This article topic was a request from a friend. I hope the ideas considered in this article are what my friend had in mind. This topic has been extremely interesting to contemplate. More importantly, writing this article was humbling. In writing this article, I was reminded of the incredible love of God, His grace, and His purpose for us.
Let us start our exploration of this topic by starting “In the beginning.” “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Why would an all powerful, all knowing, eternal Being want to create a finite universe with all of His many creations? There can only be two explanations as to why a Supreme Being would create the universe. It can only be one of two reasons. The first being scientific and the second would be personal. We can dismiss the scientific explanation because it was the first state of the universe. We simply cannot explain it scientifically because there was no previous state to compare it to, no experiment to recreate it for study, and no initial conditions or natural laws leading up to the event. Since there cannot be a scientific explanation, there is only one other option which is God did it for a personal reason. God had personal reasons for creating this universe and His creation. We read in Genesis of God walking in the midst of the Garden of Eden. God came down to walk and talk with His creation face to face. God had a personal and intimate relationship with Adam and Eve for a period of time which is not told to us. What would you give to walk and talk face to face with your Creator? How about your life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)? I can tell you this much of how God views have a personal face to face relationship with us once again. God gave His only begotten Son that we may one day be with Him in Heaven. God restored the hope of one day having this personal relationship and continuing it when we all get to Heaven.
We can talk the rest of our lives of about God’s grace and love which was shown to us through the forgiveness we have through His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. For now, let us look at a passage from Paul’s message to the Romans. Romans 5:5-8 reads, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” This passage is simply a summary of the goods news of Jesus Christ. God always has had hope for His children. In the world we live in, it is hard to imagine dying for a person you love. It is even harder to imagine dying in the place of a righteous man. Here is the point of this passage. Would you die in the place of guilty, helpless, no good, doomed, sinner? How does God view our value to Him? God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There is absolutely, positively nothing one could do in this world to separate Himself from the love of God.
It is our choice whether or not to follow God’s plan for our lives. God gave us all the free gift of choice. We can choose to seek after and accept God’s love. Or we can choose to reject God and His love for us. Why would God give man the gift of free will? Can a robot express love and gratitude? No. Does a robot have free will? No. A robot does not possess the ability to make free will decisions but must act in ways that it is programmed to do. The robot cannot perform any action outside of what it is programmed to do. If we had no choice but to obey and worship God, would there be any love or gratitude being expressed? Nope. We have the choice to worship God in spirit and truth or not worship Him at all. How does God view our free will ability to choose? He receives honor and praise from our choice to serve and worship Him. God respects our ability to choose. Some people ask why does God not make His existence known to all by writing a message up in the clouds saying, “This is God, and yes I exist.” For one, God chooses not to force anyone to choose to believe or not. Second, God has placed enough evidence in His creation for proof of His existence. Paul made this clear in Romans 1:20 where he wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” Also, God does not force any of His children to obey, love, or even acknowledge Him in this life. God does not need us, but God does want us. In 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God wants all of us to be saved, but God knows that not everyone will accept Him. In Hebrews 10:26-29, the writer to the Hebrews says, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” This passage expresses the love of God so passionately. What must a person under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ do to deserve the wrath of God? He must trample the Son of God underfoot and count His sacrifice as a common thing. One way of looking at this is that Jesus says, “You will go to Hell over my dead body.” The choice is ours. As Joshua said, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15). What is your choice?
Finally, God has a plan for each and every one of us. How does God view us in His plan? The Creator of the Universe sees us as valuable servants in His Kingdom. Our God gives us the opportunity to help in the service of His Kingdom. If God did not think we could do it, would He call us to try? God has taken ordinary, sinful men and helped them to become the people they were meant to be. Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob and sold into slavery by his older brothers. Through God’s grace, Joseph rose to be the second most powerful man in Egypt behind Pharaoh and saved countless people including the Egyptians and his family from a terrible famine. God took twelve men who were fishermen, a tax collector, and other simple occupations and spread the gospel throughout the world beginning in Jerusalem. We can look at numerous other examples of God taking a single individual or small group and making a difference in this world. Imagine what he could do with every person who reads this article. God has entrusted us with the message of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. God knows our individual talents and blessed us with each one. He has a plan for each and every one of us. Will you be ready when God calls you to the plan He has? God would not have entrusted us with such an important message if He did not think we could do it. You can do it, and God will help. As Nehemiah said many years ago, “Our God will fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:20).
Picture - http://www.art-reflections.com/Creation-hands-L.jpg
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment