THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD THAT EVERY PERSON IS BORN WITH
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: “Die Godsbesef waarmee elke mens gebore word.”
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote to me the following:
"I just want to know: What happened to the people's souls who lived before Christ?"
Did they go to Heaven or Hell?
Here is how I understand this matter from the Bible:
Before Christ, there was the Mosaic Law, but right from the beginning of the creation there was within each person what we call; a ‘God consciousness’ – because people were created in God's image.
For example, Paul writes about this consciousness as follows:
ROM 2:14 “Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know His law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.”
ROM 2:15 “They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”
Paul, who in my opinion is the greatest apostle of all times and to whom our Lord has entrusted the bulk of the New Testament, writes a bit earlier in the same letter to the Romans the following:
ROMANS 1:19-21
19 “They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them.”
20 “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
21 “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.”
So – Could the people who lived before Jesus Christ have gone to Heaven or Hell?
Then the answer would be –
Yes, they definitely could have gone to Heaven or Hell.
They would have been able to go to Heaven or Hell even before the existence of the Mosaic Law and besides for Abraham and others where we have a testimony within the Word of God, I will share with you an example of such an incident:
GENESIS 5: 22-24
22 “After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.”
23 “Enoch lived 365 years,”
24 “walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.”
Within the period where the Mosaic Law came into operation, I would like to share with you another example, except for the famous incident of Elijah who ascended to Heaven whilst alive, where it is clear where people went to heaven during the Mosaic period:
We read:
MATTHEW 17:1-3
1 “Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.”
2 “As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light.”
3 “Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.”
Moses and Elijah lived hundreds of years ago during the Mosaic period and they also lived hundreds of years apart from each other – but here they are old friends.
For those who were wondering about this, in this Scripture you have just read we also see that we immediately enter our eternal destiny, Heaven or Hell, after we lived out our lives on earth.
If you want to read more about this subject, you can ask me to send you the following writings that I wrote:
“What happens to me after the grave?” and
“What happens to us during judgement on that great Day?”
How wonderful to have this certain knowledge:
Just as our Lord revealed Himself before the period of the Mosaic Law and was found by people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, etc, He also revealed Himself and was found after the proclamation of the Mosaic Law by millions of other people and are still revealing Himself today and are being found by people wherever they are if they really want to repent and adopt Him, Jesus Christ, as their Saviour.
I share with you two instances in the Word of God to demonstrate what I mean:
He will make Himself be known through them, even if He has to send a vision of an angel, as is the case with Cornelius, where he was told what to do and then he, himself went to visit Peter to prepare for the task ahead of him.
You can read this wonderful Scripture by yourself in Acts 10 from verse 1.
I will quote only one part of this Scripture:
ACTS 10:3-5
3 “One afternoon about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. "Cornelius!" the angel said.”
4 “Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!”
5 “Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.”
Even if there are some people together somewhere, who really have the need to be in a loving relationship with Jesus, He will find a true Christian – even if He must send that Christian supernaturally to those who need Him, He will do it, as in the following example:
ACTS 16:7 “Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.”
You see, there was an important job that our Lord wanted Paul to do first:
ACTS 16:8-10
8 “So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.”
9 “That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”
10 “So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.”
Ultimately it is our Lord's desire that we, as true Christians, be His mouth, hands and feet wherever He placed us in order to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus, to each person within every population, language, country and nation.
Therefore, He tells us in His Word:
MAT 28:19 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
MAT 28:20 “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Therefore, let us not only remember our mission but also remember to pray for the small amount of people willing to physically donate their time and energy by preaching the Gospel as well as finding additional workers who would willingly preach the Gospel – Because millions of people across the world have not heard about Jesus Christ and therefore doesn’t have the opportunity to take Him as their Saviour.
MAT 9:37 “He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”
MAT 9:38 “So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”
Now the reality of life is also of such a nature that not all of us can be evangelists or missionaries with our circumstances, or our personality or our talents, but for us who have Jesus’ spirit, Jesus says:
MATTHEW 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”
15 “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.”
16 “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
How wonderful –
All of us who do not have the talent to preach or are unable to go around to evangelize, can still preach Jesus through the way we live our lives and every person who wants to find God, will find Him, as God will ensure that He is found.
Greetings,
Sakkie