Thursday ↥ November 22
Death and Resurrection
At Creation, “God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7, NKJV). This account of the creation of humanity reveals that life derives from God. Is immortality an intrinsic aspect of this life? The Bible tells us that only God is immortal (1 Tim. 6:16); immortality is not given to humans at birth. In contrast to God, human beings are mortal. Scripture compares our lives with “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14, NKJV), and at death our lives enter a sleeplike state in which there is no consciousness. (See Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10; Ps. 146:4; Ps. 115:17; John 11:11-15.)
Although people are born mortal and subject to death, the Bible speaks of Jesus Christ as the source of immortality and tells us that He gives the promise of immortality and eternal life to all those who believe in His salvation. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23, NKJV). Jesus “has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10, NKJV). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV). So, there is hope of life after death.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. What do these passages tell us about life after death and when immortality will be given to human beings?
The apostle Paul makes it clear that God bestows immortality upon people, not at the moment of death, but rather at the resurrection, when the last trumpet will sound. While believers receive the promise of eternal life at the moment they accept Jesus as their Savior, immortality is given only at the resurrection. The New Testament knows nothing of the idea of souls going off to heaven immediately at death; this teaching has its roots in paganism, going back to the philosophy of the ancient Greeks, and is not found in either the Old or New Testament.
How does our understanding of death help us appreciate even more the promise of the Second Coming? How does this belief powerfully unite us as Seventh-day Adventists?
Friday ↥ November 23
Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “The Foundations, Pillars, and Landmarks”, pp. 28-32, in Counsels to Writers and Editors. Read the article “Doctrines, Importance of”, pp. 778, 779, in The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia.
As Seventh-day Adventists we do share important beliefs in common with some other Christian bodies. The central one, of course, is belief in salvation by faith alone through the atoning and substitutionary death of Jesus. We, along with other Christians, believe that our righteousness is found, not in our own works but in Christ’s righteousness, which is credited to us by faith, an unmerited gift of grace. Or, as Ellen G. White famously wrote: “Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.” - The Desire of Ages, p. 25. At the same time, taken as a whole, our set of fundamental beliefs, and the practices and lifestyle that emerge from those beliefs, make us unique among the Christian world. That’s the way it should be, too; if not, why even exist, at least as Seventh-day Adventists? Our love of Jesus, and the teaching we proclaim, should be the most powerful uniting factor among us.
Discussion Questions:
In Faith and Works, p. 103, Ellen G. White equates justification with forgiveness of sins. How is an appreciation of our forgiveness and justification in Christ a basis for our fellowship and community with brothers and sisters?
Think about how important our doctrines are in the context of church unity. That is, what has brought together millions of people from so many diverse ethnic, religious, political, and cultural backgrounds other than our shared doctrinal beliefs? What does this tell us about how important doctrine is, not just in the context of mission and message but for church unity as well?
Our very name “Seventh-day Adventist” points to two crucial teachings, the seventh-day Sabbath and the Second Advent. One part of our name points to Creation, the other redemption. How are these two teachings related, and in what ways do they together so succinctly capture the essence of who we are as a people?
Summary: Seventh-day Adventists hold in common many fundamental beliefs. Some we hold in common with other Christians; others not. Taken as a whole these teachings form our identity as a distinct church and are the foundation of our unity in Jesus.