THE DANGERS OF CONTINUING TO LIVE THE ANIMAL LIFE

  THE FANTASIES OF THE LIVING DEAD

         

Most people think that life is when you are physically able to move around and do what you like.  Obviously, when one has this kind of life, one is able to, for example, travel around, eat, go to work, go to the movies, visit family and friends.  One is also able to attend social functions, get married, have children, go to college and do several other things.  One can even join a political party and go on to be a candidate at elections.  Finally, at the end of it all, one withers away and dies.  Curiously, the one thing that no one can dispute is that many of these activities that we mentioned above that human beings enjoy doing are also common to lower animals like goats, sheep, bears, antelopes, dogs, cats and fowls.  This implies that these animals also have families, they make babies, they eat and they move around.  At some point, these animals, like humans, also die and are forgotten.  There is no doubt that one major characteristic of this kind of life is that it is temporary.  It is only for a period of time.  The Psalmist confirms this in Ps. 90 verse 6 where he says, ‘In the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers.’ 

The writer of Ecclesiastes, in his inimitable way, highlights the similarities between the life of man, who is a higher animal and that of a lower animal like a goat or a dog.  In Ecclesiastes 3 verses 18, 19 and 20, we read, ‘I said in my heart, ‘’Concerning the conditions of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.’’  For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them; as one dies, so dies the other.  Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.  All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all return to dust.’

What we have seen from the above is that what most people describe as life is mere animal life, earthly life or soul life.  It is a life powered by the soul.  It is fleeting and it is animalistic.  It is mere animation, a mirage, an illusion.  Hear what James had to say about this kind of life.  In James 4 verse 14, he wrote, ‘Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’  This kind of life is all about fulfilling the desires of the soul and the body.  It is only concerned with meeting material and physical needs.  It is earthbound.  It is deceptive.

                                                       

In order to confirm this, let us now cast our minds back to the time when man was created.  According to the bible, the Almighty God gave man His Word in form of an instruction.  Genesis 2 verses 16 and 17 state, ‘’Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’’  We can recall from the same book of Genesis that man rebelled against God’s Word after being deceived by Satan, the serpent and he ate of the forbidden tree.  However, the one thing that was noticeable was that when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, they continued to live physically.  This was despite the fact that, as far as God was concerned, they were dead because He had said, ''......For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.''  The couple had died spiritually even though they were still moving around physically.  They had died to God.  Their spirits had fallen into utter darkness.  This is why fallen humans are not interested in the things of God or the Word of God.  It is simply because they are dead to God, that is, they are spiritually dead.  If you want to confirm this, when next you meet an unsaved person, start mentioning the name of Jesus or that one can only come to God through Jesus Christ.  At first, he or she would probably begin to say that they are not interested in anything Jesus or that they are not religious.  This is one way to identify someone who is spiritually dead.   









After the fall although Adam and Eve were still able to engage in all sorts of physical activities, they were actually dead.  They were dead while living.  The life they continued to have was mere animal life, an earthly life, a soul life.  The fact was that once they disobeyed God by rebelling against His Word, they suffered instant spiritual death, that is, their spirits died unto God.  The result of this spiritual death was that the process of decay and disintegration immediately started in their souls and bodies.  This process of disintegration continued until they eventually died physically.  This confirms that ageing, which came as a result of the fall, is actually a gradual process of death.

The point that is being made here is that if the life you boast of is this animal or soul life, you are actually dead while yet living, that is, you are a living dead.  The life that all humans inherited from Adam is the soul life or animal life.  It is not the real life.  Considering that our first parents, Adam and Eve, died spiritually when they rebelled against God's Word, it follows that living, that is having spiritual life which is the real life is when one is reconciled to God by His Word and one continually orders one's earthly existence by that Word.  This is life.

The only way therefore to have real life, which is also referred to as eternal life or everlasting life, is to be reconciled to God by or through His Word which became flesh.  You may recall that it was this Word that man rebelled against and it cost him his life, that is, his relationship with God.  The gospel, that is, the good news is that God’s Word came in the flesh to reconcile man to God.  JESUS CHRIST is this Word.  This is why the bible, in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19, states, ‘To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.’  The bible also declares in John 1 verse 1, ‘IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’  Verse 14 of this same chapter states, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’  The holy Son of God had to become flesh so that He could suffer and die in the place of man thus paying the price for the sins of man.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declares in John 14 verse 6, ‘’I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.’’  John also states in 1 John 5 verse 12, ‘He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’

This means that real life, that is, everlasting life, can only be obtained through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God who is the Word of God.  Those who have this kind of life are the ones who really know God, they delight in the things of God, they love to keep themselves from all the pollution in the world as they are kept by the sanctifying power of the blood of the Lamb.  They also rejoice in the Lord, they love others sincerely, they are properly equipped to fight the battles of life and knowing that they are only pilgrims on earth.  Being sojourners on earth they continually look forward  to the day when they will be raptured to be with their Lord in heaven.