Exploring Eternal Principles

By Jimmy D. Davis BS Med ThD

When was the last time you stopped to consider the fact that you are going to dieor thought about what might take place after your death?

When you stop to consider these critical issues in your life, you must set your mind to discovering the absolute truth. In Exploring Eternal Principles, author Jimmy Davis helps us understand that denying these principlesdenying the truthwill not change the fact that, regardless of what you believe now, nothing changes the absolute truth. It remains the truth no matter what anyone says or does to the contrary.

God Almighty has established some very profound and sacred principles for lifea set of fundamental rules and laws that have an eternal impact on your life, whether you believe them or not. Sadly enough, the real truth of God has been distorted and perverted in our world today. Perhaps you believe the world and its lies; the time has come for each of us to learn and understand the real truth and what it means.

Now you are able to explore the Eternal Principles and discover for yourself what you must do to follow them with absolute faith and understanding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490899084

Jimmy D. Davis BS Med ThD

Jimmy D. Davis is a retired public school superintendent and active pastor and teacher. He has earned both BS and MEd degrees from Texas State University and also holds a Doctorate of Theology.

Book preview

Chapter One

The Principle of Truth, The Whole Truth,

and Nothing but the Truth

Jesus said: "And you shall know the Truth,

and the Truth shall make you free"

(John 8:32)

T he Wikipedia Encyclopedia states that: In philosophy, religion, mythology, and fiction, the afterlife (also referred to as life after death or the Hereafter) is the concept of the existence of the individual in some form or another within a realm or eternal place of existence. Whether this place in the Hereafter is physical or transcendental, it is the place for the existence of an essential part of an individual’s identity or consciousness, to continue to reside after the death of the physical body.

Those people who believe in God (theists) generally believe that some sort of afterlife awaits people when they die. People who are generally non-theistic (don’t believe in the One True God) tend to believe in some sort of afterlife, but without reference to a god. Some other people generally believe that there is a God, but no afterlife, while others do not believe in God or an afterlife. The point is: there are many variations of belief regarding life after death. Well, doesn’t it just make sense that all of these beliefs can’t be true at the same time. There can be only one Truth. Apart from the real Truth, everything else is a lie and not true. Truth is defined as: Being in accordance with fact or reality, conformity with fact or reality, or being in accordance with real or actual things and events. Truth is fact. Truth is reality. Truth is actual or real events and things.

Just how do you go about finding the real Truth? I think it is best to start at the beginning. The basis for the real Truth of life must either come from God as the true Creator of all life, or it must come from some source other than God. The very basis for understanding the absolute Truth is your belief in God as the eternal and omnipotent Creator of the entire universe, the world, and all life, including human life. Just for a moment let’s compare the two opposing beliefs: Belief in God (Theism) and belief that there is no God (atheism).

The atheist does not believe in the existence of God and believes that all life, including human life, resulted from a chance occurrence within the universe where the earth simply came to exist as the result of a big bang. Additionally, by chance occurrence, the atmosphere on the earth simply came to exist in a form that supported life. The basic components of life simply came about by chance occurrence. These basic components came into a chance combination that created a living cell of some type. This living cell then began to divide simply by chance occurrence and then developed into a multi-celled organism that lived in warm water.

From this organism, a higher order of living organism developed over millions of years until it eventually became a sort of fish, then a sort of reptile, and then a sort of insect, then a sort of bird, eventually becoming a sort of mammal, which gradually developed (evolved) into an ape-like creature, which evolved into the human being. Humans then evolved into the people we are today. I even saw a program recently that claimed that the proof of the human relation to the lowly tadpole is shown by the fact that tadpoles sometimes hiccup. Humans also sometimes hiccup and so humans must have developed or evolved from the tadpole. Now isn’t that some brilliant thinking? I submit that it is simply an effort to deny God. Atheists grasp at anything to get their point across and have others believe their lies.

Now, there are many seemingly intelligent people living today who actually believe this. As absolutely ridiculous and impossible as this theory is, it has found a place in the minds of people that has come to be known as the Theory of Evolution. Many people who call themselves scholars and various other titles of scientists now refer to this simply as Evolution, refusing to concede that it is simply a theory and has never been proven, nor can ever be proven, because it is not true. Yet, it has come to be accepted as truth in our current society in the world by many people. This theory is even being taught to our young people as truth in our public schools in America and around the world.

