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Physical Immortality and Religion

A Biblical Basis for Physical Immortality

by Charles Brown

I know that many people would say that physical immortality is "far out," over the top, or over the edge. And yet, amazingly, many of these same people consider themselves to be good Christians or good Jews.

Why is this amazing? Because the Jewish and Christian religions clearly state that death will eventually be abolished! All the prophets foresaw that death would be abolished with the coming of the Messiah.

Yet you don't hear much spoken on this subject by the current religious structures. I dare say you won't hear many Sunday morning sermons on the subject of physical immortality. Yet the foundation for physical immortality can be clearly found in the Bible, as we will see.

And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

Genesis 5:5

And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

Genesis 5:27

The fifth chapter of Genesis lists Adam and nine of his male descendants. They are all remarkably long-lived, compared to today's standards. Adam, even after death began working in him, lived to an age of nine hundred and thirty years. Methuselah, who is the oldest individual recorded in the Bible, lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine.

Some people try to explain away these great life spans by saying that the calendars have changed since Adams's time. Perhaps they have - but by how much? I don't believe they have changed enough to make an age of 900 years then equivalent to an age of 70 years now.

And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Genesis 18:1014

And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

Genesis 21:1-2

Even if the calendars were changed, we have the record that Sarah gave birth to Isaac when she was no longer the way of women. when she was told that she would conceive, she laughed at the idea. But a year later, she did conceive, and she returned to the days of her youth. She later tried to tell everybody that she hadn't laughed, but there was a visitation and she was reminded that she had.

Well, a lot of people may be laughing today, but hopefully they will get pregnant enough that there is a shift in the bodies, and we'll all be laughing together.

You see, we have records in the Bible of people living to be hundreds of years old, of giving birth in their nineties. why is this important to us today? Because if this ability once existed, I want to know what happened to it. Where did it go?! feel it's in the memory molecules of the body, that it is retained there in the DNA. But it has been suppressed in us, because we're all born into death-oriented cultures, death-oriented systems - we are programmed to believe that death is inevitable.

Don't be afraid to look at these possibilities. There is nothing to be afraid of - immortality is not going to be imposed upon anyone. You do have the right to die if you want to. But what have you got to lose? If I'm right, then you have everything to gain. If I'm wrong, then we're all going to die anyway. So let's explore together. Let's be open to exploring new horizons, new vistas, new dimensions of living.

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness.

Then he is gracious unto him, and saith: Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth.

Job 33:22-25

I like that. This is Elihu, speaking to Job. Notice that he is not referring to a spiritual afterlife: he speaks of the freshness of the flesh. Hopefully there will begin to be more interpreters, more messengers, who can stir a cellular awakening in humankind, so that they can begin to remember their true heritage.

For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day:

the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

Isaiah 38:18-19

You see, there are many passages in the Bible like this, that speak of the value of life, and the finality of death. These verses contradict the notion-popular in many religious circles - that our physical life here on earth is a mere sorrowful prelude to a joyous afterlife.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die....

Hebrews 9:27

I can recall my mother telling me, when I was a child, how God had healed someone of an incurable disease. I remember asking then, "Well, Mother, if God can heal them, why can't he keep them alive? why do they have to get something else all over again and die?" And she told me, "Well, honey, it's appointed unto man once to die. It's all in God's plan."

Many people cite this verse in defense of death. when you receive that interpretation, you're brainwashed, you're programmed, so that's how you carry on. Later, though, I realized that this verse is usually quoted completely out of context. There are only two places in the entire Bible that speak of an appointment with death. Let's look at the first, in the Old Testament.

This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

Psalms 102:18-20

Here, you see, we are talking about freeing the prisoners from their appointment with death. Now, let's go back to the New Testament, and look at this other reference in context.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Hebrews 9:24-28

Now you can see that this entire passage is comparing different time periods, comparing what was with what is, and what is with what shalI be.

These verses begin by comparing the practices of Christ to the previous practices of priests. They continue the comparison, though, by contrasting the current condition of man with the future. The appointment with death is in the present tense: "it is appointed...." But then the scripture goes on to say Christ shall appear a second time "without sin unto salvation." So the appointment with death is only mentioned to contrast it with a future state in which sin and death will not be necessary, fulfilling the first reference from Psalms. This future state, of course, is to be heralded by the second coming of Christ.

