Your Life And What Comes After (23): A Town-Sized House

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A wise king once chose a quiet stretch of countryside and there he built a house so vast it was the size of a town, with countless rooms, wide halls, and courtyards. When it was finished, he sent his loyal servants to live inside it. Their work was to prepare every room—sweeping floors, setting tables, lighting lamps, and making each place ready for life. Yet the king gave one puzzling command: the doors were to remain locked. The servants obeyed, working faithfully day after day, hearing the sounds of people passing by outside but never opening the doors to them.

At the right time, the king sent his son, the prince, to the great house. Unlike the servants, the prince carried the keys. He walked through the halls, threw open the doors, and called out to the people from every road and field, inviting them to come in. Families, strangers, and wanderers entered together, filling the rooms with laughter and conversation.

The prince welcomed them to live with him, not as guests but as family, alongside the servants who had prepared the house. And at last the king’s house became what it was always meant to be—a living home where many shared one life under the care of the king’s son.

That Sign at Football Games

In the Old Testament, God worked through Israel to carry out His plan. Then came Jesus, who completed that plan through His life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave.

Because of what Jesus did, we are now in the Church Age, where all people—not just the people of Israel—are invited into the household of God.

Have you ever seen the signs people hold up at football games for the TV cameras that say, “John 3:16”? That verse tells us what God’s plan was all along and why Jesus is the most important part of that grand plan.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Whosoever. Not just some, but everyone is invited to take part in the goal of God’s plan through Jesus Christ—everlasting life.

Next, we’ll look at how we plug into God’s plan in this new Church Age. Hint: it’s not different from the ways we’ve already talked about.

What The Hell: Conditional Immortality

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Bosch, Hieronymus; An Angel Leading a Soul into Hell; Wellcome Library; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/an-angel-leading-a-soul-into-hell-125754

In upcoming posts we’ll be exploring the three major Christian doctrines concerning the theology of hell.

  • Annihilationism (often called “conditional immortality”)
  • Infernalism (eternal conscious torment)
  • Universalism (everyone winds up in “heaven” eventually)

We start with annihilationism and some quotes from three prominent theologians/scholars who hold the conditional immortality view.

John Stott (Anglican theologian, pastor)

“Emotionally, I find the concept of hell intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterizing their feelings or cracking under the strain. … My question must be—and is—not what does my heart tell me, but what does God’s word say? And it seems to me that the annihilation of the wicked is more consistent with the biblical emphasis on the finality of judgment and the gift of immortality to the redeemed alone.”

John Stott & David Edwards, Evangelical Essentials (InterVarsity Press, 1988)

Edward Fudge (biblical scholar, author of The Fire That Consumes)

“The wicked will finally perish. They will be no more. This conclusion rests on the consistent testimony of Scripture that immortality is a gift God gives only to the redeemed, and that the lost suffer punishment ending in death, not everlasting life in misery.”

Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes (3rd ed., Cascade Books, 2011)

Clark H. Pinnock (theologian, professor)

“Hell is not torture forever but the final destruction of the wicked. God does not sustain the wicked in endless conscious agony; rather, they are finally and completely destroyed, which better reflects both biblical language and the justice of God.”

Clark H. Pinnock, “The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent,” in Criswell Theological Review (1990)

Question Everything

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Churchianity and the theological status quo should be scrutinized by all people of faith regularly. That is exactly how we got the Reformation.

Is there a New Reformation brewing? It seems so. There is a difference between truth and tradition.

Man-made Christian creeds and doctrines are no longer being blindly accepted as biblical truth just because the Protestant clergy or the Catholic Papacy say so.

The nature of God, heaven, hell, sin, the apocalypse, predestination or free-will, the Rapture, the origins of the universe – all of these ideas and more need solid reexamination to see if the commonly accepted doctrines of men used to explain them measure up to the message of scripture.

The Bible Rebel blog is a resource for those seeking original and curated content, including news and commentary, covering faith, biblical studies and interpretation, and the intersection of politics, culture, and the Bible.

Our Mission

  1. To monitor current news and events related to faith and culture.
  2. To provide an alternative viewpoint to the world’s pervasive climate of darkness, nihilism, and hopelessness for those seeking truth, light, and purpose.
  3. To examine and question the assumptions of religious tradition and provide a resource for information and inspiration for people of faith who have become dissatisfied with an increasingly lifeless and empty ‘churchianity’.
  4. To present the Biblical truths which reveal God’s nature and purposes and proclaim the lifechanging, world-altering, radical message of Yeshua the Messiah – Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior.

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Our living God is a loving God and the Bible is His revealed word and will.
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Your Life And What Comes After (22): Jesus Shows How

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Remember the four ways people in the Old Testament plugged into God’s plan?

