God, Christianity, & Life
Emphasis 1: Why?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8:9).
We are not to question God’s plan, why he created the heavens and the earth and mankind.
This is what God determined from the beginning, and it’s not hard. It’s his plan and no one or any force can thwart (prevent) it; not even Satan, the fallen angel.
God’s grand design-creation and perfect plan is still in force and will always continue even unto eternity. What’s amazing is that the plan includes us, his people. God could have other planets and galaxies with life and humans out there, but we are not privy to that yet, if that is correct. God created the heavens and the earth, and God also created us. “Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it” (Isaiah 43:13). Whether you or I or anyone else believes that or not does not matter. If not, good luck with that. And there are reasons.
Emphasis 2: Historical
God’s s name is (YHWH) Yahweh. He also has many names. He is the “I Am!”
“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Genesis 3:13-14).
God created the languages and the alphabet and everything else. But why did God create us?
Fellowship!
“That which we have heard and seen declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not” (1 John 3:1).
God also created a place called heaven mentioned in the Bible, his Word.
“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalms 119:89).
That is where the Lord resides, and He is on his throne there even now. He is everlasting and knows all things. The Holy Scriptures tell us the end comes after:
1- the 1,000-year Millennial reign of Christ (His Son) from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.
2 – Satan’s final battle of Gog and Magog and him being thrown into hell and the lake of fire.
3- the Great White Throne Judgment.
4- the casting of Satan’s followers into hell’s Lake of Fire.
5- the heavens and the earth are burned up and made new.
Human history is finished and complete with this final era or dispensation; time’s up. Then starts eternity with him in Glory, and no one knows what that will be like. Only the believers from the beginning of creation till the end of Christ’s millennial reign will be with him as his children, because we all have placed our trust and life in him. God has not revealed eternity to us; it’s not in his book. We do know that we will be with him forever. That’s a fact; that is in his Word.
Emphasis 3: Facts
Now, the reason I am writing this is because this life is basic 101. This is our kindergarten training, so we had better get it right so we can graduate. Believers and non-believers are in the same class, if you will. We are here for a reason and we have one major choice to make in life. The choice is to accept eternal life and live forever with Christ because of what he did on the Cross for us. Therefore, you do have the option not to receive this wonderful gift that is mentioned in the Scripture.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The other side of the coin to this truth is you still have eternal life, but it will be separated from God, which is eternal death. That is literally in the lake of fire forever according to the Scriptures. He has made a way to escape, that by trusting in his Son who died for you on the cross and believing in him. Here is the wonderful truth that Jesus spoke for all to hear:
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
Jesus is explaining this to his friend’s sister, Martha, when Lazarus had died and Jesus raised him from the dead. He had been dead four days.
That’s what God has set up. We enjoy life and all that comes with it, and we sojourn here for but a short while. No one knows their allotted time here, my friend. My twin died at birth, and our son died at 24; and I’m not going into all that now. The point is that none of us know.
In the year now, 2018, God’s grace is still available for all who call upon him for salvation. Please, you still have time.
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).
All this isn’t hard. We are born, we live, and we die. One day, each of us will stand before our Creator and give account. This world system that God created isn’t complicated, but someone has made it difficult for us – the enemy, the devil.
Satan has made it difficult by disrupting God’s plan (momentarily), by tricking Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which led to our downfall by sinning. Satan has led people away from what God has intended for good and turned souls away from the Truth (his Word) in what God has for them. But, Satan was defeated by Jesus rising from the dead 2,000 years ago. And at the end, Satan will be in the lake of fire, never to affect us again.
That’s another article for another time.
Emphasis 4: Conclusions
Whoever you are, I am trying to tell you that this great master plan for us in this life is simple. No use in making it hard.
There are three things God required of his chosen people, the Jews, years ago:
“And what doeth the Lord require of thee:
1- to do justly
2- and to love mercy
3- and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).
Isn’t that the same for us too, even now? Time is the only component that has changed. The Jews rejected God’s plan of his Son coming to be the Messiah, so He placed them aside temporarily and brought salvation to us, the Gentiles. That was the mystery the Apostle Paul revealed.
The simple factor in all this that I am trying to express is, John 3:16 ” For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Simple, as they say; you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get this.
Therefore:
1- We are born to go through life with all that it has for us.
2- We make a decision at some point when we reach the age of accountability or after, when we hear the gospel and find out that after this life there is something else so much more.
3- We begin to live out what God has for us according to his will: to please him and bring Glory, Honor, and Praise to His Great Name.
Amen and Amen?
All scripture is taken from the King James 1611 Bible
Clay Smith