Lifes, Deaths and Immortalities: Expositing Scripture's Fate for the Human Race

By Mark Stading

This book probes the Scriptures for answers to the most important questions that can be asked. What is the fate for each and every Human Being who will have ever lived? (The Bible argues that every Human Being will ultimately take on some form of eternal existence. There is no such thing as Eternal Sleep.) What is the scope and boundaries of Human Existence? (The Bible proposes there are 8 unique states of being. Four of these 8 forms are temporary states of being while the other four are eternal states of being.) Where is the Human Race as a whole headed and what is its ultimate fate? (The Bible declares that the Creator God desires to
have eternal communion with Humanity and that He will unveil an eternal Home for He and all redeemed Humanity to share together in the Future Eternity. What awaits unredeemed Humanity is just as provocative, a fate that was never meant for Human Beings.) As this book will present, the Bible does not hold back in supplying answers to these most existential questions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329519312

Book preview

Lifes, Deaths and Immortalities: Expositing Scripture's Fate for the Human Race

Lifes,                                        Deaths, and                         Immortalities:                               Expositing Scripture’s

Fate for the Human Race

Copyright © 2015 by Mark Stading.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN 978-1-329-51931-2

Preface

For nearly 2000 thousands years the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures have existed together. Christians would argue the same God inspired both. And yet no fundamental teaching has emerged to show IF or HOW these two Halves are to be integrated together as a harmonious pair. Instead, the two remain distant from one another. The very reason why things have remained this way from time immemorial has everything to do with readers' perceptions throughout this time period. Most, if not all, of these perceptions have been under the powerful influences of Tradition for a very, very long time.

History records a Bipolar Disorder afflicting the two main traditional views. That is, Traditional Judaism rejects the Gospel's relevancy and consequentially accounts for only half the Scripture's message. Its adherents necessarily stumble when attempting to understand the first half of Scripture without the aid of the second half of Scripture! Likewise, Traditional Christianity has failed to see the relevancy of the Law and consequentially winds up accounting for only the latter half of the Scripture message, not unlike Judaism. Its adherents attempt to understand the latter half of Scripture's message without the proper consultation of the first half of Scripture! Thus its adherents stumble as well for the same reason.

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One major consequence of this Dividing Wall is that for any awake reader there is a frequently bewildering experience of finding Mysteries prevailing throughout Scripture. There is hardly any Biblical subject of merit that isn't inundated with Mysteries. The one subject that should be near and dear to every reader is the one to be examined in this book, that of Scripture's predicted fate for the Human Race. A conscientious Reader will find themselves repeatedly stumbling over Mystery after Mystery when attempting to understand Scripture's take on Life, Death and Immortality. For example, the very first passages of the Hebrew Scripture explain how the Human Race began with one Man and one Woman. The Life that was first granted to them however was not what Life has now become since then. Truly speaking, the Life they first had was in fact Immortality. But that did not last long. Adam and Eve stumbled and Humanity's First Death was suffered soon enough. And here again, it was not the kind of Death that everyone has become all too familiar with, that of Mortal Death. In short, something fundamentally changed in Eden that remains mysteriously unexplained until the Apostle Paul addresses it in his Epistles in the Greek Bible.

So even in the first passages of Scripture, Mysteries are presented there to the Reader that are left unresolvable until a thousand years and more passed. Hence, one could surmise that this pattern could continue as more and more of the Bible is read. And indeed this is the case. But ultimately, it is the patient Reader who is rewarded in the end. That is because the Major Lesson to be learned with the Bible's Mysteries is that they eventually become resolved by way of later arriving revelations, as was the case cited above regarding Death in Eden and the Apostle Paul's explanation of it.

As this book records a search in the Bible for all its clues in the study of the subject of Life, Death and Immortality, it will be shown why it is imperative to make an accounting of all the relevant Mysteries along the way. Ignoring Mysteries, or forgetting about them, will prove extremely unproductive in trying to get to the bottom of what is being communicated. For in keeping a record of the Mysteries, it is then possible at the very end to gather them all together and see if they can be assembled together like as if deliberately made like a Puzzle with pieces scattered throughout Scripture. Again and again, it will be discovered that most Hebrew Bible Mysteries are essentially one portion of a message that needs to be joined with that of another mystery passage from the Greek Bible in order to be understood. Its as if the Author of Scripture deliberately divided up the message of Scripture between the Two Parts so as to prevent any Reader from concluding that either Portion was meant to be a stand alone message.

This is why putting up Traditional Barriers designed to Divide the two Halves of Scripture from one another has historically kept the Mysteries of Scripture unresolved from time immemorial. Exposing this basic phenomenon of Scripture's Two Part Messaging System is what is at the heart of this book and 3 others related to it. This book is the 3rd in a series of 4 parts that explores how the 2 Halves of Scripture can be brought together to resolve mysteries and harmonize them into a cohesive message that neither of the 2 testimonies can create on their own. The General Conclusion to draw is that there are 2 Major Divine Works in the Divine Plan and each is its own distinct Work yet being harmonious with the other. What is relevant here when focusing upon the subject of Life, Death and Immortality is that there are to be 2 forms of Immortality awaiting the Human Race.

Within the vast majority of the Hebrew Scripture, there is one form of Immortality prophesied for a future Remnant of Israel in the Latter Day. Within the vast majority of the Greek Scripture, on the other hand, there is another form of Immortality prophesied there for Deceased Saints, namely Resurrection. This basic conclusion comes to support the greater message being communicated of the existence of 2 separate Divine Works making up the Divine Plan for the Human Race.

