EPHEMERAL

What is life?

Whence does it come and where does it go?

What is observable and evident is that life starts and ends.

Cells develop from the moment of conception. From then on, human beings start hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting.

Survival is their primal need. It is in their DNA.

Experiencing life and learning from these experiences accompanies humans between life’s beginning and end.

They interact with the external environment and others.

They think, feel, and express their thoughts through actions.

Actions reflect choices.

Choices have consequences.

Consequences are perceived as positive or negative, depending on each person’s convictions and values.

And here is when life is no longer simply biological, but thoughts become questions:

Does it matter how and why we act the way we do?

How can we determine whether our actions and their consequences are good or evil, wise or foolish?  

What is good? What is evil?

What drives our actions?

Are they all just a means to an end for the here and now?

Is there a deeper and transcendent truth before and beyond our lives?

What is natural and what is supernatural?

Life is ephemeral in our perishable bodies, yet death may not be the end of life.

It is not too late to think, ask, choose, and act.

What we teach ourselves and our children is a choice we make each day.

What will become of you after your last breath?

Genesis 1:1

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

John 3:16

"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 5:24

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."

John 6:27

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

John 12:24-26

"²⁴ Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ He that loves his life will lose it, and he that hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

Romans 1:20

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,"

Romans 6:20-23
"²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

"⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Colossians 1:15

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

Revelation 20:12

"And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

Revelation 21:1

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea."

Revelation 21:4-5

"⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. ⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.'"

Revelation 21:6-8

"⁶ And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. ⁷ He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. ⁸ But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'"