p. 517 | DEATH | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 26, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 33.

DEATH.

"THE wages of sin is death," declares the apostle in Rom. 6:23. That cannot mean endless torment, for endless torment implies endless life, or existence. An ever-burning hell will not always exist; for there is coming a time when all the universe will praise God (Rev. 5:13); when there shall be no more pain nor death (Rev. 21:4); when there shall be no more curse (Rev. 22:3).

"Death," the wages of sin, must mean just what it implies, "cessation of life;" and the punishing of the wicked is completed when they cease to exist. This is evident from another consideration. Inspiration declares that God will reward everyone according to his works. But if endless misery is the doom of the wicked, it can never be executed. The sentence can never be carried out; for after billions of ages have rolled their round, an endlessness of cycles still lies before, and the words of the Bible are proved untrue, impossible of fulfillment. But God's plan is not thus inconsistent. Life, endless life, will be given to the faithful; and death, endless death, will be the doom of the impenitent and unfaithful. The first—the life—will never cease; the second—the death—will know no resurrection. God's universe will again be clean, his works "very good," and Christ our King will reign forever.