Seek God first.
Add value to the world around you.
Do hard things without fear.
Fight darkness with light.

Did Jesus practice those things? Let’s look.

Did Jesus Seek God First?

Of course. He always put the will and presence of God above everything else. He made a habit of it. He sought God first, not popularity or comfort.

Mark 1:35
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Did Jesus Add Value to the World Around Him?

Obviously, Jesus added value wherever He went by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and doing good wherever He went.

Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

But He was also was a skilled carpenter and builder, adding value to the community he lived in.

Mark 6:3a
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?

Jesus spent years doing ordinary, physically demanding work. He understood hard work. He learned and developed His trade skills before beginning His public ministry.

Did Jesus do Hard Things Without Fear?

Yes, Jesus willingly faced suffering, rejection, and even death. He also did things fearlessly that were far from easy or popular; like physically tossing scammers out of the temple.

Matthew 21:12-17
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Did Jesus Fight Darkness With Light?

Yes, indeed. Jesus showed that by shining forth the light God has given us through His truth and His Spirit, darkness retreats. Even Satan himself has to run away from the light.

Matthew 4:10-11
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Now it’s our turn to walk in light. God has started a new creation through Jesus Christ, and that new creation includes us, you and me.

Your Life And What Comes After (21): Jesus, The Golden Spike

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The plan to connect the United States by rail began in 1862, but it took years of hard work and danger to build tracks across mountains and deserts. For a long time, it wasn’t clear when everything would finally come together and the Transcontinental Railroad would be completed.

Then, in 1869, the last rail was connected at Promontory Summit, Utah, with the driving of the Golden Spike. In that moment, the long plan was complete, and the country was finally linked from coast to coast.

Jesus is the Golden Spike in God’s Plan

After Adam and Eve messed up, God promised to rescue humanity, and Jesus came as the fulfillment of that plan. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus completed God’s long-promised work and rescue plan, opening the way for everyone in all ages to be restored to God and receive everlasting life with Him.

God’s plan started with a promise (Genesis 3:15), was carried through history by people like Abraham and David, and was fully revealed in Jesus, who came to save the world.

Jesus Announces His Mission

Luke 4:16-21
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Jesus wasn’t just teaching good ideas—He was the fulfillment of God’s long-promised plan, set in motion all the way back in the Old Testament.

John 19:28 & 30
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst…

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

God’s plan was accomplished, the Old Testament scripture was fulfilled, and Jesus said, “It is finished”.

How Did Jesus Do It?

How did Jesus carry out God’s plan?

  • By perfect obedience in His life, cancelling the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
  • By carrying out that obedience all the way to His death by crucifixion.
  • By His being raised by God from the dead to eternal life.

Did Jesus show us by example any of the four ways to plug into God’s grand plan that we looked at earlier? We’ll talk about that next.

Watchdog Alert: Trouble In Iran As Israel Waits

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“After months of publicly threatening Iran, Israel has gone quiet, waiting to see how the protest movement develops and giving US President Donald Trump space to make his own decision on whether to take action.” From CNN

Here’s a brief reminder on the importance of Iran (Persia) in the Bible in relation to Israel in the Old Testament.

In the Bible, the land and people of ancient Persia (roughly corresponding to modern-day Iran) play a significant role in the history of Israel, especially after the Babylonian Exile.

The Persian Empire rose to power in the 6th century BC when Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and issued a decree allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, fulfilling earlier prophetic promises (Isaiah 45:1–2; Cyrus is even called God’s “anointed”) and recorded in Ezra 1:1–4.

Later Persian rulers such as Darius I and Artaxerxes continued to support the restoration of Jerusalem’s worship and governance (Ezra 6; Nehemiah 2). The Book of Esther is set in the Persian royal court at Susa and tells of Jewish deliverance under King Ahasuerus (often identified as Xerxes) and his queen Esther, illustrating Jewish life and providence under Persian rule (Esther 1:1–2).

Persian figures and encounters also appear in prophetic visions (e.g., Daniel 8’s ram symbolizing Media-Persia) and later biblical prophecy (Ezekiel 38:5), showing both its historical influence and ongoing theological significance.

Your Life And What Comes After (20): The Old Testament Road Leads To Jesus

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Before moving on to the Gospels, the Good News of Jesus Christ and His kingdom, there are some other men and women in the Old Testament who plugged into God’s plan, that you can read about and see how they put themselves into the flow of God’s purposes.

Moses

Moses is an important leader in the Bible whom God chose to rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and guide them toward the Promised Land. Moses’ story is found mainly in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Deborah

Deborah was a prophetess, judge, and leader of Israel. You can read her story in the Book of Judges, chapters 4 and 5.

