most defining declaration that the human soul can make.

These words are ultimately a declaration of liberation... a liberation from to the ultimate power that holds us captive...which is the power of death. Many have described death as the great power that rules over humanity. And that is nothing has more power to transform us than recognizing that there is a life that transcends the death of these bodies.... a life that is everlasting...that is eternal.

And that is why this may find this declaration hard to make. To declare that I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. ... I am engaging that which lies beyond the great barrier of death. Life as we know it... has always known death...and has always been defined by death.

As far back as we can discover... we find that human life has wondered about life beyond the death of these bodies.

And what’s so notable about our current culture, is how our current western culture has tried to avoid the reality of death in ways that only reflects how unsettled we are.

We nearly worship youth... and we become increasingly uncomfortable with getting old. So we tell ourselves that 50 is the new forty and 60 is the new fifty... as if we can console ourselves that getting old is just a state of mind. [2] As many have described, we seem to be living in the denial of death.

Now... some will suggest that the answer to death is simply to accept that there is nothing more.

Some will deny we are anything but chemical compounds. They believe that our sense about being personal beings with thoughts about personal value...and moral meaning and a spiritual nature is simply a strange mistake...and that the truth we must face, is that we are nothing more than chemical compounds that have somehow advanced beyond what would seem logically possible by pure random chance. Strangely, this also implies that somehow the feelings we have about personal affections and meaning are a mistake. It’s not just the cynical atheist...but the uncertain nature in any of us...that might wonder...is believing in life beyond these bodies just wishful thinking? One can naturally wonder if we should really believe in anything more. We might think...maybe this is all there is ...and the problem with humankind...is our lack of courage to just accept that what we call life is just the survival of the fittest chemicals.

As Richard Dawkins, the bold atheists said,

“We are survival machines—robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.” - Richard Dawkins [3]

While I can appreciate the courage that might be reflected in stripping life of some potentially false meaning and aspirations ...I would encourage anyone to step back and question whether such a position really lines up with reality.

One must stop and realize that Dawkins and those who declare that there is nothing beyond us... actually have a profoundly limited knowledge of the whole of reality. They, like all of us, are mere finite beings... specks in the universe...who have a history of certainty that was later found to be wildly mistaken... because it was based on not realizing how limited our perspective actually was. And most notably, they have no answer to the source of our very existence. They have no way of knowing if our lives have been endowed with a spiritual nature or are part of a greater reality. [4]