Number 7: “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust”

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19)

He could have lived forever, but as the result of Adam sinning in the Garden of Eden, he is condemned to return to the earth … out of which he was made by God (Genesis 2:7).

And yes, the same applies to all of us today … the body rots into the ground. However, Christians, having had their soul circumcised from the sins of the flesh (Colossian 2:11) will spend eternity in heaven … and that’s all that counts!

NUMBER 8: “At death’s door”

“Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?” (Job 38:17)

We use this phrase when someone is about to die. Job was asked many questions by the LORD … this was one of them.

For a Christian, death’s door is the door to the door of eternal life with Christ in heaven … and as to death we can say “Where is thy sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

This is opposite to the world on TV … where everyone is obsessed with saving their physical lives here on earth. As it has been said “Anything on TV is about life without Christ … made by non-Christians for non-Christians.”

Christians look forward to death ... and/or the blessed hope of his coming (Titus 2:13) … whichever comes first.  

NUMBER 9: “At peace with the world”

“When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)

An unbeliever finds it hard not to be at peace with a proper Christian … and finds it hard to understand why this should be the case.

It’s God … that intervenes in the situations that arise. Reading Romans chapter 13, we see the Christians look to obey governments and those in authority, and this makes Christians easier to get along with.

The explanation is that a Christian, when confronted with problems and difficulties, simply take them to the Lord and God fixes all things for good for those who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

But of course this does not mean that Christians will not have enemies … far from it … but because the Christian is at peace with God … God will ‘force’ people to be a peace with him.

 




Number 10:
To be at your wits end

Number 11: “Baptism of fire”

Harley Hitchcock
January 2023

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