Dispute Over Who Jesus Is
21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” 22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” 23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” 25 “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up, the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
What does 'Dying in the sins' mean? I think that it may be dying without knowing that we ourselves are sinful men and couldn't be freed from judgment if there were any ransom for our sins. Jesus had been telling about Himself a lot of times and had shown many miracuous signs to the people, but most of them couldn't understand as He was telling about the heavenly things. Even though He tried to explain using some kinds of parables, it was not that easy, as we are from below.
I read a book that was written by a professor who had learned all through his life until death. I felt deeply sorry about him because he was dead in his sins. At the moment of death, he tried to finish the book without solving the problem of his sins or even not knowing that he was a sinful man, and not realizing the physical death is not the end. Though he had a lot of knowledge on the studies below, on earth, what he had learned is limited, forgettable, and not perfect and, most of all, it doesn't affect anything good for his life above, after-death life.
This is my spiritual point of view about life and death, based on the Bible as well as Jesus' talking and teaching. I believe that the bible itself is a love letter from God, the Creator of all the universe. He wanted creatures to dwell in peace in the nature He made, but humans were not satisfied at those blessings, and they wanted to be wise enough to be like Him, changing themselves into corrupt and wicked generations and generations.
Despite of judgment of water and fire, we humans are still trying to be wiser than God, the Creator, dying in the sins and suffering from the fruits of them. What foolish lives we are living! Believing is not to be inferior to God, rather it is to accompany with God, the Father, who is majestic and generous, living as heirs of Heavenly things. What life is more wonderful and awesome than this!