The Theory of Evolution is a belief held by people who do not believe in God. I once had a person come to me after I had made this bold statement during a class that I was teaching. This person stated that she knew people who believed in the Theory of Evolution and also believed in God and that she really thought that Christian people could also support the Theory of Evolution. How deluded this young lady was. The Theory of Evolution has no place for God and His Truth in it. The very theory itself screams a denial of God, since all life is supposed to have developed without any creation being considered. Another philosophical person came to me and stated that evolution took place in spite of God and not due to God’s creation. He stated that he believed in the existence of God, but that he did not believe in God’s creation. My goodness, it is amazing just how deceived intelligent people can be. None of this is the Truth.

Consider now, if you would, that God is the great designer of the universe and life, and that His intelligent design has accounted for all of life as we know it. After all, can any reasonably intelligent person deny the wonder and amazing intricacies of our universe, our earth, and all of life; especially human life. It simply makes sense to realize that only Divine design can be responsible for the otherwise impossible existence of our earth and all of life. Even in the face of issues and questions that atheistic evolutionists present, God’s creation is the only truth that makes any sense at all.

Evolutionists will say that our earth is billions of years old and that the rocks and geographical structures of our universe such as other planets, stars, the sun, moon, etc., are too old to have been created. Well, did it ever occur to their intelligence that God, as the only God powerful and intelligent enough to create all of this, created it all with age. Just consider the fact that God spoke the universe into existence, and it well may have exploded into His existence by the power of His Word.

When God created the earth, it was with the mountains, oceans, rivers, plains, and all other geographical elements in place. The sun, the moon, and the stars were placed so strategically in relationship with our earth, that they actually give us life, just as God designed it. When God created the plant life on the earth, it was complete with mature trees and plants, divinely created with the capability of re-creation from seed. When God created the animal life on earth, He created adult animals of all species, from fish to reptiles, to insects, to birds, to mammals, and all in between. He created the adult animals with the divine gift of propagation, so that the animal species would be able to survive for as long as He has intended.

Has there been the extinction of some of the animal species? Certainly there has. Have there been changes in some of the animal species over the years due to environmental conditions? Absolutely! God has designed the animal world to be able to adapt and even mutate to some degree for His divine purpose of survival. When adaptation or mutation or migration does not take place in an animal species, that species dies. That is God’s Principle for Nature.

Even human beings were created by God with age. They were created on this earth as adults, not fetuses, or even infants. Man and woman were created as adults, with age and maturity, just as the universe, the earth, and all other life was created with age. You know the old philosophical question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well, that’s an easy one. The chicken came first. God created the mature animals so that they could multiply and provide food and clothing for His creation of humans. This is just another example of the amazing creation of God. As the writer of Psalm 19:1 reminds us; The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork!

I appeal to your reasonable intelligence: can you actually believe that the intricate and miraculous conception, embryonic development, birth, and maturational growth of you and me were by nothing more than chance occurrence? Let’s be reasonable.

Do you really want to know the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth? Believe the one who is the actual Truth: GOD. It really doesn’t matter what others believe. What you believe is what counts. It really doesn’t matter if people who are considered the smartest people on the planet believe in lies. What matters is whether or not you believe the Truth. Don’t be deceived and don’t be confused. There is only one Truth, and it comes from God and His Word. There can be no compromise when it comes to the real Truth.

The first truth you must realize and believe is the absolute existence of God and in His creation of the world and all life. Here is a true statement: It is not possible to truly believe in God and also believe in the Theory of Evolution. God did not just stand by and allow something as sacred as His creation of the universe, the earth, plants and animals, and mankind to simply occur by chance. There is Truth, as in the Truth of God, and there are lies, as in the Theory of Evolution, and other lies that Satan spreads throughout the world, such as Humanism and mankind’s ability to make himself whole and well for eternity without any Divine intervention or influence.

The first Truth for you to absolutely believe is in the existence of God as the Eternal, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent Creator of all things. The second Truth for you to hold in your life is that of God’s creation, along with His continual guidance and plan for His creation for all of eternity.

