Truth of Life

The Apostles’ Thoughts About the Soul

“What will happen when a man dies?” “Does a man really have a soul?” “Where does a man go after he dies?” These have been the concerns and unsolved questions of numerous people for a very long time. Countless people have thought about the true meaning of their existence and studied it but nobody has been able to find the answer. They have created various kinds of theories, ideas and philosophies only with their eagerness to know, without realizing who created them. However, the knowledge about the soul, taught by Christ, allows mankind to know who they are, and it teaches the value of their existence and the purpose of their life exactly. 1. The appearance of the soul in…

Preparing for the Eternal World

The Bible says, “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field” (Ps 103:15). This shows how short and vain human life is. However, there is a new kind of life after our life on this earth; we are to return to the place we came from. When this life is over, everyone must go to the afterlife. Now, let us take some time to think about how much time and effort we are putting into preparing for the kingdom of heaven we are going to. A servant’s advice Once upon a time, there was a royal servant who won the king’s favor. The servant was good and faithful, and he was also…

God Dwells in the City of Zion, Being in the Flesh

One of the things that all Christians, who hope for salvation and eternal life, must not overlook is to meet God. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Through those words, we can understand that we are able to meet God only when God is near to us. Then, let’s find out when is the time God is near, where we can meet God, and how God makes us His people and gives us salvation. The City of Zion – the true church where God dwells Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode . . . There the LORD…

The Sabbath of the New Covenant

God, who wrote the Bible for our salvation, warned against adding to or subtracting from His words at the conclusion of Revelation; this allows us to understand how much authority the word of God has. To receive God’s promise of salvation, we should cherish each and every word of the Bible without missing a single verse. There are many regulations in the New Covenant: the Passover, the Sabbath, the feasts, the veil, and baptism. Among the regulations of the New Covenant, let us study about God’s will through the Sabbath. The Sabbath Was Established at the Creation The Sabbath is the commemoration day of the Creator, which originated from the day God rested after He created all things in the…

The Sabbath and God’s Salvation

We will discover many precious things if we take a moment and look around us. However, because they are always next to us, we often disregard and take them for granted. Likewise, we may neglect the precious truth of the Sabbath because we have grown accustomed to keeping it. When God created all things in the beginning, He worked for six days, rested on the seventh day, and made it holy. God proclaimed the Ten Commandments 3,500 years ago and wrote on the stone tablets, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Since God inscribed this command with His own hand, there is no doubt that the Sabbath is essential for our salvation. Even though the Sabbath is very…

What Is Baptism?

Marriage is the beginning of a new life for a couple. At the wedding ceremony, they vow to share joys and sorrows as husband and wife for the rest of their lives. Likewise, baptism is the first step in coming to God and the ceremony for making a covenant with God. Through baptism, God forgives all our sins, and we promise to turn away from our sinful ways of life. We also promise to live as God’s people serving Him faithfully for the rest of our lives. Baptism is the turning point of our life because all our past sins and transgressions are forgiven. After baptism, we should follow the teachings of God until we go to Heaven. This is…

Where Did We Humans Come From and Where Are We Going?

Ever since human beings came to inhabit the earth, civilization has been continuously improving. However, there are still innumerable mysteries that humans have not been able to solve. Among them, it is the truth of the human soul that so many people throughout all ages and countries have been most curious to know: Where were we before we were born on this earth? Is death the end of everything or is there another world after death? Unable to find the answers to all these questions of life, they are vaguely afraid of death; since they do not know where they are going, they are not sure what the future holds for them. God took pity on those human beings who…

Passover, the Key That Opens the Gates of Heaven

There are many churches in the world that say they believe in God. However, only the Church of God celebrates the feast of the New Covenant Passover, which contains the promise of salvation. As the Bible says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos 4:6), many people do not understand the Bible correctly and regard the Passover as something trivial and unnecessary. They think that the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to them automatically if they just believe in God. Through the words of the Bible, let us study about the meaning of the Passover to discern truth from falsehood. Those Who Shut the Kingdom of Heaven in Men’s Faces When Jesus came 2,000 years ago, the…

Disaster and the Passover

We hear the news of numerous disasters on a daily basis. Among many kinds of disasters, what is the greatest disaster? To save us from a very specific disaster, God prescribed the Passover as medicine for mankind. Then, what is this disaster? Disasters occurring in the world have no effect on us after we die. However, according to the Bible, there is a disaster that lasts for eternity; even though people want to end their extreme torment and die, it is impossible. For this reason, God, who earnestly desires to save us from such a horrible disaster, has given us the New Covenant Passover. The Everlasting Disaster Many people throughout the world are suffering from unforeseen accidents and natural disasters.…

The Resurrection of Life & the Resurrection of Condemnation

Let’s study about the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation, through the truth Jesus taught to His disciples, and find out the way to participate in the resurrection of life in this age. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” Jn 5:28–29 Through the words of Jesus, we can understand that there are the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation. The Apostle Paul too testified that there would be two types of resurrection. . . . and I have…

The Bible calls Jesus the “High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek.” What does it mean?

The Meaning of Order The word order from the “Order of Melchizedek” refers to the order of performing priestly duty. In the earthly temple, many priests took turns performing the same priestly duty. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course . . . Lk 1:8, KJV The Order of Aaron and the Order of Melchizedek In the Bible there are two orders of priesthood: the Order of Aaron and the Order of Melchizedek. Aaron, the older brother of Moses, became the first high priest after the Law of Moses was established in the Old Testament times. The Order of Aaron is an expression that represents the priesthood…

What Is the Composition of the Bible? Some people insist that the Bible has more than 66 books. Is that true?

