Revelation 1:18  Sting of Death Mark

Revelation 1:18

 And the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The wages of sin are death, but through grace, eternal life is a gift from Jesus Christ. John 3:16 and Romans 6:23 both say God gives life to the believer, and the rest perish in death. “John 3:16 is the gospel in a nutshell,” the late Billy Graham said many times. But so many only understand half of the scripture likewise, with Romans 6:23. God knows this, and so does Satan. Sadly, humans, only a few understand those Bible passages. The word hell does appear in the Old Testament of some English Bibles, but it means the grave, not a place of everlasting tormenting fire. The Hebrew word Sheol is written in the Old Testament, meaning the empty darkness of the grave. Job even describes it.  

Job 17:12 They make night into day, saying, ”The light is near,” in the presence of darkness. 13 If I hope for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness; 14 If I call to the grave, ”You are my father”; To the maggot, ”my mother and my sister”;

To perish does not mean to have life or to be living; it means the opposite, which is death. Living life is a reward the Lord God can give, and only He can take it away. On the day of judgment, the Lord rewards His loyal servants with eternal life and the wicked reward of death. The best way to explain this is by using Genesis chapter 1 and how God created living life from empty darkness. 

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “”Let there be light””; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

Darkness still exists, even after God said let there be light, but the earth is not the kingdom of heaven. The heavenly kingdom of the Lord has no darkness, but it has no sun, moon, or even stars. I have attended many funerals in my 50 years of living, and all the bodies I have seen, seem lifeless. Anyone who has seen dead families, friends even enemies will notice they have no light inside their lifeless, dead eyes. Job even said Sheol would give up the sleeping dead when the Lord calls for them to wake up. No matter what lies we tell ourselves or others, death is being dead and not living. Yet the wages of sin are still death, but God’s grace gives eternal life through Jesus. 

Job 14:12 So a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens no longer exist, He will not awake nor be woken from his sleep. 13 “”Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me! 14 If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my relief comes.

All humans, mankind die; that is a debt we all pay once. Accepting Jesus as the Son of God and believing in His word gives everlasting life. Hades or permanent Sheol is given to the naïve sinner. The righteous will live, and the wicked will perish. The Lord is the only light source in the kingdom of heaven. In Hades or Hell, there is nothing but the emptiness of darkness. The loving God wants people to repent and not perish. But when judgment day comes, His grace for the sinners who have not repented time is over. The time is here and now, brothers and sisters, to repent and believe in the gospel because the kingdom of God is at hand. God bless you all, the giver of life and death; Jesus Christ loves you, and so do I. His humble bondservant, Samuel Jerry Head.  

Daniel 12:1 “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.