If you are in Christ, after you die, you will rise to eternal life.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16
What a hope we have in Christ!
“The dead in Christ” is the key phrase!
You know what “in Christ” means?
If Christ is “a bed” you sleep in, “in Christ” means, you are in bed. It doesn’t mean you are in the bedroom. It doesn’t mean you have a bed. It does not mean you stand next to a bed. It doesn’t mean you sleep next to a bed. It does not mean you have “a bed” picture on your bedroom wall.
It means you are actually “in bed.”
“In Christ” doesn’t end with going to church, being a member of a church, attending a Bible study on ZOOM. It means you do everything you do in life being in Christ. There is no, “Let me go and do my thing and I will come back” kind of thing. You won’t have life that Christ is not part of. You’re that intimate with Him when you are “in Him.”
But if you are not “in Christ,” after you die, you will rise to be thrown into hell “where “the worms that eat [you]them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:48
And those who are not “in Christ” cannot make themselves free from the following lifestyles:
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 NASB
“those who live like this” is the key phrase!
Their lives are marked by one or all of these sins. It is not like they stumble and fall into these sinful lifestyles but they “live in them.”
If you are that person, remember this: Jesus didn’t die for righteous people but for sinners like you and me.
So, call on His name today, my friend. Cry out to Him so He rescues you. Who knows? Today might be your last day on this planet. Don’t leave this planet without Christ because once you’re gone, you’re gone forever. There is no exit there, my friend. Once you’re in, you’re in forever.
Please, hear me one last time: Jesus Christ died for sinners like you and me. If you call on His name, as I did few years ago, you will be saved.
“For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2
“Now” is the day of salvation! Don’t say, “I will call on His name tomorrow.” You may not have tomorrow. ///