The Bible we have today is a collection of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. This collection of 66 books is known as the “canon” of Scripture. The term “canon” is derived from the Hebrew word קָנֶה(kaneh) which means “reed.” Reeds were often used as measuring rods, so the word “reed” came to mean “a criterion or standard.” Later, the word “canon” was used to refer to the 66 books of the Bible, which is the standard of faith (R.K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 327-328). Other books excluded from the Canon are called the “Apocrypha,” which refers to the books that are not included in the Hebrew Bible.…

Clouds and the Flesh

In the Old Testament, there were many prophecies concerning the coming of Christ. Two thousand years ago, however, it was very difficult for the religious leaders to accept Jesus as Christ because He was to come in secret. That is why the Apostle John wrote as follows: “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist” (1 Jn 4:2-3). This shows that at that time it was difficult to believe that Christ came in the flesh. Therefore, one of the most important ideas which the saints of the early Church had was that Christ came…

On the day when Jesus was born, there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks. December is winter, but is it possible to graze sheep in Israel?

Israel, located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Desert, has a shorter spring and autumn, and longer summer and winter, and it is characterized by a huge daily temperature range. That is because it is situated in the region where the Mediterranean climate meets the subtropical climate. Winter is the rainy season in Israel, so it rains a lot and the temperature falls off. So people move their sheep into the sheep pen at least by October so that they can go through winter there. Therefore, it is hard to keep watching over the flock of sheep in the fields at night in midwinter, December. The birth of Jesus When we read the Bible, we can find out that…

It is said that Christmas, celebrated throughout the world on December 25, is not the birthday of Jesus. Is that true?

It is a widely accepted opinion that December 25 has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus. This is a fact that has already been known publicly through church history and mass media. Then, how come the day, which has nothing to do with Jesus, has been changed to the birthday of Jesus? Now, let's trace its origin. Origin of Christmas December 25 was originally the Roman winter solstice to celebrate the birth of the sun. At that time, sun worshipers—followers of Mithraism which was widespread in Rome—believed that the sun was born on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Since the solstice marks the turning point when the days begin to grow longer, they thought…

Christmas Is Not the Birthday of Jesus?

As soon as December comes, Christmas trees are everywhere and shops display Christmas presents. People look very excited. Brother Question, you know that Christmas is not the birthday of Jesus, don’t you? Yes. That was even on TV. But people don’t regard Christmas as a religious day. It’s more like a holiday when everybody enjoys together. That’s right. However, December 25 is the sun-god’s birthday. Commemorating such a day is clearly an act of worshiping a pagan god. I was surprised when I first heard that. What happened? How did people come to celebrate the birthday of Jesus on the birthday of the sun-god? As Christianity spread beyond Judea to other countries, a church was established in Rome. At first,…

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Jesus definitely said on the cross, “It is finished.” If then, we don’t need to keep the regulations such as the Sabbath and the Passover any longer, do we?

Do the words, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30), which Jesus said before He died on the cross mean that we don’t need to do anything? Jesus’ words mean that what He had to do on the earth at His first coming was finished, not what we had to do was finished. If we study what Jesus fulfilled, we can understand that God’s people must keep His laws such as the Sabbath and the Passover more holy. Jesus was sacrificed as a ransom One of the important works, which Jesus had to do on the earth, was to give His life as a ransom for the sinners who were given the punishment of hell and were destined to die because of…

The Kingdom of Heaven with Only Father and the Kingdom of Heaven with Both Father and Mother

Recently, many people have been asking us about God the Mother after seeing press releases or watching videos which introduce the Church of God. We are also hearing news about people from all around the world who are coming into the way of truth, although they had previously misunderstood the Church of God or did not know about the church fully. A member, who wanted to preach about God the Mother, met with one of his friends and asked, “Do you want to go to Heaven?” Then his friend answered, “Yes, of course, I do.” He asked his friend again, “If you want to go to the Kingdom of Heaven, would you rather be where there is only Father or…

The Bible says that Jesus will come in clouds or in blazing fire when He comes to this earth again. Does it mean that He will come in clouds and judge the world with fire?

Most Christians think that the day of the Last Judgment is the day when Jesus, who came as the Savior 2,000 years ago, comes to this earth again. They commonly imagine the scene where Jesus comes on the clouds floating in the sky and execute judgment by fire immediately and the saved people enter the kingdom of heaven. However, the Bible does not teach that. Jesus’ coming in clouds and His coming in blazing fire The appearance of Jesus who comes on the clouds is different from that of Jesus who appears in blazing fire. So, the time and purpose of His first coming is also different from those of His second coming. “At that time the sign of the…

Each religion has a different point of view on the afterlife. What does the Bible say about it?

People have wanted to know about the afterlife for a long time, but there has been no way to know about it clearly. So, they have imagined the afterlife in their own way and have created countless religions. Confucianism insists that the human soul temporarily survives after death and then perishes. Buddhism insists that people transmigrate in the Six Realms when they die. Islam imitates Christianity and insists that there is a heaven and hell. However, that is it—they cannot give any evidence to support their insistence. Then, what does the Bible tell us? Through numerous prophecies and their fulfillments, God has clearly testified that the Bible is fact, and based upon the foundation of His testimony He has clearly…