King David

King David plays a big role in God’s grand plan because God chose him to lead Israel and promised that his family line would last forever. David’s story is found mainly in 1 Samuel (chapters 16–31) and 2 Samuel. Also, many of the Psalms were written by David.

Ruth

Ruth was a woman plugged into God’s purposes and in the family line of King David—and ultimately Jesus. Her story is found in The Book of Ruth (Ruth 1–4).

Here Comes Jesus

Next we’re going to look at the one who is the main player in God’s grand plan, the Promised One, Jesus of Nazareth.

Your Life And What Comes After (19): 4 Ways To Plug Into God’s Grand Plan

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God’s plan worked through Israel and through key people in the Old Testament, like Abraham, Moses, and King David. But what did these people do that put them right in the middle of God’s plan? And how can we do the same in our own lives?

Here are four ways we can plug into God’s grand plan.

Seek God first.
Learn what He wants through prayer and study. Pay attention to how He speaks—through Scripture, wise people, and everyday moments. Then follow where He leads.

Add value to the world around you.
Grow your knowledge, skills, and talents, and use them for the right purposes and to do good in God’s creation.

Do hard things without fear.
Don’t always choose what’s easy or comfortable. Be willing to challenge bad habits and wrong thinking, starting with yourself.

Fight darkness with light.
Don’t just ignore what’s wrong. Stand against it by helping people in your family, faith, and community find hope, care, encouragement, and challenge.

Abraham

Abraham is known as the father of the Jewish people. God chose Abraham and promised to give him many descendants, land for his people, and that through his family all nations of the world would be blessed.

Read this passage from Genesis 12:1-5 (he was called Abram before God named him Abraham) and see if you can find the ways Abraham plugged into God’s plan and if they line up with the four ways we just looked at:

Genesis 12:1-5
1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Here’s some of what I see in these verses:

Seek God first
God spoke directly to Abram and told him to go to a new land. Abram was listening for God and he responded in faith. Genesis 12:1

Add value to the world
Notice in verse 5, “all their substance that they had gathered…”. Abram was a successful livestock owner who moved with his flocks and herds and used his “substance” to feed, clothe, and add value to the world around him, and to have the means to go where God led him. Genesis 12:5

Do hard things without fear
Abram left his country, relatives, and father’s household—everything familiar—to follow God into the unknown. Genesis 12:1, 4

Fight darkness with light
By obeying God, Abram became part of God’s plan to bring blessing, hope, and goodness to the world along with his wife, nephew, and community of, “souls that they had gotten in Haran”, knowing that we are to shine light first among those closest to us. Genesis 12:3-5

More of Abraham’s (Abram’s) life and story are found in the book of Genesis, chapters 12–25.

They Said It: Four Quotes On The Book Of Ruth

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Here are four poignant quotes about the relevance of the eighth book of the Bible, the Book of Ruth.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
“The Book of Ruth is the supreme example in Tanakh of hesed—loving-kindness—shown not by miracles or power, but by ordinary people in everyday life.”

Martin Luther
“This is a lovely and comforting book, for it teaches that God works through the simplest and most ordinary events to bring about His greatest purposes.”

Augustine of Hippo
“In Ruth we see the Gentile brought into the people of God, prefiguring the calling of the nations through Christ.”

John Piper
“The Book of Ruth shows us how God is always doing ten thousand things in our lives, and we may be aware of only three of them.”

Your Life And What Comes After (18): How God Carries Out His Plan

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How does God carry out His big plan?
He does it through people.

Which people?

First, His chosen people—Israel—as we see in the Old Testament.

Then, the promised Seed from Genesis 3:15—Jesus Christ—revealed in the New Testament Gospels.

And now, in our time, it’s you and me—the Church—as we read in the rest of the New Testament.

Israel

From the Old Testament up until the birth of Jesus, Israel played a special role in God’s plan. But God’s plan was never just about one nation—it was always about rescuing the whole world (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 49:6).

Genesis 12:1-5
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Israel was like a delivery vehicle God drove through history to bring the Messiah, Jesus, into the world as Savior.

Along the way, Abraham got on board by trusting God’s promise, even when it didn’t make sense.

Moses rode along by leading Israel out of slavery, showing God’s power and faithfulness.

King David became a passenger too, pointing ahead to the true King who would come from his family line. All of them played their part as God moved His plan forward.

But what we really want to get to is how those guys and gals in the Old Testament discovered their own purpose and best lives by plugging into God’s bigger plan, so that we can learn how to do the same in our own lives.

Stay tuned.