Another crucial Truth for you to grasp and believe is that of God’s eternal existence and His creation of the eternally existent soul in every human being (see Chapter 2). Here is a Truth from God, found in His Word, the Holy Bible. In Genesis 2:7 we read: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. When God created human man, He created him separate from the animals, and gave him a very special gift; the gift of the soul. Throughout God’s Word and throughout God’s relationship with mankind, we find that the human soul is the special factor that binds mankind to God. The soul is the God-consciousness" of all mankind. Every living human being becomes aware of God at some point in his or her life simply because God created each of us with an individual and unique soul. Our soul is eternal, and will exist forever: even after our physical death. But don’t misunderstand this Truth. While the soul of each person will continue to exist for all eternity, the soul will not necessarily exist in Heaven and the eternal peace of God, in His presence. The soul of the person who does not believe in God and who rejects the gift of God’s eternal life through repentance of sin and trust in Jesus Christ, will continue to exist, but in eternal suffering and anguish, apart from God and forever out of His presence. Every human soul will exist forever in one place or the other: Heaven or Hell.

The truth is that God fully intended mankind to live forever when He created the first man and woman. But, God did not create these first humans as robots. He created them with a free will and the ability to make individual decisions. After all, what good would it have done for God to simply create another, more highly advanced animal? God created humans for the express purpose of being in His image. God desired to have an intimate and loving relationship with His creation, so it was critical that humans be able to decide to love God individually and of each person’s own free will. God does not force us to love Him. He simply loves each of us in spite of our rebellion and sin against Him. Let’s examine this relationship from the beginning.

Adam and Eve were the first created man and woman. God gave them the perfect life where all of their needs were met and they would be able to live forever under God’s eternal care. But their lives had conditions placed on them, in order for them to be able to make their decisions of their own free will. Adam and Eve needed only to obey God and love Him for His gift of love and grace to them. But, as we see the Truth in God’s Word, the first humans disobeyed God, thus creating sin in the world for all of mankind thereafter. Adam and Eve actually brought sin into the world with their disobedience to God and their believing the lies of Satan and his evil. We can study the entire account of God’s creation of man and woman, their original lives in the perfect earthly environment, their fall from God’s eternal gift of physical life by their sin of disobedience, and their subsequent banishment from the perfect life in the Garden of Eden in God’s Word, the Holy Bible (Genesis, Chapters 2 and 3).

They were sentenced to Spiritual and physical death because of their disobedience to God. They had been told from the beginning that they must not eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As we will discuss in a later chapter, this tree was not magical; it was a point of decision and testing for Adam and Eve. It was a way God provided for them to actually have the choice of obeying Him or disobeying Him. It was within God’s Permissive Will for Adam and Eve to eat of this tree if they chose to do so. God did not want them to eat, just as he commanded, but He did give them the choice. When they did eat, disobeying God’s conditions, they gave up their eternal physical life, and their Spirit died. But their souls were not destroyed. Instead, the souls of men and women are born within each person, to exist for all eternity in either Heaven or Hell, depending on the decisions made by each person during their lifetime. The Spirit and physical body of each human being is not eternal any longer. The physical body is going to die. The Spirit must be born again in order to come into existence. You see, the Spirit is the only means by which any person can worship, communicate, and have a relationship with God. This is the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth.

The first sin by Adam and Eve brought about the moral ruin of the entire human race. This Truth is evident in the fact that death is universal. All people die—little children, moral people, religious people, and evil, depraved people. All die equally. For this universal effect of death, there must have been a universal cause. There was: the state of universal sin against God. The consequences of Adam’s sin was that the many were made sinners (Romans 5:19). By the offense of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One (Jesus Christ) the free gift came upon all men who would believe on Him unto justification of life (Romans 5:18).

In Scripture, Adam is a contrasting type of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45-47 and Romans 5:14-19). The first man, Adam, became a living soul. He was given life by God. The last Adam was a life-giving Spirit, being far above obtaining life, Jesus Christ was the very fountain of life, and He gives that life to others who would trust in Him. (See John 1:4, John 5:21, John 10:10, John 12:24, 1 John 5:12). The first man, Adam, was of the earth. The second man, Jesus Christ, is the Lord from Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47). Each man, Adam and Jesus Christ, is the head of a creation and these creations are also in contrast with each other. In Adam all die. In Christ shall all be made alive. The creation with Adam is of the flesh while the new creation with Jesus Christ is of the Spirit (John 3:6).

Perhaps the greatest Truth is the fact that God is willing to forgive each and every person and restore the eternal life that He originally intended each of us to have. God is willing to forgive each of us, but there are conditions to His perfect forgiveness and His gift of eternal life in Heaven with Him.

Let’s continue to examine God’s Eternal Principles.

Chapter Two

The Principle of Body and Soul

The greatest factor that separates humans from the highest order of animal life is the very thing that causes us to suffer emotionally more deeply and profoundly than any of the animals. The human being possesses a SOUL.