A Reader is encouraged to consult the other 3 books to become fully aware of the other aspects of this Two Part Message of the Bible. Starting from the beginning, the 1st of this 4 part series can be found in the book entitled The Holy Days Code: How the Law and the Gospel are a Encryption/Decryption Messaging System. This work examines and unveils the meaning behind the mysterious testimony of the Law's Harvest Holy Days spelled out in Leviticus 23 of the Hebrew Scriptures. What is discovered is that there are 2 general Harvests the Nation Israel was commanded to celebrate each year, one in the Springtime and the other in the Fall. But these Harvests and Holy Days testimonies are arguably part of an encoded message due to the innumerable, mysterious symbolisms inundating the testimony. The study argues altogether that the entire testimony is in fact a "Holy Days Code".

But none of this testimony is possible to decode without the aid of the Gospel testimony at the heart of the Greek Scripture.  For example, Jesus Christ is testified to have been seen Resurrected from the Dead on the 1st Harvest Occasion to be observed. Thus, the earliest Harvest testimony is being made symbolic of a Human Harvest Reaping. In essence, the Spring Harvest represents the First Fruits of a Divine Harvesting of Human Souls whereas the Fall Harvest symbolically represents the Harvest of the Last Fruits. Thus, each Harvest Season is a separate and distinct Divine Harvesting of Human Souls. That is, one is an Alpha Harvest and the other is an Omega Harvest, sort of speak.

The 2nd of this 4 part series can be found in the book entitled Thy Kingdom(s) Come: Expositing Scripture's Kingdoms of Earth and Heaven. This work examines and unveils Scripture's testimonial evidence of there being 2 prophetic Kingdoms predicted to come: the Kingdom of Earth is mostly unveiled in the Hebrew Scriptures whereas the Kingdom of Heaven is mostly unveiled in the Greek Scriptures. Or, in other words, there is predicted to be an Alpha Kingdom and an Omega Kingdom as foreseen by the Divine Plan.

Finally, the last study of this 4 part series can be found in the book entitled "Alpha Kai Omega: Expositing Scripture's Climatic Ending". When surveying all of Scripture, it is evident that the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, was expressly written so as to be THE BRIDGE linking the 2 Halves of Scripture together. This makes natural sense given it is the last book of the Bible. By unveiling 14 Pairs of Alpha+Omega testimony scattered within its text, Revelation is explaining what Alpha and Omega are being implied as being, one pair at a time. The 14th and final pair is the Scripture's Crowning Jewels that present to the reader exactly what the Scripture has been building up to from beginning to end.

A pivotal passage of Revelation alluding to this basic message of there being Two Major Works of God in the Divine Plan is...

Altogether then, these 4 books argue as one that Alpha and Omega represents 2 Divine Works. Each Work will be composed of its own Human Harvest taken which is to inherit its own Immortality as part of a twofold Divine Kingdom to Come. Each is expected to prevail throughout the coming Future Eternity, side by side, time without end, in complete harmonious coexistence. To be able to have eyes to see this though the mental Barriers of the Mind that divide the Scripture in two must be demolished. May this book and the 3 that accompany it help facilitate this demolition.

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Chapter One                                              Scripture’s 8 Forms                                               of Human Existence

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ccording to Scripture, the Human Race is divided between two groups of people, Saints and Sinners. And as the next chapter will explain why, any person born into this world comes into it as a Sinner. This means a Saint can only become a Saint after having been a Sinner first. Another foundational idea Scripture puts forth is that once human life is conceived, it never stops to exist. That is, Mortal Life and Mortal Death are to be understood as simply temporary states of being that eventually lead to an eternal state of being. In other words, Scripture teaches that every human being will eventually come into a state of Immortality. (This is why the topic of Life in Scripture rarely has anything to do with Mortal Life while the topic of Death never has anything to do with the cessation of existing. Rather, these ideas have everything to do with whether someone is a Saint enjoying communion with God (Life) or is a Sinner who is separated from God (Death).)

Scripture readers associate the teaching of the Resurrection with the idea of Immortality. It is the Prophet Daniel who is the first real direct source for this teaching and to its scope. He states that in the latter days some of the dead will rise into everlasting life and that the rest of the dead will rise into everlasting shame (Dan12:2). Hence, there is to be a Resurrection of Saints and a Resurrection of Sinners. Since Daniel states that both Resurrections are everlasting in nature, this means those participating will be made Immortal. The last important logistical teaching regarding the Resurrections of Dan12:2 is that the book of Revelation separates the two Resurrections by a very long period of time. Notably, the Resurrection of Saints takes place as part of the Second Coming of Christ while the Resurrection of the Sinners comes at the End of Time. In between these two moments is the so called Millennial Kingdom during which Christ is to reign on earth.

What few, if any, realize is that Scripture teaches of yet another kind of Immortality, apart from Resurrection, which some Saints and Sinners are to inherit. Classical Christian Theology is so focused on Daniel’s Resurrections that it has been unable to notice this equally fascinating revelation of Scripture. Provocatively enough, this Immortality first appears in the earliest passages of Scripture where it is described as the existence the first Man Adam and his wife Eve were enjoying while in the Garden of Eden. This form of Immorality is thus referred to within this book as