Human Survival
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Introduction:
Human survival, from a biblical perspective, encompasses both physical and spiritual dimensions. The Bible provides guidance on how humanity can endure and thrive in a fallen world, emphasizing reliance on God, obedience to His commandments, and the importance of community and stewardship.

Creation and Sustenance:
The Bible begins with the account of creation, where God provides everything necessary for human survival. Genesis 1:29 states, "Then God said, 'Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.'" This passage highlights God's provision for humanity's physical needs from the very beginning.

Dependence on God:
Human survival is deeply rooted in dependence on God. In Deuteronomy 8:3 , it is written, "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." This verse underscores the necessity of spiritual sustenance alongside physical nourishment.

Obedience and Blessing:
The Bible frequently links obedience to God's commandments with survival and prosperity. In Deuteronomy 30:19-20 , Moses exhorts the Israelites, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Community and Stewardship:
The Bible emphasizes the importance of community and stewardship in human survival. In Acts 2:44-45 , the early church is described: "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need." This passage illustrates the role of communal support and generosity in ensuring the well-being of all members.

Trials and Perseverance:
Human survival often involves enduring trials and tribulations. James 1:2-4 encourages believers, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." This passage highlights the spiritual growth and resilience that can result from enduring hardships.

Eternal Perspective:
While physical survival is important, the Bible places a greater emphasis on spiritual survival and eternal life. In John 3:16 , Jesus declares, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." This verse encapsulates the ultimate hope for human survival beyond the temporal world.

Conclusion:
The biblical narrative of human survival is one of reliance on God's provision, obedience to His commandments, and the support of a faith community. It calls believers to look beyond mere physical existence to the promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.
Topical Bible Verses
Genesis 3:1-24
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
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Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
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Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.
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Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
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Matthew 25:1-46
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
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2 Peter 3:1-18
This second letter, beloved, I now write to you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
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Revelation 3:3
Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you.
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Luke 21:34-36
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come on you unawares.
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Matthew 24:37-39
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
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Matthew 24:21-22
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
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Library

The Survival of the Fittest.
... In a society of hypocrites, would the fittest for survival be the most skilful ... With
all the weakness of human nature found in every society, the growing ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/kent/the making of a nation/study iv the survival of.htm

Survival of the Fittest
... The very tying-down of Judgment to a Day, the whole machinery of a human court
"which meets, goes through ... The name of this law is the Survival of the Fittest. ...
/.../berkhof/new evangelism and other papers/survival of the fittest.htm

Synopsis. --A Clearer Conception of Miracle Approached. --Works of ...
... Dei. [33] Consult the late FWH Myers's remarkable volumes on Human Personality
and Survival after Death (Longmans, Green & Co.). ...
/.../miracles and supernatural religion/iv synopsis a clearer conception of.htm

Synopsis. --The Gradual Narrowing of the Miraculous Element in the ...
... kind. On the general subject of "possession" see FWH Myers's work on Human
Personality and Survival after Death, Vol. I.((Longmans ...
/.../miracles and supernatural religion/i synopsis the gradual narrowing of.htm

The Indestructibility of the Bible is a Proof that Its Author is ...
... Every engine of destruction which human philosophy, science, force, and hatred could
bring ... How then, can we account for the survival of the Bible in the face ...
/.../the divine inspiration of the bible/chapter eleven the indestructibility of.htm

The Book of God
... We would ourselves insist that the loftiest human ideal in all literature is that
of ... Often the survival of the fittest is just a survival of those fittest to ...
/.../mcconnell/understanding the scriptures/chapter iv the book of.htm

Elucidations.
... In the Gallican Church, a survival or relic of these feasts of charity is seen in
the pain ... He proceeds to what the dramatists have exhibited of human misery. ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/clement/the stromata or miscellanies/elucidations 3.htm

The Meaning of Sin, and the Revelation of the True Self
... The material of human sin is the co-existence of the animal nature and the Divine
Nature ... These impulses have secured the survival and the predominance of man. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/beibitz/gloria crucis/iv the meaning of sin.htm

Death Entirely Separates the Soul from the Body.
... And yet even this partial survival of the soul finds a place in the opinions of
some ... a cruel custom in the interest even of the body; since, being human, it is ...
/.../tertullian/a treatise on the soul/chapter li death entirely separates the.htm

Letter to Abundius, Bishop of Como.
... Now we acknowledge the presence of our Saviour in a human body, and one Son of God ...
Manzoni, in the Promessi Sposi, reminds us of the local survival of the name. ...
/.../the ecclesiastical history of theodoret/clxxxi letter to abundius bishop.htm

Resources
What is the Christian view of human cloning? | GotQuestions.org

What is the human soul? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean to be human? | GotQuestions.org

Human: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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Subtopics

Human

Human Beings

Human Cloning

Human Dignity

Human Life

Human Nature

Human Rights

Human Sacrifice

Human Sin

Human Survival

Humanism

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Being a Man of Sorrows

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Being Buffeted

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Being Nailed to the Cross

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Being Scourged

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Being Subject to Weariness

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Birth

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Burial

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Circumcision

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Conception in the Virgin's Womb

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Death

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Enduring Indignities

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Having a Human Soul

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Hungering

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Increase in Wisdom and Stature

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Partaking of Flesh and Blood

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Resurrection

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Side Being Pierced

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Sleeping

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Thirsting

The Human Nature of Christ is Proved by His: Weeping

The Human Nature of Christ was Like Our own in all Things Except Sin

The Human Nature of Christ was Necessary to his Mediatorial office

The Human Nature of Christ was of the Seed of Abraham

The Human Nature of Christ was of the Seed of David

The Human Nature of Christ was of the Seed of The Woman

The Human Nature of Christ was Submitted to the Evidence of the Senses

The Human Nature of Christ was Without Sin

The Human Nature of Christ: Acknowledged by Men

The Human Nature of Christ: Attested by Himself

The Human Nature of Christ: Confession of, a Test of Belonging to God

The Human Nature of Christ: Denied by Antichrist

The Human Nature of Christ: Genealogy of

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Chemosh (8 Occurrences)

Human Suffering and Testing
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