For me, that second appearance of Christ has to be on a cellular level. If death is working in you, then the second coming has to be something that happens on a biological level. People are looking outside and waiting for something to happen. I feel that the second coming is of the Christ life within the cells and atoms of each human body. The awakening of this Christ life then causes the very DNA to change, until there's a total cellular shift within the human flesh.

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: 0 death, I will be thy plagues; 0 grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Hosea 13:14

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

Isaiah 25:7-8

These passages sound exciting to me. I think they pretty much speak for themselves.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The Revelation 20:14

What is this lake of fire? I was taught, from a fundamentalist background, that hell is the lake of fire. So it amazed me one day to discover a verse that says death and hell would be cast into the lake of fire. Because if hell were the lake of fire, how could it be cast into itself? It didn't make any sense.

What I discovered was that, to me, the lake of fire is the light of God, revealed in the cells and atoms of the flesh.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Then said the leaders unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

John 8:51-53

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

John 8:58

What is Jesus talking about here? He says that if a person keeps his saying, he shall never see death - he will be loosed from his appointment with death. He is not talking simply about a life after death, for he says that you need never see death. And the people to whom he is speaking make it clear that they are talking about physical death, because they refer to the deaths of Abraham, and the prophets, who would certainly be enjoying an afterlife, if anyone was.

It came as a surprise to me when I realized that Jesus had been teaching physical immortality. Until then, I had thought he was only teaching eternal life for the soul.

Now notice that, when challenged, Jesus defends his position in the above passage by saying that he existed before Abraham. Now you might say, "But Chuck, that's different - he was the son of God." But listen to this:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus;

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

Philippians 2:5-6

If you're going to allow that mind of Christ to operate and work within you, then I should think that we would be moving out of the same life, the same power, the same intelligence, the same mentality as Christ, so that we then become the light of the world. And if we're not the light of the world, then we are walking here in darkness, waiting for the light to come. But I say to you that the light has come to those willing to receive it in the cells and atoms of their bodies, and it's up to us to be that manifestation on this planet.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?

1 Corinthians 15:51-55

In this passage, Paul talks about raising the dead. But I don't think he's speaking about the dead out in the cemetery - I think he's talking about the walking dead. Because if you can't get the walking dead to wake up, I don't think you're going to have much luck raising the ones already in the ground.

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

John 11:21-26

I want to touch upon this mystery of the resurrection. There are so many people waiting for the Last Day. When I travel to Israel, I find that many in Jerusalem bury the bodies of their loved ones facing in a certain direction, so that when the Messiah comes, they're going to be the first to pop out of the graves.

But you see, in the passage above, when Martha alludes to her brother's resurrection at the Last Day, Jesus replies by saying that he is the resurrection, and that whoever believes in him shall never die. So you see that Jesus is not telling Martha to wait for the last day: he is saying that physical immortality is available now.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:59-60

What did Jesus mean, when he said to let the dead bury the dead? He was making a distinction between the walking dead, and those that followed him to preach the kingdom of God. Again, he is not so concerned about what will happen to the dead at some future date, but about who is really alive now.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo therel for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Luke 17:20-21

Again, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God will not come for everyone, all at once, but that this kingdom exists within each person. It is up to each individual to make it manifest.

Some people focus so much on their spiritual life, that they seem to surrender all responsibility for what is happening on the planet. They become so heavenly minded, that they are no earthly good. I'm not concerned about spiritual mastery. I'm concerned about waking up and being responsible here.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 1:26

We are to be a family of human beings, here on this planet to inhabit and dress and take care of the earth.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

I am that bread of life.

Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

John 6:47-51

What we have failed as human beings to realize is that there's a oneness of humankind to come about. And from that oneness, there is a life and an energy - a manna, as it were - so that we nourish each other in our aliveness. This is what makes the difference. We're connected then as parts of a living organism. We're not just lone identities, each seeking immortality on our own. The greatest nutrient that we can give is one another.

What we see happening around the world today are various symptoms of the lack of respect for human life. There's not a respect for humankind on this planet. The body is always dispensable, because as long as we accept that it is appointed unto man once to die, we will never do anything to bring about a union and a oneness here on the planet.

It is important that we begin to be responsible, that we don't wait for God to come and do it. We must become the instruments of God here on the planet. It is important that we become the Christ life in manifestation. Then we have the power to transform this planet, to make it a great place to be, to create a quality of life that has never been before.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

John 14:12

Let's do these greater works together.

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