“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27). Death is an appointment which none of us will escape unless we are alive when the Lord returns. It is a Divine appointment as punishment for sin. It began with Adam and Eve’s banishment from Paradise where the “tree of life” dwelled (Gen. 3:22). Their inability to eat of that tree led to their certain death. God said to Adam in Genesis 3:19, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” The father of the faithful, Abraham, said of himself, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes…” (Gen. 18:27).

Modern medicine has made great strides in curing some illnesses and diseases, in lengthening life, and in helping us have a better quality of life while we are here. But make no mistake about it — man shall never eliminate death! It is a pipe dream that too many of us have subtly tried to accept as we attempt to avoid the inevitable. We have trusted in modern medicine to “cure” all our ills. But death sweeps over us silently and continually just the same.

What is my point? I am totally in favor of living a quality life, of taking advantage of the benefits of modern medicine, of natural medicine, and of medicine yet to be discovered. But I do not want us to pursue physical life at the expense of pursuing eternal life! You see, we can get so caught up in trying to exterminate certain diseases that we can forget that death is still certain! Do you know anyone living today who is over 125 years old? If not, then death is still inevitable. It is “appointed” for men to die once! So prepare for that appointment!

God appointed physical death because of sin and spiritual death! Through His eternal scheme of redemption, He negated the eternal effects of both physical and spiritual death to those who believe! Read carefully this truth from Hebrews 2:14-15: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Jesus Christ took on a physical body in order to live a sinless life, to become the sinless sacrifice for sin, and therefore, through His own physical death to destroy (1) Satan’s grip over mankind with the threat of endless death; and (2) Man’s hopeless fear of physical and spiritual death.

Let us never forget that physical death was caused by spiritual death! There is that inexorable connection! You cannot ignore sin and hope to eliminate physical death! But you never read of this in the medical journals, do you?

Wayne Goff

During the meeting in Mattoon last week, while visiting with some of the brethren I was asked a question. The sister said that in their ladies’ class a question came up concerning Ephesians 4:8. They wanted to know what Paul meant when he said, “There He says, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” Let take a closer look.

In the first seven verses the apostle was teaching about the unity that achieved because of the seven “ones”: one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism and Father (vrs. 4-6). From such each is given a measure of Christ’s gift (vr. 7). This is where Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18 (Eph. 4:8). But why did he say this?

To answer to our question we need to focus on Christ’s ascension. When did Jesus ascend on high? This was after His resurrection (Acts 1:9-11). In verse 9 of Ephesians 4, we are told where Christ went prior to his ascension. He went first to the lower parts of the earth when He died. We know this place as Hades, and part of it is called Paradise (Lk. 23:43; Acts 2:27).  When Jesus conquered death, He ascended far above all heavens, that He might fill all things (Eph. 4:10).

We are now getting a pretty clear picture concerning the statement about leading captivity captive and giving gifts to men. Think about the condition or state of mankind prior to Christ resurrecting from the dead and ascending back to heaven. There was no way of getting to Heaven.  When the Lord said He was the way, truth and the life, no one was getting to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6). But, if Jesus doesn’t die and resurrect, there is no way to the Father.

The phrase, captivity captive, seems a little odd. However, when we stop and think of Satan and his supposed powers, Christ removed them by His resurrection. Also, with Jesus ascending to the right hand of God, He is ruling and reigning and it position to help mankind. I think a good parallel passage would be Colossians 2:15, where it reads, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

Let’s now talk about the words following captivity captive, in Ephesians 4:8. This should shed even more light on the wording. It says, “and gave gifts to men.” We need to ask, what gifts were given to men when Jesus went back to heaven?  Think about the following verses in Ephesians 4. The brethren were told that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers were given to edify the body of Christ (vrs. 11-12). Remember the promise Christ gave to His apostles, that after He leaves He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth (Jn. 16:13). Also, they would be equipped to confirm the word spoken with signs and wonders (Mk. 16:19-20). This was all done when Jesus ascended. Whether we are talking about Satan’s powers being destroyed or that all the faithful, past and present and future, now have access to Heaven by the gifts given to men, the lesson is the same.

There is one more great lesson we can learn from studying this question. Let’s make sure when studying the word of God that we don’t make the scriptures teach things that contradict other Bible verses. Peter gave the warning concerning those who are unskilled in the word, how they twist the scriptures to their own destruction (II Pet. 3:16).  This is easily avoided if we consider the context. To take a verse and have it teaching something that has nothing to do with the text is to mishandle the word of God. Let’s not stop asking questions and seeking answers. But let’s not seek answers that are just not there!

Chuck

Look at Barabbas and look at us!

There are many powerful lessons surrounding the death of Jesus Christ, but one great lesson we must not overlook is that of Barabbas. To appease the Jews during the annual feast, Pilate would release a single prisoner that the Jews requested (Mark 15:6). The Roman ruler was hoping to release Jesus due to His innocence, but the chief priests stirred up the crowd to request the release of Barabbas (Mark 15:11).  As a result, Jesus was crucified and Barabbas was set free (Mark 15:15).

What do we know about this prisoner who skirted his deserved punishment? According to the scriptures, this man was part of a rebellion that resulted in murder (Mark 15:7).  We are told that this man was a notorious prisoner (Matt. 15:16).  It is also clear that many knew this man and his reputation as Pilate thought the crowd would want this evil person remain in prison and have Jesus released. Unfortunately, the guilty person was freed and the innocent Christ was crucified (Matt. 27:21-26).

As much as this whole incident should bother us, it should also hit home. In a sense, each of us is Barabbas. By that I mean, Barabbas was a sinner yet Jesus went to the cross for him. My wording was intentional. You might think I should have said, Jesus went to the cross instead of him. That is also true, but Jesus died for everyone (John 3:16).

How should Barabbas have looked at Jesus? This is interesting. After all, he would not have been set free that day if not for Christ. He did not respect the law or the lives of others. Same as the evil people of our day, most guilty people during Biblical times would do everything they could to avoid punishment if they were caught breaking the law. We see no evidence that Barabbas was concerned about the false accusations made against Jesus – he only seemed interested in his own freedom at any cost. Regardless of whether Barabbas changed his ways after being freed and learning about Jesus, we need to recognize this lesson for ourselves.

All people are lost in sin (Rom. 3:23). We might not literally be behind bars for committing our sins, but we are still in a state of spiritual bondage (Gal. 4:3). Therefore, those who have not obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ are free to roam on earth, but they are on the run from God. However, there will be a day of reckoning (II Cor. 5:10).

Did Barabbas turn his life around after receiving a second chance? The Bible does not tell us. Statistics show that most people who are a prisoner today will return to prison in the future. If a person who is punished for his crimes is unlikely to learn his lesson, then it seems logical that a man like Barabbas who did not receive his full punishment will also be likely to continue to break the law.

What about us though? What makes us so different from Barabbas? He rebelled and murdered – are we guilty of the same? Yes! When we sinned, it was like we crucified Christ (Heb. 6:6). Any transgression can be called a rebellion against the will of God. How many of us look at Jesus and consider His sacrifice personally? For all intents and purposes, we are all Barabbas. We deserve to die in our sins without any hope. Then, here come a Savior who pays our debt without being asked! It was not something we earned or deserved (Rom. 5:6-11).

As we look to the cross, we need to understand that Jesus did what we could not do for ourselves. We use the expression “paying one’s debt to society.” Sin does not work this way – the only pay for the debt of our sins was through an innocent person – Christ (II Cor. 5:21). In other words, He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Let’s look at Barabbas, then look at ourselves and learn.

   Chuck