There is only one God, and yet, He is three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He refers to Himself in the masculine pronoun, and so I will also refer to Him as He.
He is the creator of the universe and of all life, including me as I write and you as you read. He is the God of the Holy Bible, The Holy One of Israel, The Father of Jesus, He is Yahweh, and He is Adonai.
He is omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, and He declares the end from the beginning. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is in total control of His Creation, and His ways are just.
There are no other gods before Him or after Him. Not gods made of wood or stone or gold or anything else you can paint a face on, give a name and bow down to.
There is nothing at all that can be conjured up in the minds of men that qualifies as a god. Not Molech, or Baal or Artificial Intelligence. Nothing from the past or the present or the future and certainly not the universe, as so many new-agers are so fond of believing. Just ask the universe to provide for you, they like to say.
The universe is 100% impersonal and was created by the one and only true God. The universe has no more ability to recognize your needs than a doorknob that you painted a face on and named the Great Buzz. You can chant, “Oh great opener of doors,” to the Great Buzz and ask it to provide for you until you are blue in the face, and it will never once see you, hear you, or respond to you in any way at all, ever.
God is our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ is His One and Only Begotten Son. The Holy Spirit is the personal guide of every true believer and the restrainer of evil on the earth.
Our Heavenly Father is filled with and overflowing with grace and mercy, and it is not His will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Jesus is also the Author of our Salvation. Jesus once spoke these words, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Jesus is exactly and precisely who He Himself says He is in John 14:6 when He declares to all the world, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The Holy Spirit reveals such truths as these to every true believer as He guides us on our journey to an amazing eternal future. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived—the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Salvation and eternal life come through believing in and placing all of our faith and trust in God the Father’s only begotten Son, who was without sin. He took upon Himself the sins of the world (yours and mine and all who have ever lived) that day about 2,000 years ago on a cross at Calvary, thus reconciling all of us who believe in Him to our Perfect Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father who is pure Holiness.
Jesus died on that cross and was placed in a tomb owned by Joesph of Arimathea. After three days in the tomb, He rose from the dead and stayed on the earth for 40 days, ministering to His disciples and close followers. Some 500 of those followers witnessed Jesus during those 40 days, and He was witnessed ascending to Heaven on a cloud at the end of those 40 days by His disciples.
Two thousand years have now passed in what is referred to as the “Age of Grace” and/or “the Church Age” so that the gospel/good news could be preached to all nations and all peoples everywhere in this world. While this has been occurring on earth, one of the things Jesus has been doing in Heaven is preparing a place for His friends. And who are His friends? All who believe in Him. His forever family.
Jesus promised to come back for us and gave us signs to watch for so we would know when we were nearing the time of His return. Jesus personally gave to His Apostle Paul a vision of what that would look like when He fulfilled His promise to return for us. The vision is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and we shall forever be with the Lord.”
The signs of His imminent return are all converging together at this time in the year 2023. We need to keep watch and be ready for that amazing moment when He comes for us because we do not know the day nor the hour when it will happen, but we do know it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. That is basically no time at all. Exceedingly quick (1 Corinthians 15:52).
Humans are creatures of habit. The older we get, the more we love our comfort zones. And yet, we must prepare to leave it all behind. I have been thinking about the reality of leaving it all behind. Have you?
I am doing my best to trust in Jesus 100%, and the Holy Spirit is always encouraging me and all believers to do just that.
If you have read these words and you have not given your life to Jesus, please do so this very day.
We are running out of days in the “Age of Grace,” and soon, the 70th week of Daniel, aka the time of the Great Tribulation, will be upon the world. You do not have to be here when that happens (Revelation 3:10).
Trust in Jesus for salvation. You will be so glad you did. In Romans 10:9, Paul shares this beautiful and simple truth, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Your friend in Him,
Rick Segoine
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All are invited to visit ricksegoine.net for free downloads of my book, From God to Eternity, or to order a paperback copy.