911 Years and Immortality Is Back

God's Word is beautiful—wondrous to behold—but only the children can open the book and understand. This is GodSaidManSaid feature article #544 that proves the full, inerrant veracity of the majority-text Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. Every Thursday eve, God willing, GodSaidManSaid grows by one. We prove Holy Writ here, using a four-step proof text. One is Archaeology.  This category includes paleontology, geology, and ancient historic and societal records. Two is Prophecy. This category proves the absolute supernatural origin of the Word of God. Category three is titled "GodSaidManSaid — The Record." In this department, we display a Biblical principle, man's reaction to it (which is nearly always disobedience), and the detrimental results. The proof here is the result of the doing. The final proof category is The Historicity of Jesus Christ. Here, GodSaidManSaid establishes the reality, in the records of men, of the glorious life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

But knowing that the Word of God is true and righteous altogether is not sufficient to enter into His presence—into the very fellowship of the Godhead. This is only accomplished by the children—those born into the house of God. Jesus calls it born-again. John 3:3:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

At this place called born-again, one is literally, spiritually born into the house of God. Here, one becomes a child of God and is called by His name. Jesus said in Luke 18:16-17:

16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

Are you ready to become a child of God? Are you ready to have all your sin and shame erased? Today is your day of salvation. Click onto "Further With Jesus" for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Genesis 3:22-24:

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

GOD SAID, Genesis 5:5:

And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

GOD SAID, Romans 5:12:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

GOD SAID, Romans 5:21:

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

MAN SAID: Adam's 930 years, Methuselah's 969, and Noah's 950 years, plus the idea of Adam and Eve's original immortality are farcical.

Now THE RECORD. The Biblical account of an original immortality enjoyed by Adam and Eve and lost as a result of sin is laughable to the unredeemed, and equally laughable to them is the Scriptural record that the average age of man was 911 years during the first 1,656 years of the world's history. It is no surprise to the born-again that when God says yes, carnaldom emphatically says no. The carnal spirit is constantly trying to find a Godless way.

It's the 180-degree principle—the principle of the opposites. Mankind fell from grace in the Garden of Eden through unbelief and disobedience. We were cast out of paradise and became mortal. Cherubims were posted to block our rebellious return to this place of beautiful eternal life. These Cherubims are seen again protecting the way back to paradise, hovering over the mercy seat and ark of the covenant, which is a shadow of the promises in Christ Jesus, into which only the believers who have repented and forsaken sin can enter. This is the 180 principle. The way back is the same way we left. We lost eternal life through unbelief and disobedience, and gain it back through faith and obedience in Christ Jesus.

GodSaidManSaid has published multiple features concerning immortality and the historic record of 900-plus-year life spans. This feature is an update of science's latest entry in its quest to extend life and immortality itself. Several excerpts from past features will be interspersed in this feature to refresh your memory.

Is it actually possible that man's life-span after the fall (and up until the flood during the time of Noah) was 911 average years? The famous historian Josephus, who wrote directly after the time of Christ's earthly ministry, wrote this:

Now when Noah had lived three hundred and fifty years after the Flood, and that all that time happily, he died, having the number of nine hundred and fifty years: but let no one, upon comparing the lives of the ancients with our lives, and with the few years which we now live, think that what we have said of them is false; or make the shortness of our lives at present an argument that neither did they attain to so long a duration of life; for those ancients were beloved of God, and [lately] made by God himself; and because their food was then fitter for the prolongation of life, might well live so great a number of years; and besides, God afforded them a longer time of life on account of their virtue, and the good use they made of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries, which would not have afforded the time of foretelling [the periods of the stars] unless they had lived six hundred years; for the Great Year is completed in that interval. Now I have for witnesses to what I have said all those that have written Antiquities, both among the Greeks and barbarians; for even Manetho, who wrote the Egyptian History, and Berosus, who collected the Chaldean Monuments, and Mochus, and Hestiaeus, and besides these, Hieronymus the Egyptian, and those who composed the Phoenician History, agree to what I here say: Hesiod also, and Hecataeus, Hellanicus, and Acusilaus; and besides, Ephorus and Nicolaus relate that the ancients lived a thousand years: but as to these matters, let every one look upon them as he thinks fit. [End of quote]

Nine-hundred-eleven average years? Yes! It is supremely important for the saints to know that God's Word is true and righteous altogether. We are required to build and even to stake our lives upon it.

