WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?

(part 6)

Before we can comprehend man's eternal destiny, we have to understand what man is now. We are simple physical beings composed of the chemical substances of earth. In contrast, all ancient religions taught the error that man is a non-material spirit confined for a certain period of time in a physical flesh. They added that man has a dual composition, that a human body is both a physical body and an immortal soul. This resulted that most people in the present believe that after our physical body dies, our supposedly "soul" will continue living as a conscious entity apart from the body. This idea that we have a soul that is immortal is never taught in the Holy Scriptures. On the contrary, the Bible clearly tell us that our 'soul' is mortal rather than immortal because it can die. The words commonly translated 'soul' in the Holy Scriptures are the Hebrew word 'nephesh' in the Old Testament and the Greek word 'psuche' in the New Testament. Both of these words refer simply to physical and mortal creatures.

Plain immortality, according to the Bible, is not something that we already possess. Only God alone has immortality.

Man is mortal! Human life is temporary! We are physical beings who can die; we cease to exist. Our life doesn't reside in some supposedly immortal soul. When we die, our consciousness ceases; it doesn't continue in an altered form. However, there is a spiritual element to man's existence. Human brains are physically quite similar to some animal brains, yet people have vast higher abilities. The Bible reveals that the difference between the human mind and the animal brain is the spiritual essence God included in the makeup of human beings.

"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him?" (1Corinthians 2:11)

Compared with animal and plant life, human beings are created by God with a spiritual dimension for a much higher purpose. Several biblical passages reveal that the reason for human life is preparation for an infinitely higher level of existence, which includes immortal spirit life.

Death doesn't have to be a mystery. Upon death, life ceases. It does not continue in some other form. A dead person does not transmigrate to be reincarnated as another human being. Since the time of Adam & Eve, everyone has died a physical death, even Jesus Christ. But death is not the end. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 15:22: "For as in Adam we all die, so in Christ we all will be made alive."

Even though our life is temporary, God has not left us without hope and a greater purpose for living. (continued)