If you could be immortal...

What we have to understand is that God already has some creatures that are immortal - the angels.

Therefore JUST having another creature to be immortal is nothing to God.

In the creation of man God had something absolutely new in the universe - a creature that could be a vessel to contain God. He placed man before "the tree of life" to take into himself God Himself as eternal life.

This is where the Jehovah's Witnesses are short of comprehension. They think all that is needed is for God to obtain happy people who are immortal.

And this is also where some Christians do not fathom the depths of God's eternal purpose according to the Bible. They may similarly assume all that God wants is for happy people to have everlasting life.

God's eternal plan is to mingle, to unite, to be incorporated in His people.
In short to enlarge the Son of God Jesus the Godman, into a corporate expression of the mingling of God and humanity.

Another reason why immortality in the fallen humanity is not attractive to me at all, is because the Bible says the fallen nature is getting worse as we age. It is "being corrupted" as the process of sinning and degradation increase.

Paul writes to the Ephesian Christians -

"That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is BEING CORRUPTED according to the lusts of the deceit,

And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality." (Eph. 3:22-24 Recovery Version)

Compare "the old man" and "the new man". On the negative side "the old man", the fallen adamic nature of sin and death is "being corrupted". It is getting worse in everyone with age.

Getting physically weaker and perhaps weaker mentally, counteracts to some degree the wickedness into which the old man is plunging more and more, limiting the damage a person can do.

Immortality then, without being conformed to the image of Christ, is not at all appetizing to me. It would rather be the growth of HELL rather literally.

Originally posted by sonship
Another reason why immortality in the fallen humanity is not attractive to me at all, is because the Bible says the fallen nature is getting worse as we age. It is [b]"being corrupted" as the process of sinning and degradation increase.

Paul writes to the Ephesian Christians -

"That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the ...[text shortened]... Christ, is not at all appetizing to me. It would rather be the growth of HELL rather literally.

Religion and immortality are two different subjects. You don't HAVE to bring up religion when immortality is discussed. If you are truly immortal, you will live to see the end of religions, especially the Abrahamic ones and all their thousands of offshoots, and I personally hope that day comes tomorrow, which will allow humanity to finally grow up, instead of being held down to the level of nasty children as the world is now.

Religion is the scourge of mankind no doubt about it.

I have said it before, I want freedom FROM religion, not freedom OF religion. I want to live on a planet where I can take my wife to a clinic if she wants an abortion or if I want to draw a cartoon of some religious figure and not get killed over it.. I want to live in a place where I don't have to fear inquisitions like what happened a few hundred years ago and don't you think for a minute that stuff like that could never happen again, it could, easily.

My problem is, given say, a spaceship, where I find a planet with no life but can support Earthy type life, start a colony with no religion, some assshole will undoubtedly START one the day after I kick the bucket and then ANOTHER one will show up and they will start the religious war thing all over again.

What we really need is to reboot mankind with MUCH higher intelligence and compassion and empathy to avoid that kind of disaster again. I think it is too late to save Earth. I think we will end up offing ourselves with our own level of collective greed to such an extent that we all go back to the year 1000 again and then the religions of the world will again be back in charge, making death for all kinds of religious crimes, like apostasy and such.

I just hope we can survive the next few hundred years with a technical civilization intact so we can get the hell off this hell hole planet (which is REALLY the jewel of the galaxy) and onto a place where we can not have to deal with Jihadists or extreme Christian groups and all the rest of the religious killers.

Oh sure, you can claim they are from the devil, who wants to trick all of us and so forth but that is just so much rot.

There is no devil, never was one and if there is some kind of deity, it is not making itself known around here, the 100 million deaths in WW2 pretty much proves that.

Originally posted by sonhouse

Religion and immortality are two different subjects. You don't HAVE to bring up religion when immortality is discussed.

"Religion" is the label that you assign in your humanism to the class of truths that I speak of. From my perspective I brought up REALITY.

"Religion" is your socialogical label for your kind of classification.

If you are truly immortal, you will live to see the end of religions,

True.
But reality is forever so this has no effect on what I expressed from the word of God.

especially the Abrahamic ones and all their thousands of offshoots, and I personally hope that day comes tomorrow, which will allow humanity to finally grow up, instead of being held down to the level of nasty children as the world is now.

What you personally hope and what you get are not always the same thing.

Religion is the scourge of mankind no doubt about it.

So I need to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ also from religion.
That's all.

I also need salvation from the foolish self righteousness of the God denying old nature seeking to be independent from God.

I have said it before, I want freedom FROM religion, not freedom OF religion.

God is a living Person. Jesus Christ is a living Person.
the Holy Spirit is a living Person.

God is unusual to our experience, but a living Person nonetheless.

I want to live on a planet where I can take my wife to a clinic if she wants an abortion or if I want to draw a cartoon of some religious figure and not get killed over it.

You are already on such a planet. You may have to be careful which hospital you go to.

. I want to live in a place where I don't have to fear inquisitions like what happened a few hundred years ago and don't you think for a minute that stuff like that could never happen again, it could, easily.

I want to live without unnecessary fear period.

My problem is, given say, a spaceship, where I find a planet with no life but can support Earthy type life, start a colony with no religion,

By the fastest rocket man can make today it would take you over 100,000 years to get to the nearest star other than the Sun.

Mars may be a closer prospect. But you may have a problem with the absence of air to breath.

Maybe you should think about being reconciled to your Creator on this planet.

Otherwise re-runs of Star Trek may be the closest you'll get in this generation.

Me, I intend to opt for what is REAL. Trust in the Son of God as taught in the New Testament is where I am placing my hope completely.