W hen God created man, He created him with an element that God designed to separate humans from animals. He gave man and woman the very element that would also enable humans to have a relationship with God. This element is the human SOUL. The soul gives people the depth of emotions belonging only to us. Many of the higher animals such as chimpanzees or apes, have a high degree of intelligence and even are able to show emotions similar to those of humans. But animals lack the depth and degree of innate development of intelligence possessed by humans. Many animals exhibit a reasonably high degree of intelligence and have even been found to show such emotions as joy, disappointment, anger, and even bereavement. But I don’t think anyone can argue the fact that no animal possesses the same level of intelligence and depth of emotions that we humans have. That is because God created humans at a much higher level than animals. God created animals for the purpose of providing for human needs. Humans were simply created to have dominion over the animals.

The soul is the major element implanted in humans that separates us from the animals. The truth is; animals do not possess a soul. The soul is the element God gave humans that makes the human being aware of God. Our soul gives us God consciousness. Our concept of God also gives us our concept of eternity. Your pet dog or cat, other loving animal companion, or any animal in all of nature, has no such concept. In fact, there is no evidence whatsoever, in God’s Word, or in nature itself that animals have a concept of eternity or God. God created animals totally separate from humans.

And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales (literally sea creatures), and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. The Truth given to us in the Holy Bible then continues: And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after its kind: and it was so. Continuing in Genesis 1:26: And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man (human being) in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God’s separate creation of animal life and human life gives us the truth of the principle of the soul. God did not create animals in His own image. He created only humans in His own image. God did not breathe the breath of life into animals and make them a living soul. God did breathe the breath of life into the human, and man became a living soul.

God simply did not give the animals a soul. He reserved that critical element of creation for human beings alone. Why: Because the soul is the vital element of humans that gives us consciousness and awareness of God and His eternity. Our soul is our critical and vital element that allows us to have a close personal relationship with God Himself. God made humans in His own image and obviously reserved that characteristic for humans in order for the human being to be aware of Him and to establish His means of communication with mankind. Nowhere do we see God establishing this type of relationship with any of the animal life. Nowhere do we see God giving animals the same consideration as He gives humans. Nowhere do we see any reference to an animal having any degree of eternal existence, as humans have. Nowhere do we see a reference to an animal having access to Heaven as we humans do. In fact, God purposely established the animals just above the plant life here on earth and gave mankind total dominion over all the earth and all the rest of His creation.

In order to fully understand just how the human being functions, it is critical to realize that every person is born into this world with a physical body and an eternal soul. God’s original creation design was to give mankind eternal life here on this earth, with both the physical body and the God-conscious soul. Adam sinned against God by disobeying Him and God’s judgment for this sin was physical death. God said: 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 (Genesis 2:16-17). To die in this sense has the basic concept of separation. It can mean physical separation, spiritual separation, and/or eternal separation. At the moment of their sin, Adam and Eve died spiritually, but because God was merciful to them, they did not die physically until later. But in keeping with God’s perfect judgment, they did eventually die their physical death as well, just as every person will.

Just what was so magical and special about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? There was nothing physically magical about it. It was a test from God for the faithfulness and loyal love of Adam and Eve toward God. Did they love God enough to fully obey Him and love Him of their own free will? Actually, just eating from the tree after God had forbidden it would give them the knowledge of evil, since evil can be defined as disobeying God. Adam and Eve already had the knowledge of good that God had given them. They just had no concept of evil until they disobeyed Him.

So, we see that humans lost their eternal life here on this earth when Adam and Eve sinned against God and brought His judgment of death upon them and, subsequently, upon us all. Now, because of their sin, each and every human is literally born into sin. Since Adam and Eve also died spiritually, the spirit within each human being is not in existence any longer simply upon physical birth. Therefore, all humans are born with their physical body and with their soul. We will all die the physical death (see Hebrews 9:27). We cannot escape it. Physical death is a consequence of sin (Genesis 3:9) and is universal to all people, just as sin itself is universal to all people (Romans 5:12-14). Physical death affects the body only, and is not the end of existence or consciousness.

We see an example of this conscious existence in both suffering and comfort in an account given in the Bible found in the Gospel of Luke 16:19-31. Jesus Christ tells us the account of a certain rich man who wore lavish clothing and ate the best foods, and a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who was laid at the city gate, full of sores, and begging for scraps of food. Even dogs came by him and licked his sores. He was in agony and torment during a large part of his life. But the beggar had faith in God and when he died, he was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell, the rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And the rich man cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus; that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, do you remember in your lifetime how you received your good things, and Lazarus received only evil things. But now he is comforted and you are tormented. Abraham went on to explain that besides all this, there is fixed between us and you, a great gulf, so that they who would want to pass from there to here cannot. Neither can anyone here pass to where you are. In this account we see the truth of the conscious existence of the souls of men and women after physical death. We also see the existence of the comforting peace of Heaven and the torment and burning suffering of Hell. Both Heaven and Hell are real places, my friend. Don’t be mistaken about that. The existence of your soul for all eternity is a very real Truth. Don’t be mistaken about that. Your eternal soul will exist in one of two different places: Heaven or Hell. They are both very real.

The physical body is a physical structure designed by God and made up of natural elements, but functioning in amazing ways. The physical human brain alone is a creation that cannot be duplicated by all of the scientific technology in existence. It is simply foolishness to conclude that the amazing human being is a result of accidental development. Even the most intricate computers cannot duplicate the emotional states of the human being. The emotion of love, for example, can never be duplicated. The human body is simply the most wondrous and amazing creation in the universe. God fully intended it to be this way.

The physical body is made up of internal organs, external physical features, systems of support for life, and the all-important brain. The physical functioning of a person includes the voluntary and involuntary processes that regulate every moment of our lives; consciously, unconsciously, and subconsciously. Our physical senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight give us our association with the world around us. Our sense of equilibrium, or balance, has even been included by many scientists as a physical sixth sense. All of these physical features work together to make us the physical individual we are.

The physical brain, being the primary consciousness control center, not only controls our voluntary physical actions, but also serves as the center for control of most of our involuntary processes as well. Our brain controls the entire process we refer to as thinking. Thinking is processing information we receive from our environment and then applying reason and organization to the processes and information. It may seem an oversimplification to say that the brain is the control center of the body. In fact, it is through our thinking process that we experience sensations such as our emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger, elation, guilt, depression, etc. are all products of our thinking process. Some people become extremely angry over a situation or occurrence that some other person might find to be very trivial, producing an emotion of total ambivalence. One person might become very sad over an incident that could actually create the emotion of happiness in another person. I once knew of a situation where a man had a dog that was extremely territorial and protective of the man and his family and property. The neighbors found the dog to be a constant threat as the dog growled and snapped at anyone other than the family that came near the yard or house. The family owning the dog loved it very much. One day the dog came loose from a chain holding it in the yard, ran to chase a vehicle and was run over and killed. The family owning the dog became very sad, while most of the neighbors were at least relieved, if not actually happy over the situation. The perception and thinking process of the various people produced varying emotions within each individual in the exact same situation.

The critical point to understand is that our emotions are a product of our thinking processes and our thinking is a product of our brain function, which is physical in nature. Any person’s thinking process, and therefore emotions, can be fooled and made to be mistaken. You may think you are a Christian when you actually have never truly repented of sin and trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master, committing and submitting your life to Him and giving up your selfish motivations that lead to sin in your life. You think with your brain, and that is part of your physical being. You may feel that you are a Christian, having lived a pretty clean life and not sinning a great deal. Your parents may have raised you to go to church and to pray. While this is really good, it does not make you a true Christian.

You feel with your emotions and your emotions can be fooled and manipulated. How often have you heard a speaker that really excited your emotions? Maybe the speaker motivated you to excitement and a desire to act a certain way. Maybe the speaker motivated you to tears and sadness in his or her presentation. These are all emotions and many speakers play on people’s emotions in order to gain their own selfish goals. Your emotions are controlled by your brain and your thinking process and that is also a part of your physical being.

But, the great principle for your eternal consideration is that you can absolutely know that you are a Christian and that God is your Heavenly Father. You can know that you will live forever in Heaven when you die. In order to truly know, you must know in your Spirit (see Chapter 3). Your soul gives you consciousness of God and your physical processes, including your thinking, gives you the ability to reason and to decide for yourself as to what you will do about Jesus Christ in your life. But, your Spirit gives you the relationship with God that in turn gives you eternal life and saves you from the torment of Hell. When you apply all of God’s Principles for Eternity to your life, you will find that you are born again of the Spirit and that your Spirit will bear witness with the Holy Spirit of God that you are His child (Romans 8:16). You will then know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are God’s child and that you have His special gift of eternal life from that point forward.

Please listen and understand; you are born with a body and soul. You do not possess a Spirit until you are born again of the