"From henceforth." From this time forth. From the time that man begins to make himself God. From this moment those who die in the Lord are blessed. In the midst of the fire of judgment they will sing and dance in the height of Zion. They will enter rest. Their works of righteousness and holiness will accompany them wherever they go.

Nothing can hurt them. Antichrist cannot touch them. The False Prophet cannot deceive them. Satan himself cannot overthrow them.

Why not? Because it is not they who are living but Christ who is living in them. In order to conquer them, Satan would have to be able to suppress the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Let us ask a question.

Why would God create man on the earth, give him access to many kinds of things, relationships, experiences, and then command him to deny himself?

This sounds like poor planning on God's part.

Why create little gods from the dust of the ground and then say to them, "Take up your cross and follow me"? "Present your body a living sacrifice to Me"?

The answer is, men are just that—little gods.

There are heavenly beings who are so tremendously large and intelligent, so filled with glory that we would be unable to stand in their presence. Some of these do God's will. Others joined with Satan in the rebellion against the Father.

God, in His unfathomable wisdom, reached down to the dust of the earth and from it created little gods—creatures who one day will judge the angels, who one day will be served by the most exalted of God's creatures.

What next?

The predictable—the first little god born on the earth murdered the second because of envy.

The little gods had to be given the chance to do whatever they wanted, although the Lord realized that the result would be six thousand years of agony as the dust-gods strove to glorify themselves.

Then God presented to these inexperienced divinities the only possible solution to their madness: "Take up your cross of self-denial so that I may become one with you. Let Me bring forth My life in you. You can realize your foreordained destiny only by entering My death and My life."

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6)

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24)

It is the story of the prodigal son, the story of man. The Father gives us our inheritance. We end up with the pigs, having lost our inheritance in riotous living. We come to ourselves and return home—to the Father. We have learned that we do not have the wisdom to use properly what has been given us.

For two thousand years the Christian churches have attempted to serve God by using His grace and gifts to build a tower that reaches to Heaven. The same attempt is being made today and soon will be supported with signs and wonders.

The "Christian" leaders are busily engaged in teaching Christians how to live, how to profit by the grace and gifts of God, how to find victory and success in the present world.

They should be teaching the believers how to die in the Lord!

To be continued.