To Be Or Not To Be

"To be, or not to be?" that is the question. (spoken by Prince Hamlet in Hamlet; William Shakespeare).

Mr. Shakespeare had great insight. The state of being is profound. Our own state of being is our world. In fact, most people seek a state of eternal being. Indeed, the very question of eternal life is to be, or not to be part of it!

To be is to exist. Shall we choose existence or the only other choice - non-existence? That truly is the question because existence is a choice, even in temporal life, and for eternity. However, the decision to exist forever is made in the present state of existence. Existence in this world is a physical state, and existence in the next world will be at first spiritual, then after the return of Christ, a  physical and spiritual state. In order to adapt to our eternal existence, Christians are imbued with God's Spirit until they have their own.

A human being is different than any other animal being, let alone plant being or spiritual being. God, in the beginning, was a spiritual being. He created human beings in his own image. His creation, before sin entered in, was both a physical and spiritual being. When God said "thou shalt surely die", Eve thought that God meant her human existence. It became clear that God meant her spiritual substance would die immediately. With disobedience, mankind died that day, and a different creature was born. Adam and Eve's spirits (existences) were lost. They chose by their own free will not to be immortal.

After their spirit died, or as God left them, they had left remaining mind, body, and emptiness. The space where the spirit substance of them had been, was left empty. It's contents began to fill, albeit gradually, with sin. In order for them to fully be again, their soul needed to be emptied of evil and imbued with God's Holy Spirit. I use the word "imbued" for pimplēmi in the Greek. I use that definition because, since Christians will never be perfect, sin will always enter in. Even in the "spirit-filled" person some space for sin will remain until the person's death. Christian perfection is endeavoring to be as holy as one can be, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It can be endeavored, but never achieved!

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

With any amount of sin, the Christian separates himself from God:

Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 

Repentance restores the sinner to communion with his Father. But until repentance, it's not as if God leaves a person, but His Spirit is separated from the iniquity inside. Fresh and salt water, so the speak, cannot be mixed. (James 3:12). Since God never leaves nor forsakes a Christian (Hebrews 13:5), sin can co-exist in the soul with the Spirit but they are as separate as oil and water. Repentance skims the sin from atop the water, which is to say anything which is not of the Holy Spirit.

At the time of remission of sins, at the new birth, is the most pure time a person will ever be because all the sin has been washed clean;  just as Adam and Eve's before the original sin. Their cup - soul, is empty, ready to receive. God then fills the soul with His Spirit, but immediately as mankind falls to temptation, sin seeps in. It is imperative to pray that sin out by sorrow, followed by repentance, and renewed cleansing by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture speaks of the hydrological cycle.

Ecclesiastes 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

This symbolic description fairly well sums up the working of the Holy Spirit. As the soul runs dry, the Holy Spirit returns from whence it came, always ready to provide living water again. As a person sins, that becomes a cycle. Just as the right conditions must exist for the rains to come again, the soul must be humbled and contrite for the Holy Spirit to do His gully washer with the Christian!

Existence is a condition. Without the living waters within us we are only in existence at the present. However, forever, those who are not to be, will not be! Our existence - "to be", is dependent on whether God lives within us, since we are His temple (1 Corinthians 6:9). Adam and Eve died that day in paradise. They went from to be to not to be, as their soul was emptied of it's eternal existence - God within them. Ever since, the Holy Ghost calls us to be again!

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

I use the name Holy Ghost rather than Holy Spirit because He is Jesus who calls. I make that distinction because of pneuma in context.  After Jesus's death, the Holy Spirit is truly the Ghost of Jesus, because Jesus existed of human being substance, and His spirit was with him on the cross.

"To be" is to have within, God's Holy Spirit. Before we are, our existence is incomplete. Sinners sense an emptiness. Because the soul lacks light it is empty. Empty souls, to exist, must be filled with something! Sin- darkness, can never satisfy the soul.

Existence, then, is the condition of the soul. "To be" means that God lives inside us. Existence is a variable. Those without God seem to exist, but at death their existence is replaced by isolation in an environment of eternal death. Sinners die and no longer exist forever because torment is not existence. It's a living death if that could be called living!  The variable of "to be-ence" starts with zero - non-existence. Those never born again never really exist. Unfortunately, they sense that. Their life is never complete. Jesus knows that, and calls to fill that emptiness - the lack of "to be-ence".

When one is  born-again, for the first time they truly exist. They have hope for eternal life - eternal existence. They are "to be" forever!  The old creature without hope who didn't truly exist in completeness is made alive in Christ.

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We never exist until Christ brings us to life. That reviving essence is hope. Jesus brings an ample amount of it - all that we desire! Therefore, existence can be complete, and only through the atoning blood of Jesus for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Life is existence and only through Christ can we really exist!

The repentant person moves from non-existence to existence by being born-again. It is by their own free choice - "to be, or not to be?" That is the most imperative question one can ever ask because that moment is decision time: Shall I chose eternal non-existence or eternal existence? All but a fool would choose death forever!

Choosing sin is foolishness because it's choosing non-existence.

Numbers 12:11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

Some who danced around the golden calf believed they were truly living. They partied like there was no tomorrow. That is not existence. It is foolishness. By following God alone, and forgetting the golden calves we appease, we are choosing to be forever. Rejecting God is foolishness!  Sinners  pleasure themselves for a moment, never to exist in eternity.

When I was a child I thought on eternal existence, or actually an eternity of non-existence. What called me to seek the Lord, was not the fear of Hell, but the thought of ceasing to exist - never to be again! Some deny Hell. It does exist. Scripture tells us that, but it's not truly existence. It is more non-existence with it's isolation from love and God. However, as subjects of Satan, he can make sure your lack of existence is unbearable. Satan supplies the fuel for fools - eternally.

Even if there is no Hell, it's still difficult to imagine non-existence. Now I seem to be, but think of never being again. That is a dismal thought, and that is how God calls. He offers hope. That hope is to be forever! Because I made myself a living sacrifice (Roman 12:1), I submit this temporary existence for eternal "to be-ence"! That's a good and wise tradeoff - the temporal for the eternal.