Could something as fantastic as immortality be any more than a fairy tale? Is there some historic trail or scientific knowledge that establishes or points to such a concept? The answer to both questions is yes. As usual, the credibility of the Word of God continues to be verified.

Theorists in the scientific field predict that one day we will have reached theoretic immortality. They base their predictions on two simple ideas:

1. Life expectancy for the American male was approximately 50 years in the year 1900. One hundred years later, it rose to 74-a 48% increase.

2. Knowledge is increasing. The following paragraph is the "Dean's Message" from the University of North Carolina Greensboro's website:

We're all striving to keep up with the quantum leaps being made in all areas of knowledge. It's estimated that medical knowledge, for example, doubles every seven years, and scientific knowledge doubles every twenty years. The total written knowledge in the world is said to have doubled between 1450 and 1750, and then to have doubled again between 1750 and 1900. Between 1900 and 1950, human knowledge doubled once more, and then again from 1950 to 1975. Now, it is believed to double every 900 days. By the year 2020, global knowledge is predicted to double every 72 days! [End of quote]

The theory suggests that if you can live for the next 20 years, technology and understanding will have increased to such an extent that cures will be found for the physical problems you'll be experiencing at that time, extending your life another 20 years. When you've lived your 20-year extension, technology and understanding theoretically will have again increased to cure the physical problems you'll be experiencing, extending your life even another 20 years, and so on. Now, that's providing you're not murdered, or killed in an auto accident, or killed by terrorists, and so on. Of course, students of the Scriptures know that Hebrews 9:27 reads:

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

That settles it. However, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate that Adam and Eve's immortality was a very practical concept.

One scientific rationale on aging that carries serious credibility is called the somatic mutation theory. Authors Morris and Clark define it: "A somatic mutation is a sudden, random change in the structure of a cell of the body. Since almost all mutations are harmful, the gradual accumulation of mutations in the cells of various organs and tissues will inevitably lead to impaired bodily efficiency and eventually to complete breakdown of one or more bodily components."  Keep in mind that nearly all mutations are a product of ultraviolet rays from the sun.

Found during recent scientific research delving into why we die, was this discovery: at the end of every chromosome is a long strand of DNA called a telomere. Every time the cell divides, its DNA strand shortens until there is none left. At this point the cell begins to age and die. Now keep in mind that DNA can be killed only by bacteria and ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

We've emphasized the concept of radiation and UV rays, and the fact that man's life span is only one thirteenth of what it was before the flood, in order to bring your attention to a critical piece in the puzzle of mortality. Remember, DNA is destroyed by bacteria and UV rays. Prior to Noah's flood, a water canopy existed above the sky, encompassing the earth.  During the flood, God opened the windows of Heaven and poured rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. Also, the fountains of the deep were opened. According to scientists, this water canopy, which ancient peoples knew as the celestial ocean, would have filtered out the UV killer rays from the sun, which destroy life. It would have also created a greenhouse effect, causing the whole earth to be of a tropical-type climate. Now that the water canopy no longer exists and has been replaced with a one-and-a-half inch thick (approximately) ozone layer, the UV rays bombard the earth incessantly, contributing in a major way to man's abbreviated 70-year life span.

New research now being conducted by Michael Rose, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, is focused on extending life. He is experimenting with fruit flies. Fruit flies are likely candidates because they reproduce rapidly and make it possible to see the generational effects of their experiments very quickly. In his laboratory, he has managed to double the life span of fruit flies—raising a lot of eyebrows. When he was asked how far this life extension could go on he answered, "The flies in my lab can potentially live forever. But of course they don't, because they have a high likelihood of dying by accident." When the question shifted to the human life span and "are there discernable limits?" Rose said, "Not at all. I believe the limit of the human life span is the limit of human technology."

The following excerpt is from the article in U.S. News & World Report, titled "The Cells of Immortality." It reads:

Over the past century, vaccines, antibiotics, and good sanitation have upped the average American's life expectancy by decades, to today's 74 years for men and 79 for women. Now, new understanding of the genes and chemicals involved in aging may not only help humans live far past that age but, more important, may also help people retain health and strength in those latter years. The discovery of biological clocks ticking away in each of our cells, and knowledge of how to reset those clocks, open the possibility that a human would never die—at least not from old age. [End of quote]

Again, reiterating information we explained earlier about DNA, the article continued:

But even if everyone were to receive special longevity genes, each cell in the body nonetheless carries the plans for its eventual death right in its DNA. At the end of each chromosome is a long strand of "nonsense" DNA called a telomere. Each time a cell divides, the strand gets a bit shorter, like a burning candlewick. When it runs out, the cell can no longer divide and is left to age and die. But scientists have found that the enzyme telomerase can rebuild the strand over and over again. With the help of this substance, human cells have been enjoying immortality in a petri dish at Geron Corp. for more than 200 normal lifetimes. [End of quote]

World-renowned doctor Sanjay Gupta wrote the following in his book, Chasing Life:

All over the world and right in your backyard, there are people who are steadily pushing back the frontier of aging. They are not content to simply wither away, becoming frail and feeling worthless. Instead, they are achieving a sort of practical immortality-living as long as they want to live and dying only when they are through living. ... Immortality is on the horizon and it is within our reach for the first time. [End of quote]

Popular Science, in the August 2011 issue, published a feature titled "The Man Who Would Stop Time." The article deals with the quest for immortality. A few excerpts follow:

And last year, Harvard University researcher Ron DePinho published two studies in the journal Nature that have reframed the debate about telomerase activation. DePinho created an ingenious model whereby he could turn telomerase off in a mouse and then restore it, simply by administering, or withholding, a synthetic estrogen drug. In the first study, the mice with turned-off telomerase exhibited signs and symptoms of decrepitude akin to what we might endure at the age of 80 or 90: wrinkled skin, sluggish intestines, shrunken brain. When telomerase production was turned back on, the tissues rejuvenated within a month.

"We treated these animals that were the equivalent of your grandmother," DePinho says, "and they became like young adults." He says he had expected to be able to stop or slow down the rate of aging. What he found was the proof-of-concept that living tissue could actually go back in time.

This month, Isagenix [an Arizona-based "network marketing" supplement company] will launch an anti-aging product containing several natural compounds that Sierra Sciences has verified to have "telomere-supporting" properties. It's not the powerful drug Andrews originally envisioned, but he says he believes it will promote "health and well-being" and just possibly generate enough cash to underwrite the expensive "medicinal chemistry" required to come up with a more fully developed anti-aging compound…

The analogy sounds so delightful that it's jarring to remember that the measuring rod, the "standard control" the lab uses to evaluate telomerase activity in test compounds, is cancer-specifically the HeLa cancer cells that were the first cell line to achieve immortality. Back when Andrews was working with the more potent synthetic chemicals that he says were, in theory, capable of putting the brakes on aging, his team was able to get one compound up to a 16. That would be 16 percent of the telomerase required to make the HeLa cells live forever. "What we really want to do is to get it to 100 percent and above," he says. [End of quote]

The promise of eternal life is known to the born-again as the blessed hope, and it is only gained through the blood of Jesus Christ. But man will attempt to find another way. Jesus said in John 10:1-2:

1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

Jesus said in John 10:27-28:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

There is only one way to immortality, and that's back through the Cherubims to Christ. But man is looking for another way.

GOD SAID, Genesis 3:22-24:

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

GOD SAID, Genesis 5:5:

And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

GOD SAID, Romans 5:12:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

GOD SAID, Romans 5:21:

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

MAN SAID: Adam's 930 years, Methuselah's 969, and Noah's 950 years, plus the idea of Adam and Eve's original immortality are farcical.

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

Authorized King James Version

Fischer, J.S., "The Cells of Immortality," U.S. News & World Report, March 20, 2002, pp58- 59

Hooper, J., "The Man Who Would Stop Time," Popular Science, August 2011, vol. 279, #2, pp52,54-55,79-80

Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, pp28-30

Smith, P., "Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Search for Biological Immortality," Life Extension, August 2007, pp42-43

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